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diff --git a/old/62837-0.txt b/old/62837-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 472ab97..0000000 --- a/old/62837-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,19073 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Ecclesiastical History of England, from the -Opening of the Long Parliament to the Death, by John Stoughton - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll -have to check the laws of the country where you are located before using -this ebook. - - - -Title: Ecclesiastical History of England, from the Opening of the Long Parliament to the Death of Oliver Cromwell - Volume 1--The Church of the Civil Wars - -Author: John Stoughton - -Release Date: August 3, 2020 [EBook #62837] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY *** - - - - -Produced by Emmanuel Ackerman, Karin Spence and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - Ecclesiastical - - HISTORY OF ENGLAND. - - VOLUME I. - - - - - BY THE SAME AUTHOR. - - - In one volume, crown 8vo. - - Church and State Two Hundred Years Ago: - - Being a History of Ecclesiastical Affairs from 1660 to 1663. - - "A volume that, regarded from every point of view, we can - approve--contains proof of independent research and cautious - industry. The temper of the book is generous and impartial - throughout."--_Athenæum._ - - "Mr. Stoughton's is the best history of the ejection of the - Puritans that has yet been written."--_North British Review._ - - "The thanks, not only of the Nonconforming community, but - of all who are interested in the religious history of our - country, are due to Mr. Stoughton for the ability, the - impartiality, the fidelity, and the Christian spirit with - which he has pictured Church and State two hundred years - ago."--_Patriot._ - - - In crown 8vo., cloth. - - Ages of Christendom: Before the Reformation. - - "We know not where to find, within so brief a space, so - intelligent a clue to the labyrinth of Church History before - the Reformation."--_British Quarterly Review._ - - LONDON: JACKSON, WALFORD, & HODDER, - 27, PATERNOSTER ROW. - - - - - Ecclesiastical - - HISTORY OF ENGLAND, - - FROM THE OPENING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE - DEATH OF OLIVER CROMWELL. - - BY - - JOHN STOUGHTON. - - VOLUME I. - - THE CHURCH OF THE CIVIL WARS. - - [Illustration] - - London: - JACKSON, WALFORD, AND HODDER, - 27, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. - MDCCCLXVII. - - - - - UNWIN BROTHERS, GRESHAM STEAM PRESS, BUCKLERSBURY, LONDON, E.C. - - - - - [Illustration] - - ADVERTISEMENT. - - -English literature includes valuable histories of the Church, some of -them prominently exhibiting whatever relates to Anglicanism, others -almost exclusively describing the developments of Puritanism. In -such works the ecclesiastical events of the Civil Wars and of the -Commonwealth may be found described with considerable, but not with -sufficient fullness. Many persons wish to know more respecting those -times. The book now published is designed to meet this wish, by telling -the ecclesiastical part of England's story at that eventful period -with less of incompleteness. In doing so, the object is not to give -prominence to any single ecclesiastical party to the disadvantage of -others in that respect; but to point out the circumstances of all, and -the spirit of each, to trace their mutual relations, and to indicate -the influence which they exerted upon one another. The study of -original authorities, researches amongst State Papers and other MS. -collections, together with enquiries pursued by the aid of historical -treasures of all kinds in the British Museum, have brought to light -many fresh illustrations of the period under review; and the author, -whilst endeavouring to make use of the results so obtained, has reached -the conclusion, that the only method by which a satisfactory account of -a single religious denomination can be given, is by the exhibition of -it in connexion with all the rest. - -His purpose has been carefully to ascertain, and honestly to state -the truth, in reference both to the nature of the events, and the -characters of the persons introduced in the following chapters. -He is by no means indifferent to certain principles, political, -ecclesiastical, and theological, which were involved in the great -controversy of the seventeenth century. As will appear in this -narrative, his faith in these is strong and unwavering: nor does he -fail to recognize the bearing of certain things which he has recorded, -upon certain other things occurring at this very moment; but he cannot -see why private opinions and public events should stand in the way of -an impartial statement of historical facts, or a righteous judgment -of historical characters. For the principles which a man holds remain -exactly the same, whatever may have been the past incidents or the -departed individuals connected with their history. Happily, a change is -coming over historical literature in this respect; persons and opinions -are now being distinguished from each other, and it is seen, that -advocates on the one side of a great question were not all perfectly -good, and that those on the other side were not all thoroughly bad. -The writer has sought to do honour to Christian faith, devotion, -constancy, and love wherever he has found them, and never in any case -to varnish over the hateful opposite of these noble qualities. And he -will esteem it a great reward to be, by the blessing of God, in any -measure the means of promoting what is most dear to his heart, the -cause of truth and charity amongst Christian Englishmen. - -The plan of the work, and the various aspects under which the public -affairs, the principal actors, and the private religious life of -England from the opening of the Long Parliament to the death of Oliver -Cromwell are exhibited, may be discovered at a glance, by any one who -will take the trouble to run over the table of contents. - -Many defects which have escaped the Author will doubtless be noticed -by his critics, and in this respect he ventures to throw himself -upon their candour and generosity. One omission, however, may be -explained. The theological literature of the period needs to be studied -at large, for the purpose of making apparent the grounds upon which -different bodies of Christians based their respective beliefs. Most -ecclesiastical historians fail to exhibit those grounds. The Author is -fully aware of this deficiency in his own case; but it is his hope, -should Divine Providence spare his life, to be enabled, in some humble -degree, to supply that deficiency at a future time. - -He begs gratefully to acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered -him by the Very Reverend the Dean of Westminster, in what relates to -Westminster Abbey and the Universities--by Mr. John Bruce, F.S.A., -for information and advice on several curious points--and by Mr. -Clarence Hopper, who has collated with the originals, almost all the -extracts from State Papers. Nor can he omit thankfully to notice the -special facilities afforded him for consulting the large collection of -Commonwealth pamphlets in the British Museum, and the polite attention -and help which he has received from gentlemen connected with Sion -College and with Dr. Williams' Library. He has also had other helpers -in his own house--helpers very dear to him, whom he must not name. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CONTENTS. - - - INTRODUCTION. - - PAGE. - Opening of Long Parliament 1 - - - ANGLICANS. - - Under Elizabeth 4 - - Under the Stuarts 6 - - Spirit of Anglicanism 9 - - Intolerance 17 - - Ecclesiastical Courts 18 - - High Commission Court 20 - - Star Chamber Court 26 - - Strafford 29 - - Laud 31 - - - PURITANS. - - In the reign of Elizabeth 40 - - Change in the Controversy 45 - - Puritan dislike of Ceremonies 48 - - Sufferings 49 - - Emigration 50 - - Bolton and Sibbs 53 - - Puritanism a Reaction 55 - - Its defects 56 - - - CHAPTER I. - - MEMBERS OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT. - - Lenthall 59 - - Holles--Glynne--Rudyard 60 - - Vane 61 - - Fiennes 62 - - Cromwell 63 - - St. John 64 - - Haselrig--Pym 65 - - Hampden 66 - - Marten 68 - - Selden 69 - - Falkland 72 - - Dering 74 - - Digby 75 - - Hyde 77 - - - CHAPTER II. - - Grand Committee for Religion 79 - - Petitions from Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick 79 - - Debates on Religion 83 - - Pym's and Rudyard's Speeches 83-85 - - Committee appointed to prepare - a Remonstrance 86 - - Debates respecting Strafford 87 - - Strafford impeached by Pym 89 - - Impeachment of Laud 91 - - Puritan Petitions 93 - - Debate on the Canons 95 - - - CHAPTER III. - - Presbyterianism in England 100 - - Root and Branch Petition 103 - - Presbyterianism in Scotland 104 - - Scotch Commissioners in London 107 - - Petition and Remonstrance presented to the House 109 - - Other Petitions 110 - - Debate touching Root and Branch Petition 112 - - - CHAPTER IV. - - Lords' Committee on Innovations 119 - - Williams, Dean of Westminster 119 - - Meetings in Jerusalem Chamber 121 - - Ceremonial Innovations 123 - - The Prayer Book 124 - - Episcopacy 124 - - Resolutions for Reforming Pluralities and removing - Bishops from the Peerage 126 - - Star Chamber and High Commission Courts 127 - - The Smectymnus Controversy 128 - - - CHAPTER V. - - Marriage of the Princess Mary 131 - - The Solemn Vow and Protestation 133 - - Conference between the two Houses 134 - - No Popery Riots 136 - - Trial of Strafford 137 - - His Execution 141 - - Deans and Chapters 142 - - Bill for Restraining Bishops 144 - - Bill for Abolition of Episcopacy 146 - - Debated by the Commons 148 - - Conference between the two Houses 150 - - Further Debate 152 - - Discussion on Deans and Chapters 154 - - Discussions respecting Episcopacy 157 - - Complaints against the Clergy 158 - - - CHAPTER VI. - - Laud sent to the Tower 160 - - Bishop Wren arrested 161 - - Montague's Death 162 - - Davenant's Death 163 - - Impeachment of the Thirteen Prelates 163 - - Correspondence between English and Scotch Clergy 163 - - Visit of Charles to Scotland 165 - - Dislike of the Lower House to the Expedition 166 - - Charles departs for Edinburgh 166 - - Letters from Sidney Bere 167 - - Conduct of Charles in Scotland 169 - - Church Reforms 170 - - Innovations discussed 171 - - Parliament adjourns 172 - - Parliament less popular 173 - - Causes of the Reaction 174 - - - CHAPTER VII. - - Bill for excluding Bishops from Parliament 176 - - Dering's Speech 176 - - The Grand Remonstrance 179 - - Debated by the Commons 182 - - Discussion about the Printing of it 183 - - - CHAPTER VIII. - - Return of the King 186 - - Vacant Bishoprics filled up 186 - - Reception of Charles in London 187 - - The Remonstrance presented 191 - - His Majesty's Answer 192 - - Arrest of the Five Members 193 - - Royalist Version of the Affair 193 - - Fatal Crisis in the History of Charles 196 - - Reaction in favour of the Puritans 197 - - Westminster Riots 198 - - Protest drawn up by Twelve Bishops 203 - - Presented to the King 204 - - Prelates sent to the Tower 205 - - Their Unpopularity 205 - - Dismissed on Bail 206 - - - CHAPTER IX. - - Bishops excluded from the Upper House 207 - - Those who died before 1650 209 - - Wright--Frewen--Westfield Howell 209 - - Coke--Owen--Curle--Towers 210 - - Prideaux--Williams 211 - - Irish Rebellion 212 - - Protestant Churches in Ireland 216 - - Popish Massacre 218 - - Fears of the English 220 - - - CHAPTER X. - - Episcopacy 223 - - Seceders from the Popular Party 224 - - Opponents of Episcopacy 227 - - Sectaries 228 - - Flight of the King 229 - - Charles at Windsor 230 - - Charles at York 231 - - Attempts at Mediation 231 - - Manifestoes 233 - - The Coming Conflict 237 - - Hostile Preparations 239 - - The Parliamentary Army 240 - - Royalist Army 242 - - Nature of the Struggle 243 - - - CHAPTER XI. - - Outbreak of the War 246 - - Puritan Troops on the March 248 - - Barbarity of the Cavaliers 251 - - Battle of Edge Hill 253 - - Church Politics in London 255 - - Popular Preachers 259 - - The Scotch advocate a thorough Reformation 261 - - The Fate of Prelacy 262 - - Negotiations at Oxford 264 - - Proposals from Parliament 265 - - Royal Answer 266 - - Scottish Petition 267 - - - CHAPTER XII. - - Westminster Assembly 271 - - Its Constitution 273 - - Meeting of the Members 275 - - Parliamentary Directions 278 - - Death of Brooke 280 - - Death of Hampden 281 - - Success of the Royalists 283 - - Bradford Besieged 283 - - Gloucester Besieged 284 - - Effect of the War upon the Assembly 287 - - Commissioners sent to Scotland 289 - - The Solemn League and Covenant 292 - - Taken by the Assembly 294 - - Battle of Newbury 296 - - Treaty with the Scotch 297 - - - CHAPTER XIII. - - Death of Pym 301 - - Court Intrigues 305 - - Corporation Banquet 307 - - Marshall's Discourse 308 - - Iconoclastic Crusade 312 - - Cromwell at Ely 319 - - League and Covenant set up 319 - - Covenant imposed upon the Irish 323 - - Meetings of Westminster Assembly 326 - - Presbyterians 329 - - Erastians 330 - - Dissenting Brethren 332 - - Toleration--Chillingworth 335 - - Hales 336 - - Jeremy Taylor 337 - - Cudworth--More 339 - - John Goodwin 343 - - Busher--Locke 346 - - - CHAPTER XIV. - - Early Congregational Churches 348 - - Browne 349 - - Barrowe--Greenwood 353 - - Penry 356 - - Jacob 357 - - Lathrop 358 - - Independents and Brownists 365 - - Spread of Congregationalism 369 - - Presbyterians and Independents 371 - - - CHAPTER XV. - - Charles at Oxford 372 - - Royalist Army 373 - - Reports Respecting the King and the Court 374 - - Conduct of his Majesty 376 - - Bishops at Oxford 378 - - Clergy at Oxford 379 - - Chillingworth and Cheynell 381 - - Barwick 383 - - - CHAPTER XVI. - - Ecclesiastical Affairs 385 - - Committee for Plundered Ministers 387 - - Tithes 389 - - Local Committees 390 - - Church and Parliament 391 - - - CHAPTER XVII. - - Laud's Trial 395 - - Accusations against him 396 - - His Defence 397 - - Bill of Attainder passed 399 - - His Execution 401 - - His Character 402 - - The Directory 404 - - Sanctioned by General Assembly and House of Lords 406 - - Ordinance enforcing the Directory 407 - - Dissatisfaction of the Scotch 408 - - Irish Loyal to Prayer Book 409 - - Forms of Devotion for the Navy 409 - - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - Treaty at Uxbridge 412 - - Debate between Royalists and Parliamentarians 414 - - Charles makes a shew of Concession 415 - - Debates at Westminster about Ordination 417 - - Debates on Presbyterian Discipline 418 - - Presbyterians and Independents 419 - - Committee of Accommodation 421 - - - CHAPTER XIX. - - Long Marston Moor 425 - - Naseby 428 - - Sufferings of the Clergy 431 - - Alphery--Alcock--Alvey 433 - - - CHAPTER XX. - - Jealousy of Presbyterian Power 436 - - Unpopularity of Scotch Army 437 - - The Power of the Keys 439 - - Toleration 443 - - Divine Right of Presbyterianism 446 - - Assembly threatened with a Præmunire 448 - - Confession of Faith drawn up by Assembly 450 - - Revision of Psalmody 451 - - Character of Assembly 452 - - - CHAPTER XXI. - - New modelling of the Army 455 - - Richard Baxter 456 - - Religion in the Camp 457 - - Army Chaplains--Sprigg 459 - - Palmer 461 - - Saltmarsh 462 - - Preaching in the Army 464 - - Conference between Charles I. and Henderson 469 - - Newcastle Treaty 471 - - Letters to the Queen 474 - - - CHAPTER XXII. - - Ordinances for establishing Presbyteries 477 - - Final Measures with regard to Episcopacy 479 - - Ecclesiastical Courts 481 - - Registration of Wills 483 - - Tithes 485 - - Church Dues 487 - - University of Cambridge 490 - - Ordinance for its Regulation 491 - - Commissioners appointed to administer the Covenant 491 - - Sequestrations 493 - - Revival of Puritanism 494 - - Oxford 496 - - Military Occupation of the University 497 - - Parliamentary Commissioners 497 - - Dr. Laurence and Colonel Walton 499 - - Resistance to the New Authorities 500 - - - CHAPTER XXIII. - - Presbyterians and Independents 504 - - Contentions at Norwich 505 - - Presbyterian Policy 508 - - Attack on the Sectaries 509 - - Supernatural Omens 511 - - Negotiations between the Parliament and the Scotch 513 - - The King at Holdenby 514 - - Presbyterians jealous of the Army 515 - - Earl of Essex 517 - - False Step of the Presbyterians 518 - - The King in the Hands of the Independents 519 - - Cromwell's attempt at reconciling Parties 520 - - Royalist Violence 522 - - Laws against Heresy 523 - - Newport Treaty 526 - - Concessions made by the King 527 - - Military Remonstrance 528 - - Presbyterian Efforts to save the King 529 - - Pride's Purge 531 - - Trial of Charles 531 - - Execution 532 - - Burial 535 - - - - - [Illustration] - - CORRIGENDA. - - - VOL. I. - - Page Line - 114 29 _for_ Simon _read_ Symonds. - 192 note _for_ Horton _read_ Hopton. - 207 1 _insert_ Bishops. - 210 7 _for_ in 1646. He died _read_ He died in 1646, - 215 19 _for_ Rauthaus _read_ Rathhaus. - 453 22 _for_ condition _read_ erudition. - 521 heading _for_ Denominations _read_ Demonstrations. - - - VOL. II. - - 125} - 127} headings read _Sir Harry Vane_. - 133 7 _for_ Naylor _read_ Nayler. - 146 3 _the word_ been _is dropped into line_ 4. - 151 31 _for_ Bordura _read_ Bodurda. - 262 note _for_ according _read_ accordingly. - 361 heading for _Fox and Cromwell_ read _Fox's Disciples_. - 409 10 _for_ Isaac _read_ Isaak. - 427 1 & 13 _for_ Francis _read_ Frances. - - - - - [Illustration] - - INTRODUCTION. - - -On the third of November, 1640, at nine o'clock in the forenoon, the -Earl Marshal of England came into the outer room of the Commons' -House, accompanied by the Treasurer of the King's Household and other -officers. When the Chancery crier had made proclamation, and the -clerk of the Crown had called over the names of the returned knights, -citizens, burgesses, and barons of the Cinque-ports; and after his -Lordship had sworn some threescore members, and made arrangements for -swearing the rest, he departed to wait upon his Majesty, who, about one -o'clock, came in his barge from Whitehall to Westminster stairs. There -the lords met him. Thence on foot marched a procession consisting of -servants and officers of state.[1] - -The King, so accompanied, passed through Westminster Hall and the Court -of Requests to the Abbey, where a sermon was preached by the Bishop of -Bristol. The King's Majesty, arrayed in his royal robes, ascended the -throne. The Prince of Wales sat on his left hand: on the right stood -the Lord High Chamberlain of England and the Earl of Essex, bearing -the cap; and the Earl Marshal and the Earl of Bath bearing the sword -of state occupied the left. Clarence, in the absence of Garter, and -also the gentleman of the black rod, were near the Earl Marshal. The -Earl of Cork, Viscount Willmott, the Lord Newburgh, and the Master of -the Rolls, called by writ as assistants, "sat on the inside of the -wool-sacks;" so did the Lord Chief Justices, Lord Chief Baron, and -the rest of the judges under them. "On the outside of the woolsack" -were four Masters of Chancery, the King's two ancient Serjeants, the -Attorney-General, and three of the puisne Serjeants. To the Lords -Spiritual and Temporal, apparelled in their robes, and seated in their -places, and to the House of Commons, assembled below the bar, his -Majesty delivered an address, declaring the cause of summoning this -parliament. Then the Lord Keeper Finch made a speech; after which, the -Commons having chosen William Lenthall, of Lincoln's Inn, as Speaker, -that gentleman, being approved with the usual ceremonies, added another -oration, in which he observed: "I see before my eyes the Majesty of -Great Britain, the glory of times, the history of honour, Charles -I. in his forefront, placed by descent of ancient kings, settled -by a long succession, and continued to us by a pious and peaceful -government. On the one side, the monument of glory, the progeny of -valiant and puissant princes, the Queen's most excellent Majesty. On -the other side, the hopes of posterity, the joy of this nation, those -olive-branches set around your tables, emblems of peace to posterity. -Here shine those lights and lamps placed in a mount, which attend your -Sacred Majesty as supreme head, and borrow from you the splendour of -their government." - -Thus opened the Long Parliament; knowing what followed, we feel a -strange interest in these quaint items extracted from State Papers and -Parliamentary Journals.[2] With such ceremonies Charles I. once more -sat down on the throne of his fathers; and once more, too, clothed in -lawn and rochet, the prelates occupied their old benches. Great was -their power: Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, might be said to discharge -the functions of Prime Minister; Juxon, Bishop of London, clasped the -Lord Treasurer's staff; and Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, had some years -before held the great seal. They and their reverend brethren sat as -co-equals with scarlet-robed and coroneted barons. They represented the -stately and ancient Church of England, in closest union with the senate -and the throne; suggesting, as to the relations of ecclesiastical and -civil power, questions, which are as ancient as mediæval times, and -as modern as our own. Thus too again the Commons' Speaker, in florid -diction congratulated the monarch on the prosperity of his realms. -That day can never be forgotten. Outwardly the Church, like the State, -looked strong; but an earthquake was at hand, destined to overturn -the foundations of both. To understand the crisis in reference to the -Church we must look a little further back.[3] - -The Anglo-Catholic and Puritan parties stood face to face in the -National Church, at the opening of the Long Parliament. They had -existed from the time of the Reformation. - -Anglo-Catholics, while upholding with reverence the three creeds of -Christendom, did not maintain any particular doctrines as distinctive -of their system. Neither did they, though their peculiarities were -chiefly ecclesiastical, propound any special theory of Church and -State. Under Queen Elizabeth they maintained theological opinions -different from those which they upheld under Charles the First. At the -former period they were Calvinists. Before the civil wars they became -Arminians. Preaching upon the controversy was forbidden; and Bishop -Morley, on being asked "what Arminians held," wittily replied, "the -best bishoprics and deaneries in England!"[4] - -Whereas in reference to doctrine there was change, in reference to -ecclesiastical principles there was progress. The constitution of -the Protestant Church of England being based on Acts of Parliament, -and the supremacy of the Crown in all matters "touching spiritual -or ecclesiastical jurisdiction"[5] being recognized as a fundamental -principle of the Reformation--the dependence of the Church upon the -civil power appeared as soon as the great ecclesiastical change took -place. The Act of Uniformity in the first year of Elizabeth was passed -by the lay Lords alone--all the Bishops who were present dissented--and -the validity of the consecration of the first Protestant Archbishop had -to be ratified by a parliamentary statute.[6] - -Of the successive High Commissions--which formed the great spiritual -tribunals of the land--the majority of the Commissioners were -laymen.[7] The Anglo-Catholics of Elizabeth's reign were obliged to -accept this state of things, and sometimes to bow before their royal -mistress, as if she had been possessed of an absolute super-episcopal -rule.[8] Yet gradually they shewed a jealousy of parliamentary -interference, and rose in the assertion of their authority and the -exercise of their power. Whitgift availed himself of the lofty -spiritual prerogatives of the Crown to check the Commons in what he -deemed their intrusive meddlings with spiritual affairs.[9] He strove -to lift the Parliamentary yoke from the neck of the Church, and to -place all ecclesiastical matters in the hands of Convocation. He -preferred canons to statutes, and asked for the royal confirmation of -the first rather than the second. But, after Whitgift and under the -Stuarts, Church power made considerable advances. Anglo-Catholics, -under the first James and the first Charles, took higher ground than -did their fathers. Their dislike of Parliaments went beyond what -Whitgift had dared to manifest. The doctrine of the divine origin -of Episcopacy, which was propounded by Bancroft, when Whitgift's -chaplain, probably at Whitgift's suggestion, certainly with his -concurrence--though it startled some English Protestants as a novelty, -and roused the anger of a Puritan privy councillor jealous of the -Queen's supremacy,[10] became a current belief of the Stuart Anglicans. -At the same time the power of Convocation was widely stretched, as -will be seen in the business of the famous canons of 1640. The -encroachments of the High Commission upon the jurisdiction of the -Civil Courts, and the liberties of the subject, produced complaints in -everybody's mouth, and served, as much as anything, to bring on the -great catastrophe. What is now indicated in a few words will receive -proof and illustration hereafter. - -Looking at changes in the doctrine and at progress in the policy -of Anglo-Catholics, perhaps, on the whole, the persons intended by -that denomination may be best described as distinguished by certain -principles or sentiments, rather than by any organic scheme of dogma or -polity. They formed a school of thought which bowed to the decisions -of the past, craved Catholic unity, elevated the episcopal office, -exalted Church authority, suspected individual opinion, gave prominence -to social Christianity, delighted in ceremonial worship and symbolism, -attached great importance to order and uniformity, and sought the -mysterious operations of divine grace through material channels. The -Anglo-Catholic spirit in most respects, as might be expected, appears -more shadowy and in less power amongst the Bishops connected with the -Reformation than amongst those who succeeded.[11] Parker, Whitgift, and -Laud represent stages of advancement in this point of view. But from -the very foundation of the Reformed Church of England this spirit, in a -measure, manifested itself, and in no respect, perhaps, so much as in -reverence for early patristic teaching. No one can be surprised that -such tendencies remained with many who withdrew allegiance from the -Pope, and renounced the grosser corruptions of Rome. It is a notable -fact that out of 9,400 ecclesiastics, at the accession of Elizabeth, -less than 200 left their livings.[12] Many evaded the law under shelter -of powerful patrons, or escaped through the remoteness and poverty of -their cures. And it cannot be believed that, of those who positively -conformed, all or nearly all became real Protestants. - -The divines of this school, drawn towards the Fathers by their -venerable antiquity, their sacramental tone and their reverence for -the episcopate, did not miss in them doctrinal tendencies accordant -with their own. Even the Calvinistic Anglican of an earlier period -could turn to the pages of Augustine and of other Latin Fathers, and -find there nourishment for belief in Predestination, and Salvation -by faith. But the Arminian still more easily found his own ideas of -Christianity in Chrysostom, Clement of Alexandria, and other Eastern -oracles. The Greek Fathers were favourites with the Anglican party -of the seventeenth century. Whether the study of that branch of -literature was the cause or the effect of the Arminian tendencies of -the day--whether a taste for the learning and rhetoric of the great -writers of Byzantium and Alexandria paved the way for the adoption of -their creed, or sympathies with that creed led to the opening of their -long neglected folios, may admit of question. Certainly the formation -of theological beliefs is always a subtle process, and is subject to so -many influences that, in the absence of conclusive evidence, it is -hazardous confidently to pronounce a judgment. - -The fairest side of Stuart-Anglicanism presents itself in the writings -of Dr. Donne, and Bishop Andrewes. In the first of these great -preachers there is a strong "patristic leaven,"--a lofty enforcement of -church claims, a deep reverence for virginity, and an inculcation of -the doctrine of the Real presence--such as we notice in the writings -of the Fathers before the schoolmen had crystallized the feeling of -an earlier age into the hard dogma of Transubstantiation. But there -are also in some of his quaint and beautiful sermons statements of -Christian truth, resembling the theology of Augustine; and at the -same time, from the very bent of his genius, he was led to illustrate -practical duty in many edifying ways. As to Bishop Andrewes, his "Greek -Devotions" present him as a man of great spirituality; and we are not -surprised to learn that he spent five hours every day in prayer and -meditation. The formality of method in his celebrated manual, the -quaintness of his diction, and his artificial but ingenious arrangement -of petition and praise are offensive to modern taste; and, it must be -allowed, his catholic _animus_ is betrayed every now and then, so as -to shock Protestant sensibilities; yet there are Protestants who still -use these Devotions, and find in them helps to communion with God, aids -to self-examination, and impulses to a holy life. On turning to his -sermons, we discover expressed in his sententious eloquence (which has -been rather too much condemned for pedantry and alliteration) doctrinal -statements respecting the Atonement and Justification by Faith, quite -in harmony with evangelical opinions. Though not a Calvinist, he was -free from Pelagian tincture. Andrewes, Donne and others, however, -are not--any more than the Fathers--to be judged by extracts. A few -passages do not accurately convey their pervading sentiments. Orthodox -and evangelical in occasional statements of doctrine, still they are -thoroughly sacramentarian and priestly in spirit. And, no doubt, their -works, especially those of Andrewes, contributed in a great degree to -foster that kind of religion which so much distressed, alarmed, and -irritated the Puritans at the opening of the Civil War. - -The admirable George Herbert, too, had strong Anglo-Catholic -sympathies, on their poetical and devotional side. His hymns and -prayers are in harmony with his holy quiet life, and may be compared -to a strain of music such as he drew from his lute or viol, or to a -deep-toned cathedral antiphony, in response to notes struck by an angel -choir. - -The type of character formed under such culture partook largely of a -mediæval spirit. The saints of the Church were cherished models. The -festivals of the Church were seasons for joy, its fasts for sorrow. The -liturgy of the Church stereotyped the expressions of devotion, almost -as much in its private as in its public exercise. The ministers of the -Church were regarded more as priests than teachers, and their spiritual -counsel and consolations were sought with a feeling, not foreign to -that in which Romanists approach the confessional. The sacraments -of the Church were received with awe, if not with trembling, as the -mystic vehicles of salvation; and the whole History of the Church, -its persecution and prosperity, its endurance and achievements, its -conflicts and victories, were connected in the minds of such persons -with the ancient edifices in which they worshipped. The cathedral and -even many village choirs told them of "the glorious company of the -Apostles," "the goodly fellowship of the prophets," and "the noble -army of martyrs," and "the Holy Church throughout all the world." -They loved to see those holy ones carved in stone and emblazoned in -coloured glass. A dim religious light was in harmony with their grave -and subdued temper. The lofty Gothic roof, the long-drawn aisle, the -fretted vault, and the pavement solemnly echoing every footfall, -had in their eyes a mysterious charm. The external, the visible, -and the symbolic, more exalted their souls than anything abstract, -argumentative, and doctrinal: yet, though their understanding and -reason had little exercise, it must not be forgotten, that, through -imagination and sensibility awakened by material objects, these -worshippers might rise into the regions of the sublime and infinite, -the eternal and divine. - -Such religion existed in the reign of Charles I. amongst the -dignitaries of the Church. Occupying prebendal houses in a Cathedral -close, they found nourishment for their devotion in "the service of -song," as they occupied the dark oak stalls of the Minster choir. It -was also cherished in the Universities. Heads of houses, professors, -and fellows carried much of the Anglican feeling with them, as they -crossed the green quadrangle, to morning and evening prayer. Town -rectors and rural incumbents would participate in the same influence. -Devout women, in oriel-windowed closets, also would kneel down, under -its inspiration, to repeat passages in the Prayer book, or in Bishop -Andrewes' devotions. And some English noblemen, free from courtly vice, -would embody the nobler principles of the system. Yet, probably, the -larger number of religious people in England were of a different class. - -The following extract from a letter, belonging to the early part of -the year 1641, giving an account of the death of the Lady Barbara -Viscountess Fielding, affords an idea of Anglican piety in the last -hour of life, more vivid than any general description:-- - -"About twelve of the clock this Thursday, the day of her departure, Dr. -More being gone, I went to her, and by degrees told her of the danger -she was in, upon which she seemed as it were to recollect herself, -and desired me to deal plainly with her, when I told her Dr. More's -judgment of her, for which she gave me most hearty thanks, saying this -was a favour above all I had ever done her, &c.; and when she had, in -a most comfortable manner, given me hearty thanks, she desired me to -spend the time she had to live here, with her in praises and prayers -to Almighty God for her, desiring me not to leave her, but to pray -for her, when she could not, and was not able to pray for herself, -and not to forsake her until I had commended her soul to God her -Creator. After which, some time being spent in praising God for her -creation, redemption, preservation hitherto, &c., we went to prayers, -using in the first place the form appointed by our Church (a form -she most highly admired), and then we enlarged ourselves, when she -added thirty or forty holy ejaculations;--then I read unto her divers -of David's Psalms, after which we went to prayers again; then she -desired the company to go out of the room, when she made a relation of -some particulars of her life to me (being then of perfect judgment), -desiring the absolution our Church had appointed, before which nurses -and others were called in, and all kneeling by her, she asked pardon of -all she had offended there, and desired me to do the like for her to -those that were not there; and when I had pronounced the absolution, -she gave an account of her faith, and then after some ejaculations she -praised Almighty God that He had given her a sight of her sins, giving -Him most humble thanks that He had given her time to repent, and to -receive the Church's absolution; and then she prayed in a very audible -voice, that God would be pleased to be merciful to this our distressed -Church of England for Jesus Christ his sake. After this she only spoke -to my Lord, having spoken to her father, Sir J. Lambe, two or three -hours before, and then at last of all, she only said, 'Lord Jesus, -receive my soul;' but this was so weakly, that all heard it not, nor -did I plainly, but in some sort guessed by what I heard of it."[13] - -But the Anglo-Catholicism of the Stuart age presented other aspects. -In a multitude of cases, ritual worship degenerated into mere -ceremonialism. An ignorant peasantry, who could neither read nor write, -and who were destitute of all that intellectual stimulus which, in a -thousand ways, now touches the most illiterate, would derive little -benefit from reading liturgical forms, unaccompanied by instructive -preaching--against which, in the Puritan form, the abettors of the -system were much prejudiced. Though the prayers and offices of the -Church of England be incomparably beautiful, experience is sufficient -to show that, familiar with their repetition, the thoughtless and -demoralized, being quite out of sympathy with their spirit, fail to -discern their excellence. And, when it is remembered, that the Book -of Sports, instituted by King James, was the rule and the reward for -Sabbath observance; that after service in the parish church (not -otherwise), the rustics were encouraged to play old English games on -the village green, to dance around the May-pole, or to shoot at butts; -we ask what could be the result, but religious formalism scarcely -distinguishable from the lowest superstition? Should it be pleaded, -that a pious and exemplary clergyman would impart life to what might -otherwise have been dead forms, and restrain what otherwise would have -been riotous excess; it may be replied, that a very considerable number -of the holders of livings were not persons of that description; they -sank to the level of their parishioners, and had no power to lift their -parishioners to a level higher than their own. - -The sympathies of the Church were with the people in their amusements; -a circumstance which contributed to the strong popular reaction in -favour of the Church, when Charles II. was restored. In the reign of -Charles I. the wakes, or feasts, intended to celebrate the dedication -of churches had degenerated into intemperate and noisy gatherings, and -were, on that account, brought by the Magistrates under the notice of -the Judges. But the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of Bath -and Wells, backed by the King, came to the rescue. The complaints were -attributed to Puritan "humourists." Alleged disorders were denied. The -better sort of clergy in the diocese of Bath and Wells,--seventy-two -in number, likened to the Septuagint interpreters, "who agreed so soon -in the translation of the Old Testament,"--came together, and declared -that these wakes were fit to be continued for a memorial of the -dedication of churches, for the civilizing of the people, for lawful -recreation, for composing differences, for increase of love and amity, -for the relief of the poor, and for many other reasons.[14] - -The charge has been brought against the high Churchmen of that day, -that they were _papistically_ inclined. If by this term be meant any -disposition to uphold the Papacy, and to acknowledge the authority -of the Bishop of Rome over other Churches, even though modified by -a charter of liberties like the Gallican, the charge is unfair. A -distinct national establishment was always contended for by those -who were suspected of the strongest papal leanings. They advocated -an authority not derived from any foreign potentate, but, as they -conceived, of immediate divine origin, and this authority they -considered to be entitled to uncontrolled jurisdiction within the -shores of the four seas. They wished for a Pope--to use the current -language of the times--"not at Rome but at Lambeth." A reconciliation -with the Church of Rome not involving submission, might have been -agreeable to some of the party; yet, it must be acknowledged that, in -solemn conclave, the Anglicans accused the Romanists of idolatry.[15] -If, however, by _papistic_ be meant a tendency to Catholic worship, -and so ultimately to Romish conformity, then may the imputation be -supported by facts. The history of Christendom shews that the Church -gradually passed from its primitive simplicity to the corruptions -of the papacy; that ante-Nicene innovations, with post-Nicene -developments and traditionalism, were stepping-stones in the -transition. The process, on a wide scale, requires many centuries for -its accomplishment; but partially and in individual cases a few years -may suffice for the experiment. Ecclesiastical annals, from Constantine -to Hildebrand, may be epitomized in a brief chronology. Movements may -rapidly pass through stages, like those of the Nicene and Mediæval. And -sharp speaking, in order to maintain a certain ecclesiastical position -against Rome, may immediately precede, and in fact, herald the approach -of pilgrims to the very gate of the seven-hilled city.[16] What has -occurred within our own time in individual instances, was likely to -occur, to a large extent, in the first half of the seventeenth century. - -Mediæval sympathies, at the period now under our review, are obvious -not only in the rigorous enforcement of fasting and abstinence,[17] -which had continued ever since the Reformation, but in certain -monastic tendencies, and in slurs cast on the reformers. A document, -prepared in 1633--no doubt under the influence of Laud--by Secretary -Windebank, for the direction of Judges of assize, urged obedience to -the proclamation for the better observance of Lent and fish-days, -because their neglect had become very common, probably in many cases -on Puritan grounds.[18] Monastic tendencies, about the same time, -appeared in the famous Monastery at Gidding, in Huntingdonshire. While -the devotions of the pious family there excited the admiration of Isaak -Walton,--in whose account of it is reflected the more spiritual phase -of the proceeding,--the superstitions, mingled with better things, -provoked the severest animadversions of Puritan contemporaries,[19] who -wondered at nothing more than, that in a settled Church government, -Bishops could permit "such a foundation so nearly complying with -Popery." In connection with this may be mentioned the preface to the -new statutes for the University of Oxford, published in Convocation, -which "disparaged King Edward's times and government, declaring, that -the discipline of the University was then discomposed and troubled by -that King's injunctions, and the flattering novelty of the age, and -that it did revive and flourish again in Queen Mary's days, under the -government of Cardinal Pole, when by the much-to-be-desired felicity of -those times, an inbred candour supplied the defect of statutes."[20] - -In the sixteenth century, and far into the seventeenth, intolerance, -inherited from former ages, infected more or less all religious -parties. Few saw civil liberty to be a social right, which justice -claimed for the whole community, whatever might be the ecclesiastical -opinions of individuals. This position of affairs shewed how little -dependent is spiritual despotism upon any particular theological -system, and how it can graft itself upon one theory as well as upon -another; for, while under Elizabeth persecution allied itself to -Calvinism, in the first two of the Stuart reigns, Arminianism--at -that time in Holland wedded to liberty of conscience--appeared in -England embracing a form of merciless oppression. But, though without -special theological affinities, intolerance certainly shewed kinship -to certain forms of ecclesiastical rule. It fondly clung to prelacy -before the Civil War. The relation in which subsequently it appeared to -other Church organizations will be disclosed hereafter. Whitgift and -Bancroft, inheriting intolerance from their predecessors, persecuted -Nonconformists. They silenced and deprived many; whilst others they -excommunicated and cast into prison. The Anglican Canon Law--which must -be distinguished from the Papal Canon Law[21]--remained a formidable -engine of tyranny in the hands of those disposed to use it for that -purpose. That law, of course, claimed to be not law for Episcopalians -alone but for the people at large, who were treated altogether as -subject to Episcopal rule; and neither creed nor worship inconsistent -with canonical regulations could be tolerated for a moment. Only -one Church was allowed in England; and for those who denied its -apostolicity, objected to its government, disapproved of its rites and -observances, or affirmed other congregations to be lawful churches, -there remained the penalty of excommunication, with all its alarming -consequences.[22] - -Anglicanism allowed no exercise of private judgment, but required -everybody to submit to the same standard of doctrine, worship, and -discipline. Moderate Puritans were to be broken in, and Nonconformists -"harried out of the land." It might seem a trifle that people should -be fined for not attending parish churches; but imprisonment and exile -for nonconformity struck most Englishmen as a stretch of injustice -perfectly intolerable.[23] - -Ecclesiastical Courts, not only consistory and commissary, but -branching out into numerous forms, carried on actively and continuously -the administration of canon law after the Reformation. Discipline -was, perhaps, not much less maintained after that event than -before.[24] Such activity continued throughout the reigns of Elizabeth, -James, and Charles; and so late as 1636 the Archdeacon of Colchester -held forty-two sessions at four different towns during that single -year. The object of the canon law and the ecclesiastical courts being -_pro morum correctione et salute animæ_, immoralities such as the -common law did not punish as crimes, came within the range of their -authority, together with all sorts of offences against religion and the -Church. The idea was to treat the inhabitants of a parish as members -of the Anglican Church, and to exercise a vigilant and universal -discipline by punishing them for vice, heresy, and schism. Intemperance -and incontinence are offences very frequently noticed in the records of -Archidiaconal proceedings in the latter part of the sixteenth and the -early part of the seventeenth centuries, suggesting a very unfavourable -idea of public morals at that time; and a long catalogue also appears -of charges touching all kinds of misconduct. Some appear very -strange,--such as hanging up linen in a church to dry; a woman coming -to worship in man's apparel; a girl sitting in the same pew with her -mother, and not at the pew door, to the great offence of many reverent -women; and matrons being churched without wearing veils. Others relate -to profaning Sundays and holidays, setting up maypoles in church time, -and disturbing and even reviling the parish ministers. Certain of them -point distinctly to Puritan and Nonconformist behaviour, such as -refusing to stand and bow when the creed was repeated, and to kneel -at particular parts of divine service. Brownists are specifically -mentioned, and extreme anti-sacramental opinions are described. - -The method of proceeding _ex officio_ was by the examination of the -accused on his oath, that he might so convict himself if guilty, and -if innocent, justify himself by compurgation[25]--a method, it may be -observed, totally opposed to the criminal jurisprudence of our common -law, and one which became increasingly offensive in proportion to the -increase of national attachment to the English Constitution on the side -of popular freedom. Though, as we look at the moral purpose of these -institutions, and the cognizance they took of many vicious and criminal -irregularities of conduct which did not come under the notice of civil -magistrates, we are quite disposed to do justice to the motives in -which the courts originated, and to admit that in the rude life of the -middle ages they might possess some advantages--we must see, looking at -them altogether, that they became the ready instruments of intolerance -when great differences in religious opinion had appeared; that they -were certain, in Puritan esteem, to attach odium to the old system of -Church discipline; and that they were completely out of harmony with -the modern spirit of Protestant civilization. - -In the Tudor and Stuart days, there also existed two tribunals of -a character which it is difficult in the nineteenth century to -understand. The High Commission Court was doubtless intended to -promote and consolidate the Reformation on Anglo-Catholic principles, -by exterminating Popery on the one hand, and checking Puritanism on -the other. According to the terms of the Act of Uniformity, Elizabeth -and her successors had power given them "to visit, reform, redress, -order, correct and amend all such errors, heresies, schisms, abuses, -contempts, offences and enormities whatsoever, which, by any manner -of spiritual authority or jurisdiction, ought, or may be lawfully -reformed, ordered, redressed, corrected, restrained or amended." Her -Majesty became invested with authority to correct such heresies of the -clergy as had been adjudged to be so by the authority of the canonical -Scripture, or by the first four general councils, or any of them, or -by any other general council, or by the High Court of Parliament, with -the assent of the clergy in convocation.[26] Many Commissions were -successively issued by the Queen.[27] Neal gives an abstract of that -one which was issued in the month of December, 1583. After reciting -the Act of Supremacy, the Act of Uniformity, the Act for the assurance -of the Queen's powers over all states, and the Act for reforming -certain disorders touching ministers of the Church, her Majesty -named forty-four commissioners, of whom twelve were bishops, some were -privy councillors, lawyers, and officers of state, the rest deans, -archdeacons, and civilians. They were authorized to enquire respecting -heretical opinions, schisms, absence from church, seditious books, -contempts, conspiracies, false rumours, and slanderous words, besides -offences, such as adultery, punishable by ecclesiastical laws. In the -first clause command is given to enquire, "as well by the oaths of -twelve good and lawful men, as also by witnesses, and all _other means -and ways you can devise_."[28] With this power of enormous latitude, -instituting enquiry over vague offences, was connected a power of -punishment, qualified by the word "lawful," and by reference "to the -power and authority limited and appointed by the laws, ordinances, and -statutes of the realm." Liberty was given to examine suspected persons -"on their corporal oath"--in fact, the _ex officio_ oath.[29] Any -three of the members had authority to execute the commission.[30] - -The Court so constituted extended its range, and increased its -activity, and pressed beyond the boundaries of statute law, so as -to become, in the reign of Charles the First, a means of arbitrary -government intolerable to the country. - -Records of the Court are still preserved in the State Paper Office,[31] -shewing the modes of proceeding, the charges of which the Commissioners -took cognizance, and the punishments they pronounced upon the -convicted. Counsel for office--counsel for defendants--appearance -and oath to answer articles--appearance, and delivering in of -certificate--orders for defendants to give in answers--motion for -permission to put in additional articles--commissions decreed for -taking answers and examining witnesses--commissions brought in and -depositions of witnesses published--and orders for taxation of -costs--are forms of expression and notices of proceeding very frequent -in these old Books. Some of them conveyed, no doubt, terrible meanings -to the parties accused. We meet also with "suppressions of motion," -"agreements for subduction of articles," petitions to be admitted -in "_formâ pauperis_," and reference of causes to the Dean of Arches. -Collecting together heads of accusation, we find the following in the -list--holding heretical opinions, contempt of ecclesiastical laws, -seditious preaching, scandalous matter in sermons, using invective -speeches unfit for the pulpit, nonconformity, publishing fanatical -pamphlets, profane speeches, schism, blasphemy, raising new doctrines, -preaching after deposition, and simoniacal contracts. Descending to -minute particulars, we discover such items as these:--"locking the -church door, and impounding the archdeacons, officials, and clergy," in -the exercise of ecclesiastical jurisdiction; wearing hats in church; -counting money on the communion-table; saying, "A ploughman was as -good as a priest," and asking, "What good do bishops in Ireland?;" -profane acts endangering parish edifices; praying that young Prince -Charles might not be brought up in popery; and submission performed in -a slight and contemptuous manner.[32] Entries of fines and imprisonment -frequently occur. - -It should be stated that occasionally other religious offences are -noticed in these volumes, such as possessing a Romish breviary, and -refusing the oath of allegiance. Enquiries also appear, as to persons -who secreted young ladies "going to the nunneries beyond seas." -There are, too, monitions "to bring to the office popish stuff and -books."[33] But such instances are few compared with those relating -to Puritans. Also now and then occur cases of flagrant clerical -immorality, acts of violence, and of criminal behaviour.[34] But it -was the persecution, the intolerance, the irritating control over -so many persons and things, and the harsh treatment, and severe -sentences of this absorbing jurisdiction, emulating as it did the worst -ecclesiastical tribunals of the middle ages, and of Roman Catholic -countries, that so roused the wrath of our forefathers against it. - -It is very curious, after inspecting the records of the High -Commission, to open Dr. Featley's _Clavis_, and there to find -sermons, preached by him at Lambeth before the Commissioners, on such -subjects as "The bruised reed and smoking flax," and "The still small -voice,"--sermons filled with the mildest and gentlest sentiments. More -curious, to light on other discourses in the same volume, bearing the -very appropriate titles of "Pandora's box," and "The lamb turned into -a lion." But for the knowledge we have of the preacher and of the -contents of his discourses, we should suppose the former titles were -ironical hits, and the latter outspoken truths. They are neither; but -are chosen, it is plain, with perfect simplicity.[35] - -The Star Chamber is commonly associated in the minds of Englishmen with -the High Commission Court. Unfettered by the verdict of juries, not -guided by statute law, and irresponsible to other tribunals, it claimed -an indefinable jurisdiction over all sorts of misdemeanours--"holding -for honourable that which pleased, and for just that which profited." -Though not a constituted ecclesiastical court, like the High -Commission, bishops as privy councillors sat amongst its judges, and it -took cognizance of religious publications. Whilst the High Commission -confined its penalties to deprivation, imprisonment, and fines, the -favourite punishments of the Star Chamber were whipping, branding, -cutting ears, and slitting noses. The barbarous treatment of Leighton, -Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick, will shortly be noticed. - -These two arbitrary courts, which, in spite of their difference, were -almost invariably linked together in the thoughts of our countrymen, -concentrated on themselves an amount of public indignation equal to the -fury of the French against the Bastile; and at last, like that prison, -they fell amidst the execrations of a people whose patience had been -exhausted by such prolonged iniquities.[36] - -Nor was it only the intolerance of the Church which exasperated -the people, its secular intermeddling did so likewise. Before the -Reformation Churchmen had held the highest offices in the State, -indeed, had controlled all civil affairs; and Laud was now imitating -the Cardinals of an earlier age. But the English Reformation had shaken -off from itself the civil power of the Church; laymen, not the clergy, -now claimed to guide the helm. The Puritanism of the seventeenth -century, and the civil war which grew out of it, were practical -protests against the attempts of Charles, Strafford, and Laud to -revive what the Reformation in this country had destroyed. The modern -spirit of civilization was seen rebelling against the intrusion of the -spiritual on the secular power. It was a stage in the great European -conflict which ended in the French Revolution; it was an assault upon a -system which has now expired everywhere except in the city of Rome. - -As was only consistent, the party supporting ecclesiastical intolerance -also supported civil despotism. Never since the English Constitution -had grown up were the liberties of the people so threatened as during -the earlier part of the seventeenth century. The two checks on the -tyranny of the Crown, the aristocracy and the Church, had long been -enfeebled--the aristocracy by the wars of the Roses; the Church by -the loss of independence at the Reformation. The nobles of England had -wasted their strength in the fifteenth century; the Church of England -had prostrated herself before the throne in the sixteenth. Neither of -them had now the power, any more than they had now the will, to defend -popular freedom against the invasions of regal prerogative. It is true, -that the same causes, which weakened them as the possible friends of -the people, weakened them also as actual friends of the Sovereign. -What they did for the Crown in the Civil Wars, was far less than they -might have done at an earlier period: even as what remained in their -power to accomplish on behalf of popular rights was far less. But the -malign aspect of the Church, then the chief power next the throne, -towards the nation at large, and the Commons in particular, was most -manifest and most alarming at the epoch under consideration. Old -English liberties indeed had never been extinguished. The spirit of -English self-government asserted under the house of Lancaster, though -seemingly held in abeyance in the times of the Tudors, so far from -expiring, had come out with renewed youth in the days of the Stuarts, -through the parliamentary career of those eminent statesmen who formed -the vanguard of the Commonwealth army. But against the illustrious Sir -John Eliot, with his noble compeers, High Church contemporaries stood -in defiant hostility. That kings are the fountains of all power; that -they reign "by the grace of God," in the sense of divine right; that -they are feudal lords--the soil their property, and the people their -slaves--were doctrines upheld by sycophants of the Court, and endorsed -and defended by doctors of the Church. Dr. Sibthorpe, a notorious -zealot for passive obedience and non-resistance, monstrously declared, -"If princes command anything, which subjects may not perform, because -it is against the laws of God, or of nature, or impossible; yet -subjects are bound to undergo the punishment, without either resisting, -or railing, or reviling; and so to yield a passive obedience where they -cannot exhibit an active one. I know no other case, but one of those -three wherein a subject may excuse himself with passive obedience, but -in all other he is bound to active obedience."[37] Another preacher -of the same class, Dr. Manwaring, was brought before Parliament for -maintaining, "That his Majesty is not bound to keep and observe the -good laws and customs of this realm; and that his royal will and -command in imposing loans, taxes, and other aids upon his people, -without common consent in Parliament, doth so far bind the consciences -of the subjects of this kingdom, that they cannot refuse the same -without peril of eternal damnation."[38] - -The Church of the middle ages had commonly thrown its shield over -subjects against the oppression of rulers: but in contrast with -this, the Anglo-Catholic Church of the Stuart times stood in closest -league with Government for purposes the most despotic. The tyranny -of Buckingham in 1624, with his forced loans, became insupportable, -and the obloquy of it all--alas for the Church of England!--fell -largely upon its dignitaries, because favour had been strongly shown -to the policy of that arrogant minister by such men as Sibthorpe and -Manwaring. Strafford went beyond Charles in imperious despotism; and -Strafford found in Archbishop Laud not only a helper in his "thorough" -policy, but an example of even more violent measures, and a counsellor -instigating him to still greater lengths.[39] - -Besides all this intolerance and oppression, it must be acknowledged -that there was in the ministry of the Church of England a large amount -of ungodliness and immorality. To believe that all the charges of -clerical viciousness and criminality were true, would be to imbibe -Puritan prejudice; whilst, on the other hand, to believe that all -were false, would betray a strong tincture of High Church partiality; -so much could not have been boldly affirmed, and generally believed, -without a large substratum of fact. But more of this hereafter. - -Rigid ceremonialism, desecration of the Sabbath, sympathy with -Roman Catholicism, fondness for imitating popish practices, cruel -intolerance, alliance with unconstitutional rule, and the immorality -of clergymen, will serve to explain what gave such force to the -antagonistic puritan feeling which surged up so fearfully in 1640. -The Church had become thoroughly unpopular amongst the middle and -lower classes in London and other large places; in short, with that -portion of the people, which in the modern age of civilization, must -and will carry the day. They did not then, with all their fondness -for theological controversy, care so much for any abstract idea of -Church polity as for the actual working of ecclesiastical machinery, -and the character and conduct of ecclesiastical men before their eyes. -It was not any Presbyterian or Independent theory, as opposed to the -Episcopalian system of the Church of England, that swept the nation -along its fiery path in the dread assault which levelled the Episcopal -establishment; but it was the indignation aroused by corruption, -immorality, and intolerance, which kindled the blazing war-torch -destined to burn to the ground both temple and throne. Had the Church -of England been at that time a liberal and purely Protestant Church, -and its rulers wise, moderate, and charitable men; whatever might have -been the influence of ecclesiastical dogmas, its fate must have been -far different from what it actually became. - -The person who carried Anglo-Catholicism to its greatest excess, -and who, by other unpopular proceedings, did more than anybody -else, to alienate from the State religion a large proportion of his -fellow-countrymen, was William Laud. Ritualism ran riot under the rule -of this famous prelate. Alienated from the theology of Augustine, -but relishing the sacerdotalism of Chrysostom, he delighted in a -gorgeous worship such as accorded with the Byzantine liturgy, and was -penetrated with that reverence for the priesthood and the Eucharist -which the last of the Greek orators, in his flights of rhetoric, did -so much to foster. Whatever might be the extravagances in Byzantium, -they were nearly, if not quite, paralleled when Archbishop Laud held -unchecked sway. A church was consecrated by throwing dust or ashes -in the air.[40] The napkin covering the Eucharistic elements was -carefully lifted up, reverently peeped under, and then solemnly let -fall again: all which performances were accompanied by repeated lowly -obeisances before the altar. This ceremony was quite as childish and -far less picturesque than the dramatic doings in the Greek Church, -when choristers aped angels by fastening to their shoulders wings of -gauze.[41] Into cathedrals, churches, and chapels, were also introduced -pictures, images, crucifixes, and candles, which, with the aid of -surplices and copes,[42] bowing, crossing, and genuflections, produced -a spectacle which might be taken for a meagre imitation of the mass. -Had not public opinion, which was beginning to be a mighty power, -checked such proceedings, there can be no doubt they would speedily -have reached such lengths, that an English parish church would have -differed scarcely at all from a Roman Catholic chapel.[43] - -Laud's size was in the inverse ratio of his activity--for he had the -name of "the little Archbishop," though his capacities for work were of -gigantic magnitude. His influence extended everywhere, over everybody, -and everything, small as well as great--like the trunk of an elephant, -as well suited to pick up a pin as to tear down a tree. His articles -of visitation traversed the widest variety of particulars, descending -through all conceivable ecclesiastical and moral contingencies, down -to the humblest details of village life. Churchwardens were asked, -"Doth your minister preach standing, and with his hat off? Do the -people cover their heads in the Church, during the time of divine -service, unless it be in case of necessity, in which case they may -wear a nightcap or coif?" These functionaries were also required to -state, how many physicians, chirurgeons, or midwives there might be -in the neighbourhood; how long they had used the office, and by what -authority; and how they demeaned themselves, and of what skill they -were accounted in their profession.[44] A report of the state of his -province he presented to the King year by year.[45] Every bishopric -passed under his review, and the substance of the information he -obtained and digested, affords a bird's-eye view of the religious -condition of each diocese, in the Archbishop's estimation. Oxford, -Salisbury, Chichester, Hereford, Exeter, Ely, Peterborough, and -Rochester, were in a tolerably fair condition, although furnishing -matter here and there for some complaint. But in his own see of -Canterbury there were many refractory persons, and divers Brownists -and other separatists, especially about Ashford and Maidstone, who -were doing harm, "not possible to be plucked up on the sudden."[46] -London occasioned divers complaints of nonconformity. Factious and -malicious pamphlets were circulated, Puritans were insolent, and -curates and lecturers were "convented." From Lincoln came complaints, -that parishioners wandered from church to church, and refused to come -up to the altar rail at the holy communion; Buckingham and Bedfordshire -also abounded in refractory people. Norwich had several factious men: -Bridge and Ward are named, and it is said there was more of disorder -in Ipswich and Yarmouth than in the cathedral city. Lecturers were -abundant, and catechising neglected. In the diocese of Bath and Wells, -lectures were put down in market towns, and afternoon sermons were -changed into catechetical exercises. Popish recusants appeared fewer -than before, and altogether the bishop had put things in marvellous -order. - -As Laud's eye--that ferret-like eye, which under its arched brow, -looks with cunning vigilance from Vandyke's canvas--ran over his whole -province, and his busy pen recorded what he learned, he sent to the -Inns of Court--the benchers having betrayed Puritan tendencies--and -insisted upon surplice and hood, and the whole service prescribed for -the occasion being used in chapel before sermon. He claimed rights -of ecclesiastical visitation in the two universities, and inspected -cathedrals and churches, as to their improvements and repairs; -condescending even to order the removal of certain seats employed for -the wives of deans and prebendaries, and directing them to sit upon -movable benches, or chairs.[47] - -English residents in Holland;[48] chaplains of regiments amongst the -Presbyterian Dutch; Protestant refugees in this country; and the -ecclesiastical affairs of Scotland, all came under his vigilant notice, -and within his tenacious grasp.[49] - -In his own diocese and province[50] Laud's hand fell heavily on those -beneath his sway. "All men," it is remarked, "are overawed, so that -they dare not say their soul is their own." The clergy of his cathedral -muttered their dissatisfaction. Reports circulated that they were "a -little too bold with him;" and his remedy was, "If upon inquiry I do -find it true, I shall not forget that nine of the twelve prebends are -in the king's gift, and order the commission of my visitation; or -alter it accordingly."[51] Dean and prebendaries were soon humbled -under such discipline. - -In court and country, in Church and State, Laud, next to the Earl of -Strafford, must be considered to have been the most powerful minister -in England.[52] Pledged to a thorough policy of arbitrary kingship, he -helped in all things his royal master, and his able fellow-councillor. -When Strafford was in Ireland as Lord Lieutenant, the Archbishop was -the great power at home behind the throne. "He is the man," said -courtiers, when they would point out the most favourable medium for -approaching royalty.[53] His own power availed for the province of -Canterbury; by the help of his archiepiscopal brother, Neil of York, -it sufficed for all England. Such a man, so bigoted, so imperious, and -so marvellously active, was sure to make many more foes than friends. -He had also ways, altogether his own, of making enemies. As he himself -tells us, he kept a ledger, in which he preserved a strict account of -the theological and ecclesiastical bias of clergymen, for the guidance -of his royal master in the distribution of patronage. O and P were the -letters at the heads of two lists. On the _Orthodox_ all favours were -showered. From those favours all _Puritans_ were excluded.[54] - -The Anglicanism of Laud was dear to Charles I. for two reasons. First, -it harmonized with his own despotic principles. The King had been, -ever since he assumed the crown, working out a problem in which the -direst mischief was involved--whether it were not possible for an -English sovereign, without casting away constitutional forms, to grasp -at absolute dominion, to make the Commons a mere council for advice, -or a Court to register decrees, rather than an integral branch of the -Legislature; and, while conceding to them the office of filling the -country's purse, to claim and exercise an independent power of managing -the strings. He disliked parliaments, if they exercised their rights. -"They are of the nature of cats," said he, "they ever grow curst with -age, so that if you will have good of them, put them off handsomely -when they come to any age, for young ones are ever most tractable."[55] -His remedy for troublesome parliaments was dissolution. He preferred -ship money to legal taxation: Anglicanism, from its maintenance of -the Divine right of Kings, favoured his views in this respect, and -divines of that stamp were after his own heart. But there was a -second reason why Charles was drawn towards Laud. It would be unjust -to the King to represent him merely as a politician. Grave, cold, -reserved and haughty--qualities indicated in the countenance which the -pencil of Vandyke has made familiar to us all--he was also a man of -sincere religious feeling; but that feeling appears in harmony with -his natural character. Stately ceremonialism, court-like prelacy, -priestly _hauteur_, and a frigid creed corresponded even more with -the idiosyncracy of the man than with the prejudices of the monarch. -From a youth he had shown a leaning towards the Roman Catholic form of -worship, and this tendency had been nourished by the education received -from his father. "I have fully instructed them," King James observed in -a letter touching his sons, "so as their behaviour and service shall, -I hope, prove decent, and agreeable to the purity of the primitive -Church, and yet as near the Roman form as can lawfully be done, for -it hath ever been my way to go with the Church of Rome _usque ad -aras_."[56] - -As we proceed in our review of parties, we feel the difficulty of -defining the boundary between them. The majority of divines were -thoroughly Anglican or thoroughly Puritan; yet a great many had only -partial sympathies with the one or the other. Nor did they form a -class of their own. In no sense were they party men, except so far -as they were prepared to support episcopacy and defend the Common -Prayer. Amongst these may be mentioned Dr. Jackson, sometime vicar of -Newcastle, (afterwards Dean of Peterborough,) known in his own time as -an exemplary parish priest, and very popular with the poor, relieving -their wants "with a free heart, a bountiful hand, a comfortable -speech, and a cheerful eye;" better known in our day as the author -of a goodly row of theological works, including discourses on the -Apostles' Creed.[57] He was a decided Arminian, and a rather High -Churchman. Bishop Horne acknowledged a large debt to Dean Jackson, and -Southey ranks him in the first class of English divines.[58] But his -writings present strong attractions for those who have no High Church -sympathies, because the reasonings and contemplations of such a man -rise far above sectarian levels, and are suited to enrich and edify the -whole Church of God. Dr. Christopher Sutton, prebendary of Westminster, -the learned author of two admirable practical treatises, "Learn to -Live" and "Learn to Die,"--in which patristic taste and a special -regard for the Greek Fathers appear in connection with a highly devout -spirit--is another theologian of the same period and the same class, -in whom, with some Anglican elements, others of a Puritan cast are -combined. The well-known Bishop Hall is a still more striking example -of the Puritan divine united with the Anglican ecclesiastic. - -If Puritanism cared for antiquity it would be possible to make out -for it a lineage extending back to the first ages of Christendom. As -soon as the Church betrayed symptoms of backsliding, persons arose, -jealous for her honour, who recalled her erring children to paths -of pristine purity. When, boasting of numbers, the many who were -predominant relaxed severity of discipline, and conformed to the -world in various ways--a few zealous Novations and Donatists set up -a standard of reform. In some cases they proceeded at the expense -of charity, and in a narrow spirit; but they aimed ultimately at -restoring what they deemed primitive communion. At a later period the -name, and some of the ecclesiastical sympathies of the Puritans, were -anticipated by the _Cathari_: and in the Lollards and Wickliffites -of England, we may trace the spiritual ancestors of the men who -revolutionized the Church in the seventeenth century. Several of our -Reformers went beyond their brethren in ideas of reform; and in the -reign of Elizabeth--particularly amongst those who returned from the -continent, where they had been brought into close fellowship with -Zwinglians and other advanced Protestants--there were persons holding -opinions substantially the same with those adopted by Puritans under -Charles I.; and those who had no doctrinal tenets or ecclesiastical -preferences to separate them from their contemporaries, but had become -somewhat distinguished by objections to certain forms, and more so by -superior religiousness and spirituality of life, were, on that account, -reproached by laxer men as bigoted precisians. As was natural, this -treatment drove such persons into the arms of others who had embraced -distinctive views of polity, between which and the strict habits of -these new allies there existed obvious harmony. The anti-hierarchical -temper of Puritanism, and its presumed favourableness to the broad -principles and popular spirit of the British constitution secured for -it, on that side, countenance from such as were far from adopting its -religious principles. Leicester and Walsingham looked on it with some -favour as a counterpoise to prelatical arrogance, if not for other -reasons. Burleigh shielded the persecuted from the violence of the High -Commission. Raleigh defended the cause in Parliament. Connection with -these politicians gave political significancy to a movement originating -entirely in spiritual impulses. - -Whenever any vigorous revival of religious life occurs, a tendency -to "irregular proceedings" will be sure to appear in the movement -party. Accordingly, one peculiarity of the early Protestants is seen -in a love of meeting together for Christian culture and edification, -apart from the formalities of established worship. The proceedings of -these good people were such as would be now pronounced intensely Low -Church. One neighbour conferred with another, and "did win and turn -his mind with persuasive talk." "To see their travels," exclaimed our -old martyrologist, "their earnest seeking, their burning zeal, their -readings, their watchings, their sweet assemblies, their love and -concord, their godly living, their faithful marrying with the faithful, -may make us now, in these days of our free profession, to blush for -shame." - -Somewhat resembling those meetings in the commencement of Henry VIII.'s -reign were the prophesyings in the time of Elizabeth. A number of -junior divines, present on these occasions, delivered in the order of -seniority discourses on a portion of scripture appointed for the day, -and then an elder brother, of learning, experience, and influence, -reviewed what had been advanced, and terminated the engagement by -prayer. Some of Elizabeth's bishops favourably regarded this practice -as good discipline for preachers, and as affording edification to the -people. Grindal incurred the royal displeasure for not putting down -these prophesyings, for her Majesty would tolerate no innovations -in the Established Church. Nor did she look with favour on popular -preaching at all. Theological questions she reserved to be investigated -by her learned divines. Only moral duties, the most elementary truths -of Christianity, and the worship of God, belonged in her opinion to -the people in general. "The liberty of prophesying," indeed, in those -days so much resembled the liberty of the press--preachers so often -spoke as the tribunes of the people, bringing divers public questions -within the range of pulpit criticism, that the Queen had political as -well as religious objections to the freedom of such orators.[59] To -check Puritan tendencies, uniformity was pressed with rigour; The Queen -assumed the initiative in the proceeding. Pilkington, Bishop of Durham, -disliked the cap and surplice. Grindal, Bishop of London, was reluctant -to force the prescribed habits. Even Archbishop Parker was slow in the -business. At length the Queen's zeal carried all before it; Parker -and his commission set to work, and shewed no want of earnestness. -Aylmer, when he succeeded Grindal in the see of London, though once a -friend to the Puritans, made up for his predecessor's lukewarmness by a -rigorous suppression of all Nonconformity;[60] and Whitgift, tolerant -in his Cambridge days, showed himself a stern persecutor when he became -Primate, and Archbishop Bancroft went beyond them all. The minutest -ceremonies were enforced; clerical garments, odious because of their -Popish fashion, were imposed.[61] Such things were held by one party -to be in themselves indifferent, and by the other party to involve a -grave dereliction of Protestant principle. Yet the former imposed these -things upon the latter. What was only excused by the imposer as an -affair in itself of little moment, except for the sake of uniformity, -was condemned by victims of the imposition as a perilous concession -to superstitious ceremonialism. The cause of conscience on the one side -came into collision with the cause of order on the other; part of the -zeal manifested against Puritanism no doubt proceeded from a desire to -gratify the Queen and prevent her from favouring Popery, and therefore -originated in Protestant policy, but the policy was very short-sighted, -and its injustice was equalled by its folly. Able, faithful, and -learned ministers were silenced. In London especially, where Puritan -ministers were numerous, multitudes of quiet steady citizens, with no -love for schism, were alienated from the Established Church, and a long -account of persecution began to be kept, which, when produced at the -day of reckoning, had to be paid in the endurance of similar sufferings. - -The strong leaven of Puritanism in the reign of Elizabeth fermented -in different ways. It produced the memorable controversies between -Cartwright and Whitgift, and between Travers and Hooker: curiously -enough, in both cases, the combatants were unequally matched; -Cartwright being a much abler man than Whitgift, and Hooker vastly -surpassing Travers. In the first of these polemical encounters, the -Puritan maintained the exclusive authority of Scripture against the -Anglican, who appealed to the Fathers: and in his opposition to -prelacy, the Puritan developed views of Church government, hereafter -to be noticed, which the Presbyterians of the seventeenth century for -a while, and in a measure, succeeded in practically carrying out. We -see the battle between Travers and Hooker fought on a wider field, -including points of doctrine as well as matters of polity. The Puritan -contended for the Scriptural authority of Church government, while the -Churchman, looking more to the spirit than the letter of God's law -and holy order, sought to lay the corner-stones of ecclesiastical -polity in general principles. Beyond this difference, as preachers -at the Temple where Travers was Lecturer and Hooker was Master, they -presented rather dissimilar phases of theological doctrine; for it was -said "the forenoon sermon spoke Canterbury, and the afternoon sermon -Geneva." The preachers could not agree upon Predestination.[62] They -had not precisely the same idea of Justification by faith. And further -still--and in an age when the Popish controversy excited such deep -feeling, the difference was of great consequence,--Hooker maintained, -that the Church of Rome, though not a pure and perfect Church, was -a true one, so far that such as live and die in its communion, upon -repenting of their sins of ignorance, may be saved; but Travers said, -that the Church of Rome is no true Church at all, so that such as -live and die therein, holding justification in part by works, cannot, -according to the Scriptures, be regarded as saved. Whatever now may be -thought of this latter teaching, most Churchmen then would agree with -Hooker, most Puritans with Travers. - -Puritanism opened its lips in parliament. An effort was made in 1584 -to curtail the power of bishops, to supersede or control canon law by -common law, to give the people a share in the election of ministers, -and to erect an eldership which, conjointly with the clergy, should -manage the spiritual affairs of a parish. Attempts also were made at -Sabbath reform; but the whole of this Puritanical movement was stopped -by the Queen. Whitgift wrote to his royal mistress, condemning the -interference of Parliament with ecclesiastical matters, and advising -that whatever alterations were made in the Church should come in form -of canon law from the clergy by _her Majesty's authority_. In this -business we recognize an anticipation of the subsequent relative -position of parties. Anglicanism stood on the side of prerogatives -claimed by the Crown, Puritanism on the side of power claimed by -Parliament.[63] - -With the Anglican change of doctrine came a change in Puritan -controversy. Under Elizabeth, both parties in the Church of England -were Calvinistic in their creed. When High Churchmen in the reign of -James I. adopted Arminian views, this naturally excited the opposition -of Low Churchmen, and the battle which had before been waged against -caps and canons assumed a character of higher importance, and -discussions were carried on involving creeds. - -The Puritans were the champions of predestination, and _identified_ -it with the doctrine of salvation by grace. Whether right or wrong -in this respect, it is necessary that such an identification in -their minds should be remembered, for the just appreciation of their -character and conduct. They did not consider themselves as contending -for mere abstractions, but for truths of the highest practical moment -to the interests of mankind: and certainly many of their opponents in -their anti-Calvinistic zeal shewed little sympathy with Evangelical -sentiments, and contented themselves too generally with a hard, dry, -Nicene orthodoxy, coupled with strong ritualistic predilections. -There may certainly be found not a little of powerful moral teaching, -like Chrysostom's, amongst the Anglican divines of that day, and a -firm inculcation of such views as he held on the person of Christ; but -there is a lack, as in his case, of that teaching which exalts the -atoning work of the Redeemer, and the regenerating and sanctifying -agency of the Holy Spirit. The Calvinistic decisions of the Synod of -Dort--whither King James sent English representatives--did not at all -allay the furiousness of the controversy: and if, in consequence of -the Court instructions of 1622, "that no preacher under a bishop or -dean should meddle with the dispute,"[64] the flame here and there -might smoulder, assuredly the fire was by no means extinguished. -It may be added, that many excellent men in the Church of England, -who were far from embracing the theory of government espoused by -Cartwright and Travers, and who considered as trifles the habits and -ceremonies against which the earlier Puritans so earnestly protested, -nevertheless joined with all their heart in opposing the doctrinal -tenets of the Anglicans. Hence arose the distinction between doctrinal -and ecclesiastical Puritans. To Puritans of both kinds James I. had a -strong antipathy. Though at one time a sturdy Calvinist, he abandoned -the system when it became a Puritan badge, but his most intense -dislike fell on the ecclesiastical peculiarities of the party. When -once he had come across the border, he identified Presbyterianism with -republicanism, declaring that a kirk and a monarchy could no more agree -than God and the Devil; and with a coarse insolence and vulgar spite, -far more intolerable to his subjects than the temper of Elizabeth in -her most imperious proceedings--for the two sovereigns were of totally -different natures--the Scotch King of England declared, "I will harry -the Puritans out of the land, or worse." - -We have already noticed the prayer-meetings and the prophesyings of -the sixteenth century. Puritan lectureships, proceeding from the -same spirit, were very much in advance of the other associations. -They sprung from a desire to promote spiritual edification by means -extraneous to the old parochial system, and in fact they practically -anticipated the popular rights of election, and the principles of -ecclesiastical voluntaryism taught at the present day. The lectureships -depended on the free contributions of the people, who exercised the -privilege of choosing as their lecturer the man whose doctrines and -manner of life they approved. As parochial duties did not attach to -the office, the lecturers were relieved of certain ceremonies, and, -consequently, such ministers as felt Puritan scruples preferred to -minister in this more limited capacity. The origin of the institution -is obscure. It was first legally recognized by the Act of Uniformity -at the Restoration; but a Friday evening lecture existed in the parish -of St. Michael Royal as early as the year 1589. Whatever might be the -exact nature of the beginning, the extensive progress of lectureships -is apparent in the seventeenth century. The lecturers stood somewhat in -the same relation to parish priests as the friars of the middle ages -to the secular clergy, and, like them, they exercised large popular -influence; like them too, they received large popular contributions; -and also like them, in some cases, they were found in painful rivalry -and collision with parochial incumbents. - -Another form of Puritan activity appeared in the institution of a -body of trustees for the purchase of impropriations, with a view to -secure as many livings as possible for ministers of Puritan opinions--a -proceeding closely imitated in recent times by religious laymen, who -buy advowsons for Evangelical clergymen. Fuller, who, in his own droll -style, tells us of the twelve trustees, that four were "divines to -persuade men's consciences; four lawyers to draw all conveyances; and -four citizens who commanded rich coffers"--goes on to observe what -incredibly large sums were advanced in a short time, and that it was -verily believed, "if not obstructed in their endeavours, within fifty -years, rather purchases than money would have been wanting."[65] - -Puritans disliked ceremonies. Earnest as to the spirit of worship, they -cared little--often not enough--about forms. These men did not study, -and could but imperfectly understand, the æsthetics of religion--as -some people now call that which relates to seemly and expressive -modes of divine service, dictated by propriety, common sense, and -good taste. But beyond this, and chiefly, they had conscientious -scruples respecting observances, to which, no doubt, with equal -conscientiousness, the rulers of the Church attached importance. If -conscience, on the one side, had been content to practice and not -impose; conscience, on the other side, would have been saved the pain -of resistance, if not the trouble of protest. The two parties were -ever coming into dogged antagonism--prelates, zealous for uniformity, -and Puritans as zealous against it. The latter, if ministers, would not -wear the surplice, or read the whole liturgy; if people, they would -not recite the creed after the minister, nor repeat the responses in -the Litany and after the Ten Commandments; they would sit when they -ought to stand, or stand when they ought to kneel, or remain erect -when they ought to bow; ministers would preach when they were required -to catechise; people wanted lecturers when they had only rectors or -curates. Rather than yield in these matters they would suffer anything. -Their oppressors called them "proud," "self-conceited," "malapert," -"puffed up by popular vogue," "indiscreet," "hollow pillars of -Puritanism."[66] They retorted that Popery was overflowing the land, -and they prayed that the Spirit of the Lord would lift up a standard -against it. - -To repress these disorders, articles of visitation were drawn up more -carefully than ever, with an increase of minuteness and stringency; -and these were sent to churchwardens and sidesmen. But the power of -spiritual courts, and episcopal and archidiaconal authority were set at -nought by Puritan Protestants. It was asserted by some of the stiffer -sort that bishops have no right to hold visitations without express -commission under the great seal, or to tender articles unless made by -Convocation and ratified by Parliament. People were advised to keep -the visitation articles "for waste paper, or to stop mustard-pots." -Citations to spiritual courts should be disregarded, it was said, -unless the courts were held by royal patent and the processes were -in the King's name. "Depart without more ado," advised these hasty -disposers of ecclesiastical law; "if they excommunicate you it is -void--you may go to Church notwithstanding. If all subjects will take -this course, they will soon shake off the prelates' tyranny and yoke -of bondage, under which they groan through their own defaults and -cowardice."[67] - -Such was the spirit shown by some; but in many cases the ecclesiastical -powers could not be so trifled with, and Puritans suffered fines -and imprisonment. Rather than endure this injustice many preferred -exile; some retired to Holland; others to the shores of New England. -Six-score passengers, it was reported, were going out in two ships, -and six hundred more were prepared to follow. Such swarms of emigrants -alarmed their neighbours, who complained of the decrease of the -king's people, the overthrow of trade, and the augmented number of -those who were disaffected towards episcopacy.[68] But the drain went -on, the Puritans saying, "The sun of heaven doth shine as comfortably -in other places; the sun of righteousness much brighter; better to go -and dwell in Goshen, find it where we can, than tarry in the midst of -such an Egyptian darkness as is falling on this land."[69] This was in -the spirit of Dante, who, when an exile from his beloved home on the -Arno, asked, "Shall I not everywhere behold the light of the sun and of -the stars?--Shall I not everywhere under Heaven be able to enjoy the -most delightful truths?" - -Baxter has embodied the sentiment in one of his hymns:-- - - "All countries are my Father's lands, - Thy sun, Thy love doth shine on all; - We may in all lift up pure hands, - And with acceptance on Thee call. - - "No walls, nor bars, can keep Thee out, - None can confine a holy soul; - The street of heaven it walks about, - None can its liberty control." - -Such men were not likely to be subdued by persecution; they had caught -a spirit which all the violence in the world could not crush; and the -only results of that violence were the increase of their own constancy, -surrounded by the honours of spiritual heroism, and the infamy which -will for ever rest on the memory of their cruel oppressors. - -It must not be supposed that their cause was unpatronized by men of -influence, or their case unheard in the halls of Parliament. They had -friends amongst the noble; and patriotic tongues were eloquent on their -behalf in the House of Commons. Though for a while protest did not -avail against their persecution, in the end it bore for the persecutors -bitter fruit. It made way for the exposure and chastisement of their -guilt, and was neither forgotten nor found to be ineffective, when, in -the dispensations of a righteous Providence, a day of retribution came. - -Puritanism was a reaction against Anglicanism. It was an assertion -of the right of private judgment against Church decisions, of the -exclusive authority of Scripture against tradition, and of the -simplicity of worship against elaborate ceremonialism. The intense -horror of Popery felt by the Puritans was deepened by the papistic -practices of the Anglicans. The strict observance of the Sabbath was -made still more strict by the publication of the "Book of Sports," and -by the practical depreciation of the Lord's day through the immense -importance attached to Church festivals. The defection of the High -Church party from the Evangelical creed, and still more from the -evangelical spirit of the Reformers, riveted closely the attachment of -the Puritans to the articles and homilies, as distinguished from the -liturgy and rubric; and made them more full and earnest in exhibiting -the freedom of salvation through the atonement of Jesus Christ, and -the new birth of the Spirit of God. Also the working out of Arminian -principles in unevangelical ways drove the Puritans into sharper and -more rigid forms of Calvinistic speculation. But, happily for the fame -of the latter, they were led, by the persecution they suffered, to -connect themselves with the friends of political liberty; and thus to -share in the honour belonging to the noble band of patriots, who, not -without some mistakes but with a wisdom and heroism--which it would -be idle to question and unthankful to forget--secured for us those -national privileges which distinguish Englishmen from the rest of -Europe. - -Taking Andrewes and Donne as exponents of Anglican theology, the reader -may take Bolton and Sibbs as representatives of Puritan teaching. Their -works were exceedingly popular with the Evangelicals of Charles I.'s -reign. In rough leather binding they might have been seen on the humble -library shelf of the yeoman's house, or in his hands well thumbed, -as he sat in his window-seat or walked in his little garden. "The -Four Last Things" led many to prepare for the future life; and "The -Bruised Reed" became honoured as the chief means of Richard Baxter's -conversion. The tone of piety in these men partook of a glow and ardour -which made their spiritual life, at times, appear like a rapture, and -rendered their death "a perfect euthanasia." "By the wonderful mercies -of God," said Bolton, "I am as full of comfort as my heart can hold, -and feel nothing in my soul but Christ, with whom I heartily desire to -be." Asked by a friend in his last moments on a sharp December day, -"Do you feel much pain?" "Truly no," he replied, "the greatest pain I -feel is your cold hand." If, to use a figure of Coleridge, the Cross -shines dimly in certain Anglican authors, that Cross is all-radiant in -Puritan theology. If, in the one case, the cloudy pillar hovers in the -neighbourhood of the promised land without entering it, in the other, -it conducts those who follow its guidance straight into a land flowing -with milk and honey. - -Let it not be supposed that the doctrinal Puritans in Stuart times were -perpetually preaching, or writing on doctrinal subjects; or that they -had the least sympathy with the sectaries. Thomas Adams is an eminent -doctrinal Puritan of that age, but no sermons can be more eminently -practical than his; they are the furthest removed from Antinomian -tendencies. He is ever combating the vices around him, and insisting -upon a solid scriptural morality; whilst his allusions to Brownists are -caustic enough to have satisfied, in that respect, the taste of the -most decided Anglican. - -Puritanism was not so much a creed, or a code, as a life. Though a -reaction, the movement was no superficial phenomenon thrown up by the -chafing together of obstinate minds on opposite sides. The causes -were some of them ancient, and all of them deep. It is possible even -that peculiarities of race and blood might have somewhat to do with -the strong sympathies of the middle and lower classes, in a simple -and unostentatious kind of religious worship. The plain and sturdy -nature of the Anglo-Saxon was still pure, in a multitude of cases, -from Norman admixture in those ranks of society where Puritanism most -prevailed; and the Anglo-Saxon had ever shown himself unfriendly to -that ecclesiastical pomp of architecture and glittering ritual which -delighted the Norman. Traditional opinions and sentiments, opposed -to the spirit of Romanism, had been handed down through the middle -ages, from one generation to another of the English commonalty in -their homesteads and cottages; and, probably, as those opinions and -sentiments had contributed to the outbursts of Lollardism, and helped -on the cause of the Reformation, so also they ministered to the later -development of principles, proceeding further in the same direction. -Beyond all doubt, the Puritan under James was the religious son and -heir of the reformer under Elizabeth; he inherited, and expressed -more boldly and more truly, his father's spirit. Puritanism came only -as the second stage in a progress of which the Reformation was the -first. Such an impulse as Protestantism could not be resisted--set, -as it was from the beginning, decidedly in the direction of change -beyond what the compromise under the Tudors allowed. The pent-up -waters of Protestantism found a vent through Puritanism. Besides, -the persecutions under Mary rendered Rome more hateful to Englishmen -during the last half of the sixteenth century than during the first; -the children who heard of the Smithfield fires were more exasperated -even than the parents who saw them, and they hated with a bitter hatred -everything in the Church which, in their opinion, pointed Romewards. -The Puritan reaction against Popery is to be regarded as also aided -by its alliance with the reactions, moral and political, against -despotism; freedom appeared to the Puritan not merely as something -expedient, and to be desired for temporal ends, but as a heaven-born -right, a gift of God, which it was man's duty to claim and assert, in -the face of earth and hell: and thus kindred forces bore toward the -same point. Puritanism, moreover, presented a strong attraction to -religious minds of a certain class. Multitudes were sinners of a coarse -type, and wanted something infinitely stronger than forms, ceremonies, -orthodox abstractions, and moral advice to put things right between -their souls and God, and to give them holiness and peace. The Puritan -exhibition of the love of God in Christ, of the wonders of redemption, -and of the abounding mercy of Heaven through the Cross for the chief -of sinners, supplied just what such persons required. Nor to these -alone, but to numbers beside, not coarse-minded transgressors, the -full, clear, and unmixed manifestation of the Gospel plan of saving the -lost came as the most blessed and welcome of messages. And finally, in -enumerating the causes of Puritanism, devout minds, at all in sympathy -with it, will assuredly include that mighty wind which "bloweth where -it listeth." - -Being in some respects a reaction, I may venture to observe, it had -in it what all reactions have--much onesidedness. It betrayed narrow -views of many subjects, straining at trifles, magnifying unimportant -points, and not seeing that the avoidance of superstition in one -quarter is no security against being overtaken by it in another. -There also often occurred a want of charity in judging other people, -and those who did not adopt the Puritan type were in danger of being -put down as publicans and sinners. Puritans were also prone to use -irritating language to their opponents, and shewed at times little -of that meekness and gentleness, the want of which they bitterly -condemned in others.[70] They were intolerant,--with the exception of -a few separatists,--and cannot be regarded as having understood the -principles of religious liberty. They asserted freedom on their own -behalf, but if they could have had the power, they would have imposed -their own peculiarities on all their fellow-countrymen. They were too -apt to be rigid and precise in their methods of theology, and to take -"tithe of mint, anise, and cummin," though not so as to be unmindful -of "the weightier matters of the law." Their scruples as to liturgical -forms were carried to excess, and they evinced a want of that kind -of taste which marked the Anglican churchman by excluding, as Jeremy -Taylor says, "the solemn melody of the organ, and the raptures of -warbling and sweet voices out of cathedral choirs."[71] And finally, -they did not sufficiently recognize the need of providing innocent -and healthy recreations for the people. Man was regarded by them as a -creature made to work and worship, but hardly to play. Some Anglicans -were ascetic, but they were gleesome at times, and conceded, if they -did not enjoin, rather uproarious amusement in connection with their -festivals. They had their fast-days and lenten seasons, but they -had also the merry feasts of Christmas and Easter, Whitsuntide and -Michaelmas. They went daily to church, were fond of the Prayer Book and -oratory, but they had no objection to revels, masques, May-poles, and -village games. These sudden transitions from what was grave to what -was gay, and this mixing up of things sacred with things trifling, had -a hurtful effect, and the religion thus fostered closely approached -that of France and Italy. Hence the Puritans rushed to the extreme of -putting down many manly sports, and discouraging national pastimes, -which, purified from immorality, were adapted to promote national -vigour, cheerfulness, and good fellowship. While, however, they -abolished church festivals they appointed holidays of another kind, -and had relaxations of their own, hereafter to be recounted. Yet the -restraints they placed upon society in the day of their power were -such, perhaps, as more than any thing else tended to alienate from -them the sympathies of a large portion of their fellow-countrymen. -The broken May-pole and deserted village green had no small share in -bringing about some of the worst resentments of the Restoration. - -Blind homage is no honour. To acknowledge the defects of Puritanism -gives all the more force to an exhibition of its excellencies. There -clung around it the imperfections of humanity, but it had in it a germ -of lasting life, a divine element of grace and power. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER I. - - -We meet with statements, on the authority of Lord Clarendon, to the -effect that the members of the Long Parliament "were almost to a man -for episcopal government," and "had no mind to make any considerable -alteration in Church or State."[72] On the other hand, we are told that -at the beginning, "the party in favour of presbyterian government was -very strong in the House of Commons, and that they were disposed to be -contented with no less than the extirpation of bishops."[73] Neither -statement conveys a correct idea of this remarkable assembly. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Let us enter St. Stephen's chapel after the ceremony described in our -Introduction, and see for ourselves. - -Dressed mostly in short cloaks, and wearing high-crowned hats, -grave-looking men were seated on either side the speaker's chair, which -was occupied by William Lenthall, a person of dignified aspect, arrayed -in official robes, as represented by the picture in the National -Portrait Gallery. Behind the chair were the Royal arms, and above it -was the grand Gothic window, rendered familiar to us by old quaint -woodcuts. The mace lay on the table by which the clerks of the House -sat, busy with books and papers; and it may be stated, once for all, -that the forms of the House were rigidly observed, during the memorable -war of words through which this history will conduct the reader. - -Denzil Holles, younger son of John, first Earl of Clare, sat for -Dorchester. Foremost amongst those afterwards known as Presbyterian -leaders, his influence in part was owing to his rank, and early court -associations--for he had been on terms of intimacy with the King--but -still more his power proceeded from the firm and somewhat fiery -decision of his views, as well as from a reputation for integrity and -honour, which raised him above the suspicion of self-interest or of -factious animosity. Even in the days of James, he had resisted the -encroachments of prerogative; and, in the reign of Charles, he had, -through his adherence to the same course, been not only mulcted in a -large fine, but imprisoned during the Royal pleasure.[74] - -[Sidenote: _Members of Long Parliament._] - -Glynne, Recorder of London, and a Member for the City, was also -ultimately a decided Presbyterian; and the same may be said of Maynard, -who represented the borough of Totness. In the same class may be -included Sir Benjamin Rudyard, member for Wilton, and Surveyor of His -Majesty's Court of Wards and Liveries, an accomplished gentleman, "an -elegant scholar," and a frequent speaker. In earlier parliaments he had -hotly debated religious questions, though he was conspicuous for loyal -protestations as sincere as they were fervid. At first he advocated -some qualified form of episcopal superintendence, but, from the opening -of the Long Parliament, he condemned existing prelacy, and thus -prepared himself for adopting presbyterian tenets. - -All these, and others less known, were from the first not only -doctrinal but ecclesiastical Puritans, and were inspired by an intense -detestation of Popery, and of everything which they believed paved the -way to it. Beyond them, we find another group of men further advanced -in the path of Church politics. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -[Sidenote: _Members of Long Parliament._] - -Few have been more unfairly represented than Sir Harry Vane the -younger, member for Hull. Though son of the Comptroller of His -Majesty's household, and brought up at Court, he was, when a youth, -reported to the King as "grown into dislike of the discipline and -ceremonies of the Church of England." Not long after this, it was -stated in a letter, that he had left his father, (old Sir Harry Vane,) -his mother, and his country, and that fortune which his father would -have left him, and for conscience' sake was gone to New England.[75] -There he became Governor of Massachusetts, and, in that capacity, -carried out the principles of religious toleration with a consistency -and an equity so unique, as to offend many of the colonists, who, -while advocates of religious freedom, persecuted, through mistaken -fears, a sincerely religious woman, only because she was obstinate -and fanatical. Returned to England, young Vane became not only member -of the Short Parliament, but received knighthood from Charles I., and -joined Sir W. Russel in the Treasurership of the Navy--a proceeding -which indicated at the time something of a conciliatory disposition -on both sides. With a philosophical temperament of the imaginative -cast, and with strong religious tendencies in a mystical direction; -smitten also with the charms of Plato's republic, and longing for -the realization of his ideal within the shores of England, Vane -seemed to many of his sober-minded contemporaries an enthusiast and -a visionary; yet it would be difficult to disprove the testimony of -Ludlow, that "he was capable of managing great affairs--possessing, -in the highest perfection, a quick and ready apprehension, a strong -and tenacious memory, a profound and penetrating judgment, a just and -noble eloquence, with an easy and graceful manner of speaking. To -these were added a singular zeal and affection for the good of the -Commonwealth, and a resolution and courage not to be shaken or diverted -from the public service."[76] Probably no man, at the beginning of the -Long Parliament, so thoroughly grasped or could so well advocate the -principles of religious liberty as Sir Harry Vane. There he sat in old -St. Stephen's, with a refined expression of countenance, most pleasant -and prepossessing; a person, says Clarendon, "of unusual aspect, which -made men think there was somewhat in him of extraordinary."[77] - -Nathaniel Fiennes, Lord Say and Sele's son, who represented Banbury, -also held rank in the vanguard of religious liberty. Educated at -Geneva--where also Vane had spent some of his early years--he had -imbibed in some degree the spirit of that renowned little republic; -and his opposition to the ecclesiastical establishment of his native -country was, on his entering public life, soon roused by the working -out of Anglo-Catholic principles. He agreed with Vane in his broad -views of freedom, and when the Presbyterian and Independent parties -assumed a definite form, he took his place with the latter. Clarendon -admits his "good stock of estimation in the House of Commons," his -superior "parts of learning and nature," and speaks of his being "a -great manager in the most secret designs from the beginning."[78] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Another individual there--according to the report of a courtly young -gentleman, Sir Philip Warwick--wore a suit which seemed made by a -country tailor; his linen was plain, and not very clean; a speck or two -of blood stained his little band, which, very uncourtier-like, was not -much larger than his collar; his hat had no hat-band, and his sword -stuck close to his side. The man appeared of good stature, but his -countenance looked swollen and reddish, and his voice sounded sharp and -untunable; but he spoke with fervour, and much to the vexation of the -royalist observer, this shabby-looking member was "very much hearkened -unto." "Pray who is that man, that sloven who spake just now?" said -Lord Digby--one who _then_ took the patriotic side--to another, John -Hampden,--who afterwards died for it.--"That sloven whom you see before -you hath no ornament of speech; that sloven, I say, if we should ever -come to a breach with the King, which God forbid, in such a case I say, -that sloven will be the greatest man in England." The speaker was the -sloven's cousin, and, with the intuitive perception of a kindred mind, -saw in that rough piece of humanity some of the rarest elements of -power which this world has ever felt. - -Oliver Cromwell began his parliamentary career in 1628, as member for -Huntingdon. In the Long Parliament he represented Cambridge, being -returned by a majority of only one. As early as 1628 he distinguished -himself in a debate respecting the pardon of certain religious -delinquents, by charging some leading Churchmen with Popery; and though -we can see nothing in his speeches but a rough, rude energy, they were -jerked out by his untunable voice in such a fashion that they were -remembered and talked of when many eloquent orations had glided into -oblivion. His house at Huntingdon afforded a refuge to persecuted -Nonconformist ministers. At St. Ives he achieved an unequalled -reputation for "piety and self-denying virtue." And at Ely--whence he -had now come to London, over bad roads in the foggy month of November, -travelling on horseback in humble style--at Ely, dwelling at the glebe -house, near St. Mary's Churchyard, he maintained the same character and -influence, though there he suffered dreadfully from hypochondria. In -part it rose from seeing his brethren forsake their native country to -seek their bread among strangers, or to live in a howling wilderness. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Long Parliament._] - -Oliver St. John, member for Totness, was on terms of friendship with -Oliver Cromwell, more so in the later than in the earlier portion of -his history. Eminent for qualities such as help to make the good lawyer -and the useful statesman, there hung round his ways a mystery--the -effect of reticence and moroseness--which impaired his influence, and -gave him the name of "the dark-lantern man!" At first chiefly known in -a legal and political capacity, as time advanced, and events rolled -into ecclesiastical channels, he became active in religious affairs, -and took a foremost place amongst political independents. - -Sir Arthur Haselrig represented Leicestershire. He had married the -sister of Lord Brook, and probably shared in what were considered the -extreme ecclesiastical opinions of that nobleman. What these opinions -were will be seen as we proceed, together with the course which the -Leicestershire baronet took, as well on State as on Church questions. -He, at an early period of the Long Parliament, showed himself decidedly -opposed to Episcopacy, and ultimately became a thorough Republican. -With much warm-heartedness and generosity, he had also the rashness -and prejudice which are the dark shadows of such virtues, so that his -enemies said he had "more will than wit," and gave him the nickname of -"hare-brained." - -But far more influential at first than any of these were other men whom -we must describe. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Of the Parliamentary leaders, the most renowned and influential at the -commencement of the struggle was John Pym. That "grave and religious -gentleman"--burgess for the good town of Tavistock--appeared as -conspicuously in religious business as in that which was strictly -political. His countenance had a lion-like dignity, and, with a -touch of melancholy in eyes and lips, there blended an expression of -invincible firmness, while his shaggy mane-like hair, disarranged, -as he spoke with tremendous energy, were in keeping with the rest of -his majestic appearance. For eight and twenty years he had struggled -against the policy of King, Court, and Church. Wise in council, and -eloquent in speech, though quaint and tedious in the style of his -oratory--a trifling drawback, however, in that age--he stood forward -the most formidable antagonist with whom the High Church party had to -deal. So closely at one time did John Pym connect Church and State--in -this respect widely differing from Sir Harry Vane--that in 1628, he -declared, "It belongs to the duty of a Parliament to establish true -religion and to punish false; we must know what Parliaments have -done formerly in religion. Our Parliaments have confirmed General -Councils."[79] This now would be called a thoroughly Erastian style of -speaking. It proceeded on the theory of the Church being subject to -the State, and in this view many of the ecclesiastical reformers of -that age were _practically_ agreed, however diversified their notions -of Church government might be. Pym, though never a Nonconformist, but -simply professing himself "a faithful son of the Protestant religion," -from the beginning of his career opposed the spirit and proceedings of -Anglican prelacy; and as to the questions affecting Episcopacy, he at -last acted with those who sought its overthrow. He had a large share -in calling the Long Parliament, as he prepared the petition for that -purpose, and went to York to present it to the King. After the writs -had been issued, Pym and others proceeded on an electioneering crusade, -urging the voters to support representatives who would maintain the -liberties of their country, then so threatened and imperilled. As -popular opinion counted him the author of the Long Parliament, so -common consent assigned to him the position of its leader. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Long Parliament._] - -Next to John Pym comes John Hampden--the illustrious member for -Buckinghamshire, universally known for his resistance of ship-money, -and for his brief but brilliant military career. His religious -character and the part he took in ecclesiastical affairs have, -however, been much overlooked; yet, in early life, as the friend of -Sir John Eliot, he had followed that single-minded and unflinching -patriot in his noble resistance of ecclesiastical as well as regal -despotism, and was one of the leaders of the advanced party which -sought to promote reforms in Church and State. In 1629 he was engaged -in preparing bills for enlarging the liberty of hearing the Word of -God, and for preventing corruption in the collation to benefices, -headships, fellowships, and scholarships in Colleges, besides other -measures of less importance in a similar direction. "He was," says -Clarendon, "not a man of many words, and rarely began the discourse, -or made the first entrance upon any business that was assumed; but -a very weighty speaker, and after he had heard a full debate, and -observed how the House was like to be inclined, took up the argument, -and shortly, and clearly, and craftily, so stated it, that he commonly -conducted it to the conclusion he desired; and if he found he could -not do that, he never was without the dexterity to divert the debate -to another time, and to prevent the determining anything in the -negative which might prove inconvenient in the future."[80] All this, -when stript of its manifest unfairness, means neither more nor less -than that this persistent enemy of ship-money must have been also a -skilful parliamentary tactician, possessing a rare insight into men -and motives. His modesty and moderation are acknowledged even by -this prejudiced historian; and the rapid progress of his opinions on -ecclesiastical affairs made him what the same authority truly calls, -"a root-and-branch man"--a fact which, though doubted by one of -his biographers, is correctly maintained by another.[81] His high -intellectual forehead, his delicately chiselled features, his eyes so -calmly looking you through, his lips of compressed firmness, with a -kind of melancholy presentiment imprinted on his whole face--betoken -a man born to a great but sad destiny; and we do not wonder at -the confidence he inspired, whether he appealed to the patriotism -of his tenantry and neighbours in the old family mansion down in -Buckinghamshire, at the back of the Chiltern hills, or stood up to -address the grave assembly in St. Stephen's Chapel, Westminster.[82] -Perhaps it is right here to mention a man of a very different stamp, -who sat near these illustrious statesmen and acted with them. Henry -Marten, member for Berks--and, after his father's death, renowned -through the county for his hospitable entertainments in the vale of -"White Horse"--was as gay and humorous, and as fond of fun as the other -two were serious and dignified. Nor can it be denied that he seems to -have been as licentious as they were virtuous--as "far from a Puritan -as light from darkness," and as destitute of religious faith as they -were diligent in its cultivation. Strongly republican, he steadily -opposed the Court policy, and, perhaps through religious indifference, -became tolerant of the religious opinions of others. He belongs to a -considerable class of men who from political feeling are attached to -ecclesiastical reformers, and who join with them in aspirations after -the widest liberty, though incapable of entering into their loftier -purposes. Marten's name does not occur in the early ecclesiastical -debates of the Long Parliament, but he is found afterwards in -connection with political Independents. - -John Selden, member for the University of Oxford, must not be dropped -out of this roll. Merely to mention his name is to suggest the idea -of marvellous learning. His reputation--now exalted by distance of -time, and widened by the flow of ages--reached in his own day almost -surprising magnitude, and must have imparted immense authority to his -opinions. Those opinions, in reference to Church affairs, were what are -commonly called Erastian. In the early conflicts of Puritanism, Selden -fought in its ranks against the domineering spirit of prelacy, though -no Puritan himself, and not having any objection to bishops, provided -they were kept in subjection to the State.[83] His strength in public -affairs seems to have shewn itself more in the way of opposition than -in constructive skill. If he did not positively help to pull down -Episcopacy he hindered the setting up of Presbyterianism. Nor should it -be forgotten that, student-like, he preferred his library to the arena -of debate, and notwithstanding his sacrifices at one time to liberty, -he had too great a love of ease--if we are to believe Clarendon, who -knew and admired him[84]--to take much trouble in guiding the helm of -public affairs. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Long Parliament._] - -Anecdotes are related serving to shew that even after the opening -of the Long Parliament, the reformers had not definitely made up -their minds as to what should be done. One "fine evening," Nathaniel -Fiennes, after dining at Pym's lodgings with Mr. Hyde, afterwards -Lord Clarendon, rode out with him on horseback "in the fields between -Westminster and Chelsea." Hyde, in the course of conversation, asked -Fiennes, "what government do you mean to introduce if the existing -constitution of the Church were altered?" To this he replied "there -will be time enough to think of that;" but he "assured him, and wished -him to remember what he said, that if the King resolved to defend -the bishops, it would cost the kingdom much blood, and would be the -occasion of as sharp a war as had ever been in England; for that there -was so great a number of good men who resolved to lose their lives -before they would ever submit to that government."[85] These words -were uttered in the summer of 1641, when the Long Parliament had -been sitting seven or eight months. At an earlier period, Sir Philip -Warwick--the Court gentleman who quizzed Cromwell's clothes--met the -rough-looking man in the lobby of the House, and wished to know what -the real objects of his party were. "I can tell you," he bluntly -replied, "what I would _not_ have, if I cannot what I _would_." We are -convinced that Cromwell spoke the truth in relation to his views of -both the political and ecclesiastical changes on the brink of which -the nation stood. Changes hovered not in the distance but at hand, and -amongst them some which must modify the ecclesiastical establishment; -but how far, looking at the different opinions of the country, reform -ought to be carried, did not at once appear. Some few had republican -theories--for example, Vane and Marten--and possibly at an early -period they contemplated the overthrow of the monarchy, and with it -the Episcopal Church. The latter of these gentlemen blurted out as -much, with regard to monarchy, only two days after Fiennes' talk with -Hyde, intimating his design to employ certain persons up to a certain -point, and then to use them "as they had used others." But there is no -solid ground for believing that the greater number of the reformers -had at first any further object than that of effectually curbing -kingly prerogative in the state, and bringing down the pomp and pride -of episcopacy in the Church. The course which they actually pursued -shaped itself according to the discipline of circumstances. Their -views widened as they went along. As is often the case in times of -change, these reformers in the end were forced to seek more than they -originally imagined. First denied the little which might have contented -them, they felt prompted to a further struggle, and naturally claimed -more and more: it was but the story of the Sybil, with her books, -repeated once again. Easy is it to point out apparent inconsistencies -in the career of men so influenced, and plausible too are the charges -against them of concealment, treachery, and breach of faith; but an -impartial consideration of facts, and honest views of human nature, -will lead to conclusions at once more favourable and more just. The -truth is, that the members of the Long Parliament were not theorists -intent on working out some perfect ideal, but practical men who looked -at things as they were, and with upright intentions endeavoured to mend -them as best they could. They aimed at reforming institutions much -in the same plodding way as that in which their fathers had founded -and reared those institutions. The opening of the States General in -France presents in this respect a contrast to the opening of the -Long Parliament in England; the brilliant theoristic Frank cannot be -confounded with the sober, practical Saxon. The defiance or treachery -of opponents filled our religious patriots of the seventeenth century -with alarm, drove them to take up a higher position than they at first -assumed, and to encamp themselves behind more formidable entrenchments -than it then entered into their minds to raise. - -Another class in the House of Commons requires attention. Many were -favourably disposed to the Church of England, advocating a moderate -episcopacy and approving the use of the Common Prayer, with a few -alterations. They had no liking for Presbyterian schemes of government, -much less for a congregational polity. Their sympathies went with the -Church of their fathers, the Church of the Reformation, the Church -which was built over the ashes of Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer. They -cannot be called Anglican Catholics; but they were to the heart -English Churchmen. Despising the mummeries of Laud, and not liking the -instructions of his school, then so common in parish churches--these -persons loved the old Gothic and ivy-mantled edifices where they had -been baptized and married, and by whose altars their parents slept -under quaint old monuments, which touched their hearts whenever they -worshipped within the walls. They wished to see the Church of England -reformed, not overturned. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Long Parliament._] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Lucius Carey, Viscount Falkland, member for Newport, stood among -the chief of this description. His early fate, as well as his high -esteem for John Hampden, must ever link their names in affecting -companionship. For a time they fought a common battle. What Hampden -said at the commencement of the strife about bishops and Anglican High -Churchism we do not know; but we know what Falkland said, and shall -have occasion to record some of his words, which for fiery sharpness -against prelatical assumptions were not surpassed by the speeches of -any Puritan. Attempts had been made to bring him over to Popery, which -had led to his reading the Fathers and pursuing the controversy for -himself.[86] Thus skilled in the knowledge of the whole question, the -result of his studies was not only an aversion to the finished system -of Popery, but a healthful horror of all those insinuating principles -and practices which lead to it. A sounder Protestant did not tread -the floor of the House than Viscount Falkland. Virtuous and brave, -with honour unimpeachable, and with patriotism unsuspected, he wins -our heart, even though we lament the course he ultimately pursued. -His full-length character, drawn by Clarendon, true and faithful no -doubt, though the hand of friendship laid on the colours, inspires -the reader with admiration and love: but we are somewhat startled at -what the historian says of the _physique_ of his honoured friend: his -stature low, his motion not graceful, his aspect far from inviting, -with a voice so untuned that none could expect music from that tongue, -he was so uncomely that "no man was less beholden to nature for its -recommendation into the world." The portrait of Falkland, by Vandyke, -hardly confirms this unfavourable description of his appearance by -Clarendon, though even there, in spite of cavalier silk and slashed -doublet, ample collar tassel-tyed, and flowing locks, the face of the -young nobleman wears a somewhat rustic simplicity, albeit, tinged with -an expression of sincere good-nature. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Long Parliament._] - -A chief place amongst Church reformers during the first few months -of the Long Parliament must be assigned to Sir Edward Dering. He -represented the Kentish yeomen, the majority of whom had been driven -into Puritanism by the Anglo-Catholic zeal of Laud; and he expressed -the predominant feeling of the county, when he quaintly said, "he -hoped Laud would have more grace, or no grace at all." Chairman of -a sub-committee for religion, and a frequent and ardent speaker, -he gathered round him the sympathies of the party opposed to the -government, and was hailed by the citizens of London with "God -bless your worship!" while the people--who in those days gathered -about the doors of the House of Commons, as crowds do still, to -cheer their favourite members--pointed to him as the man of the -day, exclaiming, "There goes Sir Edward Dering!" This he tells us -himself--an indication of his egotism. Vanity, no doubt, and weakness -mixed themselves with his impetuous but persistent pursuit of an -object, of which many laughable examples are furnished in the story -of his life.[87] Impetuous and rash, flexible to flattery, neither -firm nor courageous under opposition, he was, nevertheless, amiable, -well-meaning, patriotic, gentlemanly, and even chivalrous. He could -reason with force, and declaim with eloquence, being no less fervent in -his religious affections than in his political sentiments. The comely -person of the Kentish baronet aided his popularity, and so did his -genial manners, in spite of his hasty temper.[88] - -Posthumous fame is often not at all in proportion to contemporary -influence. Sir Edward Dering is now by many forgotten, and, even John -Pym, perhaps, does not hold the place in history which he did in life; -yet, in the early days of the Long Parliament, these persons were more -conspicuous in debate, and had more weight with the populace than John -Hampden or Oliver Cromwell. - -Amongst the class at first favourable to extensive ecclesiastical -reforms was also that mercurial royalist, Lord Digby, who represented -Dorsetshire, and afterwards became Earl of Bristol. He soon diverged -very far from his early compatriots, and played a part which must -always affix dishonour to his name, whatever opinion may be formed of -the cause he espoused. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -All the persons now mentioned acted together in ecclesiastical affairs, -more or less intimately, at the opening of Parliament. Those who came -nearest to one another in opinion had meetings for conference. Pym, -Hampden, Fiennes, and Vane the younger, with some liberal noblemen -of the Upper House, were wont to assemble at Broughton Castle, -Oxfordshire, the seat of Lord Say, Fiennes' father, and at Tawsley, in -Northamptonshire, the mansion of Sir Richard Knightley, father-in-law -to Hampden. A story is related--not a very likely one--that in certain -old stone-walled and casemated rooms, shown in the castle, the -worthies[89] used to meet lest they should be detected; and, which -is more probable, that a printing-press, established in the mansion by -Sir Richard's father, was applied to their purposes. Perhaps about the -same time, meetings of a similar kind were also held at Kensington, in -the noble mansion of Lord Holland, one of the statesmen who took part -in these conferences. There were gatherings in Gray's Inn Lane, too, -whither reports came up from the country, and whence intelligence was -distributed amongst the city patriots. After the opening of Parliament, -Pym's lodgings at Westminster became a place of rendezvous, at least -for a select few. But though these consultations so far obtained -amongst certain chiefs, it must not be supposed that there existed -a large organized party, resembling the phalanx which till of late -years used compactly to follow some great leader. The two parties into -which the House of Commons fell did by no means distinctly divide at -first. How, on ecclesiastical questions they formed, and took up their -position, will be seen as we proceed. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Long Parliament._] - -Certainly there can be traced nothing like an organized party for -defending the Church. The King and the bishops, with many of the -nobility and a number of the people, were sincerely attached to the -Establishment, and were prepared to admit only slight changes in its -constitution. In the House of Commons, however, where its battle had -to be fought, and its fate decided, there did not appear any strong -alliance, or any distinct advocacy in its favour. It is surprising -that in the early debates, when so many voices fiercely proclaimed its -corruptions, so few made themselves heard in its defence. No chivalrous -spirit stepped forward to resist the band of assailants. The tide -flowed in. Not one strong man attempted to build a breakwater. - -Edward Hyde, who did so much for the Church of England at the -Restoration, did little for it in this crisis of its fate. It is true -he was a young man, and without great influence, but he shewed no -heroism on its behalf; indeed, heroism was foreign to his nature. What -he attempted he himself describes, and that the reader will discover to -be paltry enough. - -In the Upper House were the bishops, who might naturally be esteemed -as guardians and defenders of the Church in the hour of need. But -there were none of them possessed of that statesman-like ability, -without which it would have been impossible to preserve the Episcopal -Establishment in the shock of revolution. Laud, no doubt, had great -talents and abundant courage, but the blunders he had made in driving -the ship on to the rocks, gave no hope that he would have skill enough -to pilot the ship off, even if granted the opportunity. But he had -not even the opportunity. Hardly did the Long Parliament open when -his indignant enemies thrust him from the helm. The conduct of other -bishops had only served to strip them of the last chance of saving -their order. The best on the bench shared in the obloquy brought on -all by the intolerance and corruption of the worst, while none of them -possessed the mental and moral calibre necessary for dealing with those -huge difficulties amidst which the Church of England had now been -dashed. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Puritans too, it should be remembered, sat in the Upper as well as -in the Lower House. Amongst them may be numbered Devereux, Earl of -Essex; Seymour, Earl of Hertford; Rich, Earl of Warwick; Rich, Earl of -Holland; Viscount Say and Sele, Viscount Mandeville, Baron Wharton, -Greville, Lord Brook, and others. Some of these will appear in the -following pages, and of them in general we may observe that they did -not lack astuteness, courage, and power. Anglicanism might be stronger -in the House of Lords than in the House of Commons; but Puritanism, on -the whole, appeared stronger than Anglicanism even there. - -One man alone could be found capable of doing aught to preserve the -Church in this hour of her adversity. Could Lord Strafford have carried -out his thorough policy, had he been left free to pursue his course, -had no _coup d'etat_ come in the way to arrest his daring ambition, and -crush his despotic projects; he might, with his subtle brain, brave -heart, and iron hand, have defeated the patriots once more, and so have -saved the Anglican Establishment awhile. Another dissolution, or some -arbitrary arrests, would, for a season, have crushed Pym and his party. -That, however, was not to be. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER II. - - -Shortly after the opening of Parliament, Pym met Hyde in Westminster -Hall, and showed unmistakeably, by his conversation, the course which -he intended to pursue. "They must now," he told him, "be of another -temper than they were the last Parliament; that they must not only -sweep the house clean below, but must pull down all the cobwebs which -hung in the top and corners, that they might not breed dust, and so -make a foul house hereafter. But they had now an opportunity to make -their country happy, by removing all grievances, and pulling up the -causes of them by the roots, if all men would do their duties."[90] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -On the 6th of November, the Commons, in pursuance of precedent, -appointed a grand Committee of religion,[91] consisting of the whole -House, to meet every Monday afternoon, at two o'clock. The next morning -came a petition from Mrs. Bastwick, and another from Mrs. Burton, on -behalf of their husbands--"close prisoners in remote islands"--after -having stood in the pillory, and lost their ears, by a Star Chamber -sentence. Immediately upon this, another petition followed from John -Brown, on behalf of his master, Mr. Prynne--"close prisoner in the -Isle of Jersey"--who also had suffered mutilation by authority of the -same tribunal. Scarcely had this arrived when another appeared from -John Lilburne--"close prisoner in the Fleet"--also under Star Chamber -condemnation. A fifth was read from Alexander Leighton, complaining -of his sentence by the same court, in pursuance of which he had been -whipped, slashed in the nose, branded on both cheeks, and deprived of -his ears, and then closely imprisoned.[92] - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -The presentation of these petitions produced an impression most adverse -to the Church. The offences of the prisoners had been the publishing of -books, which virulently assailed prelacy, superstitious worship, and -ecclesiastical despotism. The tone in some of these writings is quite -indefensible, and scarcely to be excused,[93] and had they been passed -over in silence, sympathy might have turned towards those assailed; -but after the liberty of the Press had been violated, and a merciless -punishment had been inflicted on the assailants, the tide of popular -feeling ran in their favour, and they were honoured as martyrs in their -country's cause. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -The House of Commons at once overrode the authority of the Star -Chamber, and sent for the prisoners. Even in the pillory, and the -prison, Burton and Prynne had received testimonies of sympathy, and -now their return to London was a perfect ovation. They arrived on -the 28th of November, and were "nearly three hours in passing from -Charing Cross to their lodging in the city, having torches carried to -light them." The parish churches had rung merry peals as the liberated -prisoners reached town after town, and their escort into London -consisted of a hundred coaches, some with six horses, and two thousand -horsemen, with sprigs of rosemary in their hats--"those on foot being -innumerable."[94] Afterwards the House resolved that the proceedings -against these sufferers had been illegal and unjust--that their fines -should be remitted--that they were to be restored to liberty, and -that their persecutors should make reparation for the injuries they -had inflicted.[95] Prynne--when vacancies in Parliament occurred -through the secession of royalist members--was elected to a seat; and -thenceforth in the Long Parliament his mutilated ears became constant -mementoes of Star Chamber cruelty, stimulating resistance to arbitrary -government, if not provoking retaliation for past offences. And here -it may be noticed that many members on the patriotic side had suffered -from the despotic doings of past years. Hampden, Holles, Selden, -Strode, Sir Harbottle Grimston, Long, and Hobart had all been in -prison, and some also had paid fines.[96] They would have been more or -less than human if their memories had not aroused indignation against -the despotism of the King and his ministers. Such members seated on -the opposition benches, backed by a majority, were enough to make the -hearts of courtiers quail. - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -Not only did Pym's spirit pervade the House, and manifest itself in -these early proceedings, but his voice was heard enumerating the main -grievances in Church and State. Scarcely had the session of the Commons -commenced, when--according to the Puritan habit of the times--he -denounced the encouragement given to Papists, because their principles -were incompatible with other religions, and because with them laws -had no authority, nor oaths any obligation, seeing that the Bishop of -Rome could dispense with both. He complained further of their being -allowed offices of trust in the Commonwealth, of their free resort to -Court, and of their having a Nuncio in England, even as they had a -congregation of Cardinals in Italy. It would be unreasonable to apply -to a statesman maintaining these views in the seventeenth century, -a standard of opinion belonging to the nineteenth, and also it is -unnecessary to expose the fallacies which underlie such specious -coverings. We must admit that there were special circumstances then -existing, and recent facts in fresh remembrance--some of them will be -hereafter seen--which rendered the position of the friends of freedom -very different from what it is now. Though principles of righteousness -and charity are immutable, the recollection of old evils just escaped, -and the apprehension of new perils just at hand, may well be pleaded -in excuse of measures then adopted for self-preservation. The fear of -the restoration of Popery at that period cannot be pronounced an idle -apprehension. The Reformation was young. Rome was busy. The Queen was -a Papist. Roman Catholics were in favour at Court. Anglo-Catholicism -unconsciously was opening the gates to the enemy. And further, in -connection with this speech by Pym, it is only fair to quote what he -said on another occasion:--"He did not desire any new laws against -Popery, or any rigorous courses in the execution of those already in -force; he was far from seeking the ruin of their persons or estates, -only he wisht they might be kept in such a condition as should restrain -them from doing hurt."[97] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -From the subject of Popery, Pym turned at once to Anglican innovations, -which he regarded as the bridge leading to it. He pointed out the -maintenance of Popish tenets in books and sermons, together with the -practice of Popish ceremonies in worship--which he compared to the -dry bones in Ezekiel, coming together, and being covered with sinews, -flesh, and skin; to be afterwards filled with breath and life. First -the form and finally the spirit of the old apostacy were creeping over -the Church of England, and the corpse buried at the Reformation even -how seemed rising from the grave. The speaker proceeded to complain of -the discouragement shown to Protestantism by prosecuting scrupulous -persons for things indifferent--such as not coming to the altar rails -to receive the communion,[98] preaching lectures on Sunday afternoons, -and using other Catechisms than that in the prayer book. This part of -Pym's speech concluded with a notice of alarming encroachments made by -ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Accused persons were fined and punished -without law. A _jure divino_ authority was claimed for Episcopal order -and proceedings, and articles were contrived and published, pretending -to have the force of canon laws, which the orator declared was an -effect of great presumption and boldness, not only in the bishops, but -in their archdeacons, officials, and chancellors, who thus assumed -a kind of synodical authority. Such injunctions might well partake, -in name, with "that part of the common law which is called the -extravagants."[99] This last charge referred to what had been done in -the late convocation. - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -Other speakers followed Pym, and all adopted the same tone. Sir -Benjamin Rudyard complained of disturbances made on account of trifles, -"where to place a metaphor or an altar," and of families ruined for not -dancing on Sundays; and he asked what would become of the persecutors -when the master of the house should return and find them beating their -fellow-servants? These inventions were but sieves for the devil's -purposes, made to winnow good men. They were meant to worry diligent -preachers, for such only were vexed after this fashion. So it came to -pass that, under the name of _Puritan_, all religion was branded, and -under a few hard words against Jesuits, all Popery was countenanced; -whoever squared his actions by any rule, either divine or human, he -was a _Puritan_; whoever would be governed by the King's laws, he was -a _Puritan_; he that would not do what other men would have him to do, -was a _Puritan_. The masterpiece of the enemy was to make the truly -religious suspected of the whole kingdom.[100] - -Sir John Holland, member for Castle Rising, also insisted on -ecclesiastical grievances. Bagshaw, Culpeper, and Grimston proceeded in -a similar strain. Even Lord Digby complained of prelates, convocations, -and canons, the last being "a covenant against the King for bishops -and the hierarchy." - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Perhaps there is not on record another great debate in which such -unanimity found expression, and such volleys of grape-shot rattled -into a regiment of abuses. No question, however, affecting the -fundamental principles of the Establishment was at present raised; -but the corruptions which had covered and choked it were unsparingly -threatened. Towards them nothing but indignation was shown. - -When the debate had closed with the appointment of a Committee to -prepare a remonstrance, the House, well knowing that the right way to -obtain a blessed issue was to implore the divine assistance, resolved -to desire the Lords to join with them in requesting his Majesty to -allow so holy a preparation, and, further, to appoint a general fast. - -What the next day witnessed is most memorable for its political -consequences, yet it also involved ecclesiastical results of the -greatest importance. The Earl of Strafford, though suffering from the -gout to which he was a martyr, had hastened to London, and reached it -on the 10th of November; fully comprehending the state of affairs, -and meditating measures for stopping the tide of revolution. People -believed he had a project for accusing the patriots of a share in the -Scotch invasion; and that, failing other schemes, there remained the -old expedient of dissolving Parliament. - -The Earl, the morning after his arrival in London, went down to the -House and took his seat; being received with all the "expressions of -honour and observance, answerable to the dignity of his place, and the -esteem and credit which he had with the King as the chief Minister -of State. But this day's sun was not fully set before his power and -greatness received such a diminution as gave evident symptoms of his -approaching ruin."[101] - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -His fellow-counsellor and trusty adherent, Archbishop Laud, moved that -from a Committee of the two Houses, to be held that afternoon, he and -four other bishops might be spared their attendance, on account of a -meeting of Convocation. The Prime Minister and the Archbishop left -the House, little dreaming of what would happen before sunset on that -November day. - -Pym had heard of Strafford's arrival. Knowing the man, regarding his -return as ominous, and with a keen eye piercing into the heart of his -policy, he felt that he must grapple with him at once. Not merely for -himself had it come to be a question of life or death, but all reform -in Church and State depended on an immediate defeat of Strafford. If -suffered to do what he pleased but for another day, he might render all -the work of the last few months abortive, and bring back absolutism in -triumph. Men said of him, "he had much more of the oak than the willow -about his heart." To bend the oak was impossible, and therefore Pym -resolved to cut it down. Another such instance of timely sternness -there is not in English history. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Twelve years before, at Greenwich,--when Strafford, faithless to his -party, thought of accepting a coronet,--Pym had said to him, "You -are going to leave us, but I will never leave you while your head is -upon your shoulders." Did those words cross the mind of the patriotic -statesman as he passed through the lobby to take his accustomed seat on -the morning of the most memorable day of his life? Suddenly he rose, -looked round on the well-filled benches, and said he had matter great -importance to bring forward. "Let the strangers' room be cleared," he -went on to ask, "and the outer doors be locked, and the keys laid on -the clerk's table." This done, breathless silence followed. Before the -Parliament of England, now sitting in secret conclave, Pym spoke out -boldly what was in his heart. The kingdom had fallen into a miserable -condition. "Waters of bitterness" were flowing through the land; he -must enquire, he said, "from what fountain? what persons they are who -have so far insinuated themselves into the royal affections, as to be -able to pervert His Majesty's excellent judgment, to abuse his name, -and apply his authority to support their own corrupt designs?" - -Pym's speech occupied some hours in delivery. In the midst of it came -interruption. With the usual formalities, a message arrived from the -House of Lords, touching the conference to which the Archbishop had -referred that morning. Though the message itself could not at first -have been contrived with a view of getting at the secret, about which -outside curiosity had risen to fever heat; yet it might have been sent -at that moment, with the hope of worming out what His Majesty's Commons -were doing within locked doors. But the messengers, as they walked -slowly up to the clerk's table, making their measured obeisances, were -none the wiser for their visit. Pym, suspecting some other object -than the professed one, had them quickly dispatched with the answer, -"that as the House was engaged on very weighty business it could not -meet the Lords just then." At the same time, he managed to "give such -advertisement to some of the Lords," that their House might be kept -from rising till his project should be fully accomplished. - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -The messengers dismissed, the doors re-locked, the buzz of conversation -hushed, Pym resumed, and at length ended his speech by demanding that -Strafford should be impeached. The demand found "consent from the whole -House;" nor in all the debate did one person offer to stop the torrent -of condemnation by any favourable testimony respecting the Earl. Lord -Falkland only counselled that time should be taken to digest the -accusation. Pym immediately replied such delay would blast all hopes, -for Strafford, hearing of their intentions, "would undoubtedly procure -the Parliament to be dissolved." - -The House at once appointed a committee of seven to draw up the -charges. They retired, and soon returned with their report. The House -at once solemnly resolved to impeach the Earl at the bar of the Lords. - -The clock had struck four. The doors were thrown open. "The leader of -the Commons issued forth, and followed by upwards of three hundred of -the members, crossed over in the full sight of the assembled crowd, -to the Upper House." Standing at the bar, with the retinue of members -pressing round, Pym, in the name of the Commons, accused Strafford of -high treason.[102] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Strafford's seat was empty. The Commons withdrew. After consideration -of the message by the peers, the Lord-keeper acknowledged its receipt, -gave credit for due care taken in the business, and promised a further -answer. The Earl was sitting at Whitehall with the King. Swift as -the wind, tidings of the impeachment began to travel, and reached -the accused amongst the first. He had been out-manœuvred. While -preparing for an attack on the enemy's camp he found his own citadel -assailed, stormed, taken. Still dauntless, he coolly remarked, "I will -go and look mine accusers in the face." Then going to the court gate -he took coach, and drove to the House. Advancing to the threshold, he -"rudely" demanded admission. James Maxwell, keeper of the Black Rod, -opened the door. His lordship, with a "proud glouming countenance," -made towards his seat as well as his lameness would allow. He sat down, -heard[103] what was going on, and, in spite of orders to withdraw, -"kept his confidence and his place till it raised a vehement redoubling -of the former scorn, and occasioned the Lord-keeper to tell him that -he must withdraw, and to charge the gentleman usher that he would look -well to him."[104] - -The proud minister found himself detained in the lobby of the House in -which once his word had been law. - -The Lords debated further on the message of the Commons, and came to -the conclusion that the Earl, for this accusation of high treason, -should be committed to the safe custody of the gentleman usher, and be -sequestered from coming to Parliament until he cleared himself. Called -in, he was commanded to kneel at the bar. Completely vanquished, he -did so on the very spot where his great antagonist an hour before had -stood a conqueror. He now had formal information of the charge brought -up by Pym, and was taken into custody. Master Black Rod, proud of his -business, required his prisoner to deliver up his sword, and told a -waiting-man to carry it. As the prisoner retired, all gazed, but no man -"capped to him before whom, that morning, the greatest of England would -have stood discovered."[105] Discourteous speeches followed--for -an English mob has little pity for fallen greatness--and, to add to -his humiliation, when at last, amidst the bustle, the Earl found his -carriage, Master Maxwell insolently remarked, "Your lordship is my -prisoner, and must go in my coach." - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -That day sealed Strafford's fate; the only impediment in the patriot's -path lay crushed. Now Pym could do his will, and carry out some great -reform in Church and State. It was time. - -"The strong man armed kept his palace, and his goods were in peace. But -now a stronger than he came upon him and overcame him, and took from -him all his armour, wherein he trusted, and divided his spoils." - -To some readers, there may appear little or no connection between Pym's -death-wrestle with Wentworth, and the overturning of the Episcopal -Church, the setting up of Presbyterianism, and what followed; yet -really without that death-wrestle the things which happened afterwards -appear impossibilities. - -When Strafford had been in the Tower a month, Laud was impeached, and -followed his friend into the custody of James Maxwell.[106] - -On the 17th November, a public fast took place, when the House of -Commons assembled in the Church of St. Margaret, Westminster, and -continued in divine worship for _seven hours_.[107] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -A few days after the fast[108] the Commons, according to precedent, -received the Holy Communion, and also according to precedent resolved -that none should sit in the House who did not partake of the -Sacrament.[109] A measure of policy was connected with their piety on -this occasion, which from its having been misunderstood has led to a -misapprehension of the whole proceeding. The fact of its having been -resolved that all should participate in the Lord's Supper has been -cited as a proof that the members were all attached to the Church of -England;[110] but Rapin[111] adopts the subtle theory that, bent upon -assailing the Bishops, the Commons resolved on this communion, to save -themselves from being suspected of Presbyterianism,--as in the reign of -Henry V., the Commons prefaced their assault on the clergy by passing -a Bill for burning heretics, to save themselves from being suspected -of heresy. Yet amidst these speculations upon the subject, the real -purpose of the House--beyond its following a precedent and gratifying -religious feelings--is frankly expressed in the Journal to have been -the discovery of papists amongst the members. The committee who -reported on the subject conceived that some confession of faith and a -renunciation of the Pope should be required from such as were suspected -of popery. At the same time two members of the House were directed to -convey to the Dean of Westminster a desire that "the elements might be -consecrated upon a communion-table, standing in the church, according -to the rubric, and to have the table removed from the altar."[112] - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -The Long Parliament, in its early sittings, occupied much time in -hearing Puritan petitions. Such petitions came from sufferers under -ecclesiastical oppression; from people dissatisfied with Anglican -clergymen; from individuals scandalized at ceremonial innovations; and -from different counties praying for redress of grievances in Church -and State. The latter petitions were brought up to town by troops of -horsemen. Such documents, accompanied by the denunciations of members -who presented them, occasioned searching inquiries into Anglican -superstition and intolerance. Persons alleged that communion-tables -were set altar-wise; that anthems and organs were superseding plain -and proper psalm-singing; that wax candles were burnt in churches in -honour of our Lady; that copes of white satin were worn by ministers; -that boys with lighted torches went in procession and bowed to the -altar; and that Puritans were roughly handled for refusing to make -a like obeisance. Further, such persons declared "flat Popery" had -been preached, as well as performed; transubstantiation, confession, -and absolution, being doctrines maintained in Anglican pulpits.[113] -Cases were brought up of clergymen unrighteously suspended for -refusing to read the "Book of Sports," and for similar offences. The -private gossip of the day touching church matters reached the House -through members anxious to stimulate their partizans. Though such -reports appear undignified enough in senatorial speeches, they are -welcome to the historian, because indicative of the staple talk round -firesides in those boisterous days. Alderman Pennington told how an -archdeacon's son had said, "God take the Parliament for a company of -Puritanical factious fellows, who would wiredraw the King for money, -when a Spanish don would lend him two millions. The King would never -have quiet until he had taken off twenty or more of their heads." In -petitions, according to the Diurnals, very odd references occurred -to the sayings and doings of High Churchmen. One declared "the -Commissaries were the suburbs of heaven, and the High Commission the -Archangels, and that to preach twice a day, or to say any prayers but -the Common Prayers, was a damnable sin." Moreover, the same newspaper -states, that a minister in Shoreditch stood charged with preaching on -the man who went down to Jericho--saying, the King was the man, the -Scots the thieves, the Protestant the priest, the formal Protestant the -Levite, and the Papist the Good Samaritan.[114] Another, being asked -how he could maintain by Scripture the turning of the communion-table -altar-wise, replied, "the times were turned, and it was fit the tables -should be turned also." - -A petition came from a churchwarden cited and punished for not -prosecuting parishioners who refused to stand while hearing the -creed, to bow at the name of Jesus, to kneel at public prayer, and -to sit uncovered during sermon time. These breaches of prescribed -ecclesiastical decorum were taken as proofs of Puritan irreverence; but -when Puritans were threatened in consequence with legal penalties, such -acts appeared to them to be full of heroic virtue. - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -The growth of popery formed a fruitful topic of quaint declamation. -The approach of any great personage, it was said, may be known -by the sumpter mules sent on before. And when the Pope travels, -altars, copes, pictures, and images precede his progress. High -Church ceremonies announced the coming Mass. Clerical tricks of this -description prepared for the revival of papal domination. Resistance -had provoked persecution. Fire had come out of the bramble, and -devoured the cedars of Lebanon.[115] - -Stories, too, were told of a parsonage worth three hundred a year, -where not even a poor curate remained to read prayers, catechise -children, or bury the dead; and of a vicarage, where the nave of -the church had been pulled down, the lead sold, the bells profaned, -the chancel made into a dog-kennel, and the steeple turned into a -pigeon-house.[116] - -The debate of the 14th and 15th of December, on the canons, was -conducted in the same spirit as other proceedings. Convocation had met -in April, at the opening of the Short Parliament; one of the first -measures adopted being an imposition on the clergy of six subsidies -of four shillings in the pound for six years. Canons had then been -prepared, relative to the regal power for suppressing popery, also -against Socinianism and sectaries, and further, for preventing -Puritan innovations and for promoting uniformity. While discussions -on these subjects were proceeding, Parliament had been dissolved, but -Convocation had unconstitutionally determined as a royal synod, to -persevere sitting until it should be dissolved by the King's writ.[117] -Some of the clerical body had protested against this procedure, but -the King, with the opinion of certain judges, had confirmed it, and -Convocation, then acting as a synod under royal sanction, had completed -the new canons.[118] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -Parliament poured out vials of wrath on all these canons. They included -protests against popery--the third being for the suppression of its -growth, and the seventh charging the Church of Rome with "idolatry -committed in the mass for which all popish altars were demolished," but -the Puritans overlooked or regarded all this as only a pretence for -covering assaults upon themselves. To have done so seems to us unfair, -though considering the character of the men framing the canons, with -whom members of the House of Commons were well acquainted, everybody -must believe the authors of the new laws hated Puritanism more than -Popery. The truth is, Anglicanism, though thoroughly opposed to papal -supremacy, and to some of the dogmas and superstitions of Rome, -fostered sympathy with much of the faith and worship characteristic -of that church, while it had not a breath of kindness for Puritan -sentiments. Such a state of things drove the two parties wide as the -poles asunder, and we cannot wonder that on the question of the canons -the House of Commons, revolting at Anglo-Catholicism, read all which -Convocation had done in the light of those well-known principles by -which Convocation was actuated. Whatever the bishops and clergy there, -might honestly say about popish ceremonies and the idolatry of the -mass, they were chiefly bent on crushing the Puritans, and accordingly -the Puritans grappled with the Anglicans as in a struggle for life. -Matter enough existed in these new laws to provoke destructive -criticism. The first propounded the divine right of kings, and claimed -for them powers inconsistent with the English constitution. The canon -against sectaries was extremely intolerant, and was so ingeniously -contrived as to turn statutes for suppressing popery against all sorts -of nonconforming Protestants. - -[Sidenote: _Debates on Religion._] - -No one, however, of this ill-fated assembly's enactments had to run -the gauntlet, like the canon relative to the et cetera oath.[119] It -speedily sank under torrents of argument and invective, ridicule, and -satire. Also, the prolonging of convocation as a synod, after the -dissolution of Parliament, incurred condemnation as wholly illegal; the -canons were pronounced invalid; and the entire proceedings subversive -of the laws of the realm.[120] - -Heylyn declares that the _et cetera_ was introduced in the draft to -avoid tautology, and that the enumeration was to be perfected before -engrossment, but the king hastened its being printed, and so occasioned -the mischief.--_Heylyn's Life of Laud_, 444. - -Archbishop Laud had to bear, in no small measure, the odium of the -new ecclesiastical measures. Doubtless, he had a leading hand in -their origin, but it is also a fact, that before the opening of the -Long Parliament, he wrote by His Majesty's command to the bishops of -his province, to suspend the operation of the article respecting the -et cetera oath.[121] And when the House had been sitting a little -more than three weeks, after Pym, Culpeper, Grimston, and Digby, had -attacked this unpopular clerical legislation, and when a still more -distinct and violent assault was seen to be approaching, the Archbishop -wrote a letter to Selden, member of a committee for enquiry upon the -subject, requesting that the "unfortunate canons" might be suffered to -die quietly, without blemishing the Church, which had too many enemies -both at home and abroad.[122] - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -The vote of the House of Commons administered a blow to Convocation -from which it could not recover. That assembly, indeed, again appeared -as the twin sister of the new Parliament. Representatives of the -province of Canterbury met on the 3rd November, the day on which -the Lords and Commons assembled. The usual formalities having been -observed, a sermon preached, and a prolocutor chosen--Archbishop Laud -addressed the clergy in Henry the Seventh's chapel, in a manner which -shewed that he heard the sound of the brewing storm, and had sense -enough to discern the impending danger. So had others of the assembly. -Accordingly, some one proposed in the Lower House, that "they should -endeavour according to the Levitical law to cover the pit which -they had opened, and to prevent the designs of their adversaries by -condemning the obnoxious canons." But the majority, not willing to -be condemned till formally accused, heeded not this warning; yet the -members avoided giving further provocation, and, feeble themselves, -they only watched the proceedings of their parliamentary neighbours. -When the resolution of the Commons was passed it paralyzed them. The -Upper House did not meet again after Christmas, nor the Lower after the -following February.[123] The assembly of the Convocation of York had -been prevented by the death of the Archbishop, and the new writ issued -came to nothing. - -Here we shall pause for a moment to watch other forces coming into -play. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER III. - - -Two ideas of Church reform evolved themselves: one already -indicated,--that of separating from simple primitive Episcopacy all -prelatical assumptions,--and another, which amounted to a decided -revolution in the Church, including the extinction of Episcopacy -altogether. While the former rose out of reverence for the Reformation -under Elizabeth, combined with disgust at the history of prelatical -rule,--the latter had a deeper and wider cause. - -When Episcopacy strove to maintain itself in England, after the shock -given to ecclesiastical power in the days of Henry VIII. and Edward -VI., Presbyterianism made good its position at Geneva under Calvin, and -at Edinburgh under Knox. The connexion between the two cities and the -two Reformers, and between them both and our own country, everybody -knows. The exiles who had found a home, not only on the shores of the -beautiful Lake Leman, but also on the scarcely less beautiful banks of -the Lake of Zurich, brought with them, when they returned home after -the Marian persecution, strong Presbyterian predilections. Calvin, -also, exercised a direct influence on some of the English Reformers; -and the system of John Knox, in such close neighbourhood as the north -of the Tweed, could not fail to affect those who were studying the -question, "what ought to be the Church of the future?" - -[Sidenote: 1567.] - -Indications of Presbyterian sentiments in the England of Elizabeth are -very numerous.[124] They wrought within the Episcopal establishment -without producing a severance. Cartwright was a Presbyterian. He -contended for the abolition of archbishops, and archdeacons, and -would retain only bishops or presbyters to preach the word and pray, -and deacons to take care of the poor. Every Church, by which he -meant a "certain flock," was to be governed by its own ministers and -presbyters, and these were not to be created by civil authority, but -chosen by popular election. The directory of government, found in the -study of that eminent Puritan after his death, said to be composed by -Travers, is in perfect harmony with this Presbyterian scheme. Certain -clerical meetings, under the auspices of Cartwright and Travers, took -a decided synodical shape.[125] This element continued in the Church -under the Stuarts, notwithstanding the efforts of bishops to extinguish -it.[126] - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterianism._] - -Certain Puritans of a Presbyterian turn, formally separated themselves -from the Establishment so early as 1567, and met together for -Nonconformist worship in Plumber's Hall.[127] An organized Presbytery -appears at Wandsworth in 1572,--in the Channel Islands, where the -Government of England could not reach it, the system was fully -established in 1577; and Presbyterian classes may be traced in Cheshire -and Lancashire, Warwick and Northampton, during the last few years -of the Tudor dynasty. Organized Presbyterianism is seen but faintly -in the early part of the seventeenth century, but Presbyterianism, -as a sentiment within the Established Church, is distinctly visible. -Nonconformity of another kind was also on the increase at this period. -Churches of the Independent and Baptist order may be discovered in -Tudor times, but they became more apparent and numerous in the days of -the Stuarts. Their rise and progress will be afterwards described. - -[Sidenote: 1640.] - -How Puritanism glided into a state of separation, and the nonconformist -in the Church became a dissenter outside its pale, is curiously -illustrated in the Records of the Church assembling in Broadmead, -Bristol. In those records is a story of a certain zealous lady of -that city named Kelly.[128] "She kept a grocer's shop in High Street, -between the Builders' Inn and the High Cross," and that she might bear -a testimony against superstitious observances, "she would keep open her -shop on Christmas Day, and sit sewing in the face of the sun, and in -the sight of all men." Afterwards, when she heard a clergyman she did -not like at the parish church, "away she went forth before them all, -and said she would hear no more, and never did." Puritan emigrants to -New England embarked at Bristol, and would abide with Mrs. Hazzard "if -they waited for a wind." Women actually sought to be confined in the -parish of a Puritan clergyman, to avoid the ceremonies of "churching -and crossing." "The consciences of the good people began to be very -weary." Then "it pleased the Lord to stir up some few of the professors -of this city to lead the way out of Babylon." "Five persons began to -go further, and scrupled to hear common prayer, even four men and one -woman." So that in the year 1640, those five persons met together at -Mrs. Hazzard's house, "at the upper end of Broad Street, in Bristol, -and came to a holy resolution to separate from the worship of the world -and times they lived in, and that they would go no more to it."[129] -In this case, we see how dissatisfaction with the Established Church -gradually led to positive separation, and how extremely feeble, in some -instances, was the commencement of organized dissent. But the spirit -working in the way just indicated, slowly, and without much notice, -came suddenly and boldly on the surface, soon after the Long Parliament -had opened. - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterianism._] - -Though the incumbents of the metropolis were almost all High Churchmen, -there were many Puritan lecturers in the city with strong Presbyterian -sympathies, supported by wealthy citizens, and in high repute with the -multitude. Amongst them, Dr. Cornelius Burgess is a very noticeable -man--already mentioned as the fast-day preacher--who, in connection -with a lectureship at St. Paul's, held other Church preferment. To -him and his brother lecturers may be ascribed the inspiration of much -intense public feeling against prelatical assumptions, and against -Episcopacy itself,[130] out of which arose an extraordinary memorial, -which has attained no small notoriety under the name of the _Root and -Branch_ petition. - -This petition complained that the offices and jurisdictions of -archbishops were the same as in the papal community, "little change -thereof being made, except only the head from whence it was derived;" -that there was great conformity of the English Church to the Church -of Rome in vestures, postures, ceremonies, and administrations; that -the liturgy, for the most part, is framed out of the Romish Breviary, -Ritual, and the Mass Book; and that the forms of ordination and -consecration were drawn from the Romish pontifical.[131] Whoever -prepared this document, it was soon submitted to Mr. Bagshawe, of the -Inner Temple, member for Southwark, who had obtained great popularity -by his lectures against the temporalities of bishops--lectures which -brought on him the displeasure of Laud. But Bagshawe, though zealous -for the reform of Episcopacy, did not desire to see it abolished. He -therefore declined to take charge of the petition, when Mr. John White, -his fellow-burgess for Southwark--afterwards the famous chairman of -the committee for scandalous ministers--arranged its delivery to the -Commons, not however by his own hands, but through Alderman Pennington, -a citizen well known for his extreme dislike to the Episcopal -Bench.[132] - -[Sidenote: 1633.] - -A still more effective agency on the Presbyterian side appeared in -London at the same time. - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterianism._] - -Scotland had silently fostered the Presbyterianism of England for many -years. Head quarters for that polity had been there established. In -the neighbourhood of the Highlands, synods found even a kindlier soil -and a more congenial climate than under the shadow of the Alps. True -to its old French sympathies, Scotland did not follow the example of -reformation set in England or in Germany; it eschewed Saxon examples, -and adopted that form of Protestantism which had been embraced by such -of the Gallic nation as had seceded from Rome, and which bore the -impress of the piety and genius of one of the most illustrious sons of -France. Edinburgh, during the ministry of Knox, saw as complete a work -accomplished as Geneva had witnessed during the ministry of Calvin. -Episcopacy was thoroughly rooted out, and the attempts under Charles -I. to replant it only exasperated the husbandmen of the vineyard, and -made them love the more what they counted "trees of the Lord's right -hand planting." Presbyterianism became doubly dear to Scotchmen when -the grandson of Mary sought to destroy that, which, in the days of his -grandmother, their forefathers had cultivated with toil and tears. To -make the matter worse, when Charles went to Scotland in 1633, and took -with him Laud, then Bishop of London, everything seemed to be done -which was likely to arouse Scotch prejudices against episcopal order -and the English liturgy. Instead of reducing the Anglican ceremonies -to as simple a form as possible, the most elaborate pomp of worship -appeared in Holyrood Chapel. The _Dreadnought_, a good ship, well -victualled, "appointed to guard the narrow seas," was engaged to -transport from Tilbury Hope to the Firth of Forth, twenty-six musical -gentlemen of the Royal Chapel at Whitehall, with their goods and -paraphernalia to perform the cathedral service, so as to impress the -Presbyterians of Edinburgh.[133] A more thorough mistake could not -have been made in a city where even the sight of a surplice and the -reading of the common prayer, a few years afterwards, occasioned the -world-known episode of "Jenny Geddes and her wonderful Folding Stool." - -The attempt to impose Episcopacy and its associations on Presbyterian -Scotland provoked a Covenant war, and roused a determination in the -hearts of her sons to carry Presbyterianism over the border, and to -make the two countries one pure Kirk. How the strong Presbyterianism -on the other side the Tweed re-inforced what was comparatively weak at -first on this side the border,--how the Scotch made the system amongst -Englishmen what it became,--how, like a loadstone, it attracted and -brought together the scattered particles of Presbyterian sentiments -throughout England,--how the Church of the North greatly augmented the -mass of Puritanism in the South, and welded it for a while into form -somewhat like its own, will appear as this narrative proceeds. - -Meanwhile some passing notice must be taken of the enthusiasm of the -Scotch army in support of Presbyterianism, and it cannot better be done -than in the words of a worthy minister who visited the camp, and whose -_naïve_ and graphic notes on other subjects, we shall have frequent -occasion to use. - -[Sidenote: 1639.] - -"It would have done you good," the writer says, "to have cast your -eyes athwart our brave and rich hill as oft as I did, with great -contentment and joy; for I (quoth the wren) was there among the rest, -being chosen preacher by the gentlemen of our Shyre, who came late with -my Lord of Eglintoun. I furnished to half-a-dozen of good fellows -muskets and picks, and to my boy a broadsword. I carried myself, as the -fashion was, a sword, and a couple of Dutch pistols at my saddle; but -I promise, for the offence of no man, except a robber in the way; for -it was our part alone to pray and preach for the encouragement of our -countrymen, which I did to my power most cheerfully." The troops were -commanded by noblemen; the captains, for the most part, were landed -proprietors; and the lieutenants, experienced soldiers, who had been -employed in the wars of Gustavus Adolphus. The colours flying at the -entrance of each captain's tent bore the Scottish arms, with the motto, -'For Christ's Crown and Covenant,' in golden letters. There were some -companies of Highlanders, "souple fellows, with their playds, targes, -and dorlachs." But the soldiers were mostly stout young ploughmen, who -increased in courage and experience daily; "the sight of the nobles and -their beloved pastors daily raised their hearts; the good sermons and -prayers, morning and evening, under the roof of heaven, to which their -drums did call them for bells; the remonstrances very frequent of the -goodness of their cause; of their conduct hitherto, by a hand clearly -divine; also Leslie's skill and fortune made them all so resolute for -battle as could be wished. We were feared that emulation among our -nobles might have done harm, when they should be met in the fields, but -such was the wisdom and authority of that old, little, crooked soldier, -that all, with one incredible submission, from the beginning to the -end, gave over themselves to be guided by him, as if he had been great -Solyman. Certainly the obedience of our nobles to that man's advices -was as great as their forbears wont to be to their King's commands." He -further adds: "Had you lent your ear in the morning, or especially at -even, and heard in the tents the sound of some singing psalms, some -praying, and some reading scripture, ye would have been refreshed. For -myself, I never found my mind in better temper than it was all that -time frae I came from home, till my head was again homeward; for I was -as a man who had taken my leave from the world, and was resolved to die -in that service without return."[134] - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterianism._] - -The writer of this description was Robert Baillie, and he, in company -with two other distinguished clergymen, Alexander Henderson and Robert -Blair, visited London just as the "Root and Branch" petition was being -prepared. They came with a commission from Scotland, under the broad -seal of the Northern Parliament, to settle the quarrel which had led to -the encampment of the covenant army--a quarrel in which the Puritans -and the Long Parliament took part with the Scotch against the King and -his Bishops. Three noblemen, three barons and three burgesses were -commissioned for the same purpose. With the treaty of peace there was -to be the payment of the Scotch troops by the English nation. The -clerical commissioners hoped that there would follow the inauguration -of goodly presbyteries throughout the fair land of the South, an object -which was dearer to them than any political alliance, or than any -amount of money. - -[Sidenote: 1640, November.] - -On Monday morning, November 16th, long before dawn, after spending -their Sabbath in the little town of Ware, the three clergymen started -for London. They had travelled from Edinburgh on horseback, surprised -at the inns, seeming to them "like palaces," which they thought -accounted for exorbitant charges for coarse meals. In the dark they -trotted forth from Ware, all well, "horse and men, with divers -merchants, and their servants on little nags," the road "extremely -foul and deep;" and by sunrise that cold morning,--as the light -woke up the slumbering city, as the smoke rose through the quaint -chimneys from ten thousand hearths,--the three presbyters entered the -metropolis.[135] They lodged in the city close to London Stone,[136] -in a house which was wont to be inhabited by the Lord Mayor, or by one -of the Sheriffs. St. Antholin's (or St. Anthony's) Church, connected -with the mansion by a gallery, became their place of worship. There -they soon had throngs as great as at their own communions, and daily -the crowds increased to hear Mr. Henderson, so that "from the first -appearance of day to the shutting in the light, the church was never -empty." The lodgings by London Stone became the scene of many an -earnest conference, and there Baillie wrote the letters and journals -which afford us such an insight into public proceedings and religious -life in London during that eventful winter. - -The Scotch Commissioners soon saw the famous petition, from "the town -of London, and a world of men, for the abolition of bishops and deans -and all their appurtenances," and were consulted about the time of its -presentation.[137] They seem to have recommended delay, till Parliament -should pull down "Canterbury and some prime bishops;" and Convocation -should be visited with a _præmunire_ for its illegal canons; and -preachers have further opportunity of preparing the people to root out -Episcopacy. "Huge things," Baillie told his friends, were working in -England. God's mighty hand was raising a joyful harvest from long sown -tears, but the fruit was scarcely ripe. - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterianism._] - -The tide of excitement could not be stayed. The London petitioners had -not more desire, but they had less patience than the prudent ministers. -On the 11th of December, as Baillie tells us, the honest citizens, -in their best apparel and in a very modest way, went to the House of -Commons, and sent in two aldermen with the document, bearing 15,000 -signatures. It was well received. They who brought it were desired to -go in peace, and Alderman Pennington laid the huge scroll upon the -table. - -[Sidenote: 1641, January.] - -Another petition, prepared at the same time,[138] came under Baillie's -notice, who speaks of it as drawn up by the well-affected clergy -for the overthrow of the bishops, and posted through the land for -signatures, and as likely to be returned in a fortnight, with "a -large remonstrance." "At that time," he exultingly adds, "the root of -Episcopacy will be assaulted with the strongest blast it ever felt -in England. Let your hearty prayers be joined with mine, and of many -millions, that the breath of the Lord's nostrils may join with the -endeavours of weak men to blow up that old gourd[139] wicked oak." -Whether the Presbyterian Commissioner had been misinformed respecting -the Petition and Remonstrance, or whether the paper had undergone -alterations after its first issue, this is certain, that when -presented to the House on the 23rd January, it differed materially -from that of "the Root and Branch," inasmuch as it prayed not for the -subversion, but only for the reform of Episcopacy. It contained the -names of seven hundred beneficed clergymen. Other petitions had been -brought to the House. On the 12th of January several arrived, and that -from Kent may be taken as a sample, in which the government of the -Church of England by Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, and Archdeacons, was -deplored as dangerous to the Commonwealth, and it was earnestly prayed -that this hierarchial power might be totally abrogated, if the wisdom -of the House should find it could not be maintained by God's word, and -to His glory.[140] - -Petitions afterwards flowed in on the other side from Wales, -Lancashire, Staffordshire, and other counties.[141] High Churchmen -talked about the way in which the Puritans and Presbyterians got up -these documents. The signatures were fictitious. People were cajoled -into writing their names--intended for one purpose, they were perverted -for another. Such things might not be altogether without truth. But we -are safe in believing, if tricks were played by one party they were -played by the other also; and as at present, so then, whatever was done -by either faction came in for an unmerciful, and often unrighteous, -share of criticism from exasperated opponents.[142] - -[Sidenote: _Petitions._] - -While petitioners were busy, and the House of Commons had enough to -do to hear their grievances, and debates were earnest, and two potent -principles were embodied in the strife, the King watched it all with -alarm for Episcopacy rather than with any apprehensions for his -own personal safety. For his subjects were loyal and dutiful, and, -according to Baillie, "feared his frown." He summoned both Houses -of Parliament to Whitehall, on the 25th January, 1641, and, after -professing willingness to concur in the reformation of the Church, -added the following characteristic sentences: "I will show you some -_rubs_, and must needs take notice of some very strange (I know -not what term to give them) petitions given in the names of divers -counties, against the present established Government, and of the great -threatenings against the bishops, that they will make them to be but -cyphers, or, at least, their voices to be taken away. Now I must tell -you, that I make a great difference between reformation and alteration -of Government, though I am for the former, I cannot give way to the -latter. If some of them have overstretched their power, I shall not be -unwilling these things should be redressed and reformed--nay, further, -if upon serious debate you shall show me that bishops have some -temporal authority inconvenient to the State, I shall not be unwilling -to desire them to lay it down. But this must not be understood, that -I shall in any way consent that their voices in Parliament should be -taken away; for in all the times of my predecessors since the Conquest, -and before, they have enjoyed it, and I am bound to maintain them in it -as one of the fundamental constitutions of this kingdom."[143] - -[Sidenote: 1641, February.] - -After petitions from the people, consultations with the Scotch, -cautions from the Crown, and preparatory proceedings in the House, the -grand debate came on respecting the "Root and Branch" Petition. The -debate lasted throughout the 8th and 9th of February, 1641. In the -course of it, the mercurial royalist, Lord Digby, observed, he had -reason to believe that some aimed at a total extirpation of Episcopacy, -yet, whilst opposing such extreme views, he was for clipping the wings -of the prelates; and, though condemning the Petition, he thought no -people had ever been more provoked than England of late years, by the -insolence and exorbitance of the bishops. "For my part," declared he, -"I profess I am inflamed with the sense of them, so that I find myself -ready to cry out with the loudest of the 15,000, "down with them, down -with them, even to the ground!" Let us not, however," he added, "destroy -bishops, but make bishops such as they were in primitive times." The -independent Nathaniel Fiennes opposed Episcopal rule, maintaining -that until the Church Government of the country could "be framed of -another twist," and more assimilated to that of the commonwealth, -the ecclesiastical would be no good neighbour to the civil: for as -with children afflicted with the rickets, all nourishment goes to the -upper parts, so in the rickety condition of the Church, while the -hierarchy became monstrously enlarged, the lower clergy pined away. -Bishoprics, deaneries, and chapels, he compared to wasters in a wood. -The official Sir Benjamin Rudyard condemned bishops unsparingly, yet -advocated episcopal superintendence: and afterwards the learned Mr. -Bagshawe pedantically distinguished between Episcopacy primitive _in -statu puro_, and Episcopacy _in statu corrupto_, pleading, at the -same time, for a thorough reformation of abuses, and an alteration -of Ecclesiastical government into a Presbyterian form. Sir Harbottle -Grimstone also asked for a diminution of prelatical power. - -[Sidenote: _Petitions._] - -The speakers who carried the greatest weight in this debate were Pym -and Falkland. We have only a faint echo of the words delivered by -the former. They were to the effect that he thought it was not the -intention of the House to abolish either Episcopacy or the Book of -Common Prayer, but rather to reform both, so far as they gave offence; -and if that improvement could be effected with the concurrence of the -King, Parliament would accomplish a very acceptable work, such as had -never been done since the Reformation.[144] Falkland's speech is fully -reported. Very severe upon the conduct of the bishops generally, he -made exceptions, and expressed himself content to take away what he -said begot the mischief, such as judging wills and marriages, and -having votes in Parliament. He denied the divine right, but would -allow the human expediency of Episcopal rank. His opinion was, "that -we should not root up this ancient tree, as dead as it appears, till -we have tried whether by this, or the like lopping of the branches, -the sap which was unable to feed the whole may not serve to make what -is left both grow and flourish. And, certainly, if we may at once take -away both the inconveniences of bishops and the inconveniences of no -bishops, this course can only be opposed by those who love mutation for -mutation's sake." - -[Sidenote: 1641, Feb.] - -The only person who boldly defended Episcopacy, and spoke in an -Anglican tone, was Mr. Pleydell, member for Wootton Bassett. "Sir," -said he, addressing Mr. Speaker, "there is as much beyond truth as on -this side it, and would we steer a right course we must be sure to keep -the channel, lest we fall from one extreme to another, from the dotage -of superstition to the frenzy of profaneness, from bowing to idols -to worship the calves of our own imagination." This honest gentleman -lamented libellous pamphlets, Puritan sermons, irreverence in churches, -and the like; called himself a dutiful son of his distressed mother, -the Church of England; pleaded for referring matters of doctrine to -learned divines; and declared that to venture on any alteration was to -run a risk, the consequences of which no man could foresee.[145] - -[Sidenote: _Petitions._] - -A scene unnoticed by our historians, but brought to light by the -careful examination of Sir Symonds D'Ewes' journal, occurred during the -debate.[146] Alderman Pennington, Member for London, vindicated the -character of the anti-Episcopal petitioners, and maintained that in -obtaining signatures there "was no course used to rake up hands, for -if that had been done, 15,000 might have mounted to fifteen times -15,000." Then Sir John Strangways, Member for Weymouth, offered a -few words in favour of Episcopacy, observing that "if we made parity -in the Church, we must at last come to a parity in the Commonwealth, -and that the bishops were one of the three estates of the kingdom, -and had a voice in Parliament." Upon this Cromwell rose, and declared -that "he knew no reason of those suppositions and inferences which the -gentleman had made that last spoke." At this point some interruption -occurred, and divers members "called him to the bar." After which Pym -and Holles referred to the orders of the House, that if a gentleman -said anything objectionable, he might explain himself in his place. -D'Ewes followed this up by saying, "to call a member to the bar is the -highest and most supreme censure we can exercise within these walls, -for it is rending away a part from our body, because if once a member -amongst us is placed at yonder bar, he ceaseth to be a member." He then -moved, that if this offence of calling to the bar should be repeated, -the offender should be well fined. Cromwell, who thus appears to have -already become obnoxious to the Church party, must have still more -annoyed his interrupter, when he proceeded to observe, "He did not -understand why the gentleman that last spake (before the interruption) -should make an inference of parity from the Church to the Commonwealth, -nor that there was any necessity of the great revenues of bishops. He -was more convinced, touching the irregularity of bishops, than even -before; because, like the Roman hierarchy, they would not endure to -have their condition come to a trial."[147] This debate resulted in -the petition being referred to a Committee which had been appointed to -prepare subjects to be submitted to the House--the House reserving to -itself the main point of Episcopacy, which was to be afterwards taken -into consideration. The speeches had shewn a remarkable coincidence -of opinion as to the necessity of abridging prelatical power and -Church influence; but they had also brought out discordant views -in relation to Episcopacy itself, though few at present advocated -its total abolition. As yet, it did not seem wise to the Commons to -decide one way or the other on this important point, or to entrust -the consideration of the question to a Committee; but as we look at -the general complexion of the debate, together with the terms of the -resolution, the exceptive clause would appear simply to mean that -Parliament was not yet prepared to abolish Episcopacy.[148] - -[Sidenote: 1641, Feb.] - -[Sidenote: _Petitions._] - -The Committee divided the grievances complained of into nineteen -heads, of which the principal were the inequality of benefices, the -claim of the hierarchy to be a divine institution, the assumption of -an exclusive power to ordain, the temporal power of the bishops, the -holding of pluralities, and the scandalous lives of the Clergy.[149] -The challenge of the divine right of Episcopacy, though it seems to -have come very near to the subject excepted in the resolution, was -pronounced to be a proper point for enquiry; and a long and minute -discussion followed, in which texts of Scripture and passages from -the Fathers were cited and canvassed. It was voted at length that the -"challenge of the divine right of Episcopacy is a question fit to be -presented;"--the Committee in this respect indicating a desire that the -House would proceed to discuss the point reserved, and also shewing by -the tenor of their private conference, the strong Presbyterian element -then at work amongst them. All the nineteen particulars were examined, -and evidence collected respecting each--especially that which bore -upon the conduct of scandalous bishops, whose speeches and quotations -of Scripture are given at length, some in an incredible strain of -impious levity. The Committee sat from the 10th to the 19th February. -No formal discussion of the abstract question about the divine right of -Episcopacy immediately followed the report of the Committee; but the -influence of the report probably told upon the House, and prepared for -an attack upon the bishops, which was made in the month of May. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER IV. - - -[Sidenote: _Lords' Committee on Innovations._] - -Whilst the Commons were receiving Puritan petitions, the Lords were -presented with others of a different kind. The presence in the Upper -House of Anglican bishops and noblemen, encouraged the Church party -to make complaints to them of Puritan irreverence and interruption; -and these complaints indicated very plainly, how the revolution of -affairs had emboldened certain individuals to commit some very unseemly -acts.[150] At the same time, the gracious reception given by the peers -to anti-Puritan memorials manifested a temper quite different from -that which prevailed in the Lower House. Yet there was not altogether -wanting on the part of their lordships a disposition to make some -small concession to Puritan demands, with the view of saving the -Church of England from changes of a more serious nature. Hence, in the -early spring, they appointed a committee to consider the subject of -innovations. This committee was empowered to consult with any divines -whom they might wish to select; and when the selection had been made, a -theological sub-committee was formed.[151] - -[Sidenote: 1641, March.] - -Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, and Dean of Westminster, became convener -of this committee of divines, and he presided over all the meetings. -Though possessed of considerable knowledge and ability, and of an -active turn of mind, this remarkable person had not the qualities -necessary for ecclesiastical statesmanship in troubled times such as -those in which his lot was thrown. His whole history supports the -opinion that selfish policy formed the guiding star of his life; and -there is little doubt that a key to such of his proceedings as favoured -Puritanism may be found in his remark that "the Puritans were many, -and strong sticklers; and if his Majesty would but give private orders -to his ministers to connive a little at their party, and shew them -some indulgence, it might, perhaps, mollify them a little, and make -them more pliant, though he did not promise that they would be trusty -long to any government."[152] Williams cannot be honoured for any high -moral or religious principle; he was very much of a time-server, and -fondly loved popularity; indeed his whole history is in keeping with -the keen and cunning expression of his handsome countenance seen in -that portrait of him, with black hat and close ruff, which hangs in the -dining-room of the Westminster Deanery. - -[Sidenote: _Lords' Committee on Innovations._] - -We can believe what his biographer says respecting his management of -the Committee:-- - -"The Bishop had undertaken a draught for regulating the government -ecclesiastical, but had not finished it. The sudden and quiet dispatch -of all that was done already was attributed to the Chairman's -dexterity, who could play his prize at all weapons, dally with crooked -humours, and pluck them straight; bring all stragglers into his own -pound, and never drive them in; foresee a tempest of contradiction the -best that ever I knew, and scatter it before it could rise; and won all -his adversaries insensibly into a compliance before they were aware. -To this day they of the Nonconformists that survive, and were present, -will tell you that they admired two things in him, in their phrase--his -courtesy and his cunning."[153] - -The members met for a week in the Jerusalem Chamber, and were daily -entertained by the hospitable Dean. This circumstance Fuller could -not record without the witticism, that it was "the last course of all -public episcopal treatments--whose guests may now even put up their -knives, seeing soon after the voider was called for, which took away -all bishops' lands, and most of English hospitality."[154] - -Just as Williams was summoning the divines to meet together to enquire -into innovations since the Reformation, and to "examine the degrees and -perfections of the Reformation itself," Laud wrote down in his diary, -"This Committee will meddle with doctrine as well as ceremonies, and -will prove the national synod of England to the great dishonour of the -Church, and what else may follow upon it, God knows."[155] - -[Sidenote: 1641, March.] - -Though Laud was wrong in the importance which he attached to this mixed -conclave, he was right enough in concluding that it would meddle with -doctrines as well as ceremonies. This appeared very early; for it is -alleged in the memoranda prepared for the Committee that there were -some ministers who preached justification by works, the efficacy of -penance, confession, and absolution, and the sacrificial character of -the Lord's supper; that prayers for the dead were used, and monastic -vows defended; also, "that the whole gross substance of Arminianism was -avowed, and original sin absolutely denied:" and together with these -notices of Romanist tendencies on the one hand, there appear references -to Socinianism on the other. The introduction of these charges could -not but lead to doctrinal controversy, and rumours soon got abroad -that changes in the theological standards of the Church were under -consideration.[156] - -[Sidenote: _Lords' Committee on Innovations._] - -The ceremonial innovations complained of were more numerous than the -doctrinal. They included turning the holy table altar-wise; bowing -to the east; the use of candlesticks upon the altar, so called; the -construction of a canopy over it, with curtains on each side; the -display of crucifixes and images upon the parafront or altar-cloth; -reading some parts of the morning service at the table, when the -communion is not celebrated; the employment of credence tables; the -introduction of an offertory distinct from giving alms to the poor; -and "singing the 'Te Deum' in prose, after a cathedral church way, -in divers parochial churches where the people have no skill in such -music." The last of the practices here enumerated might seem to -occasion censure only on the ground of unfitness and want of taste, -such as High Churchmen would disapprove; but all the other particulars -in the paper, of which we have given only specimens, demonstrate -that Puritan, if not Presbyterian pens were employed in drawing it -up. Another proof of this circumstance is found in the reference to -"standing up at the hymns in the church, and always at 'Gloria Patri.'" -The finding fault with that shews the extreme length to which the -Puritans went in their objections; and it is curious to observe, that -standing up to sing, which was in the seventeenth century complained -of as an innovation upon the reformed discipline of the Church, -is now an almost universal practice in all communities of English -Christians.[157] A memorandum follows--which might have proceeded -from the Episcopal portion of the Committee--to the effect that two -sermons should be preached in all cathedral and collegiate churches on -Sundays and holydays, and that there should be at least one lecture -a week; but, again, Puritan influence appears in the expression of a -desire that music should be arranged with less curiosity, and that no -"ditties" should be "framed by private men." - -[Sidenote: 1641, March.] - -In reference to the Prayer Book, suggestions to the number of -thirty-five occur, of which the following may be mentioned: expunging -the names of some departed saints from the calendar; the disuse of -apocryphal lessons; omitting the Benedicite; the making some discreet -rubric to take away the scandal of signing the cross in baptism, or the -abolition of that sign altogether; the enlargement of the Catechism; -and certain changes in the Marriage[158] and Burial Services, and also -in that for the Visitation of the Sick,--changes of a kind such as have -been commonly proposed by those who advocate a revision of the Prayer -Book.[159] - -A proposal for reforming the Episcopate which was volunteered by -Williams, and was submitted by him on his own responsibility, without -success, to the House of Lords,[160] does not belong to the schemes of -the Committee. It went no further than to propose that bishops should -preach every Sunday under penalty for default; that none should be -justices of the peace except the Dean of Westminster; and that prelates -should have twelve assistants besides Deans and Chapters. Four of these -assistants were to be appointed by the King, four by the Lords, and -four by the Commons; and in the case of a see being vacant, they were -to present three able divines to His Majesty, who was to nominate one -of them to the Episcopal chair; no Dean or Prebendary was to absent -himself from his cathedral above sixty days. - -[Sidenote: _Lords' Committee on Innovations._] - -Other plans were drawn up by different persons with a view to the -reconciliation of opposite parties, and there were moderate men who -believed that, "but for some hot spirits who would abate nothing of -episcopal power and profit," a compromise might have been effected. -Perhaps it might; yet supposing some likelihood of peace through mutual -concession at an earlier period, it admits of a question whether any -possibility of it remained, now that the pent-up animosities of many -years had burst out like the fires of a volcano. Theologians of a -spirit like that of Ussher and others might have discovered grounds -of union in spite of different views on some subjects; but a large -majority of the divines who formed the two parties which then divided -the Church, had reached conclusions irreconcilably opposed to each -other. At all events, the semi-Puritan scheme of accommodation came to -nothing. By the middle of May, the Committee had broken up, and when -the reader reflects upon the crisis which affairs had reached, he will -not wonder that the members abandoned the project in despair. - -[Sidenote: 1641, April.] - -The Committee of the Commons appointed for considering the Ministers' -Remonstrance of the 27th of January, had not been idle. They had made -reports and submitted questions for discussion. The House consequently -passed resolutions for reforming pluralities, removing bishops from -the Peerage and Privy Council, and for excluding all clergymen -from the commission of the peace. Orders were given to frame Bills -accordingly.[161] - -One of these Bills, which was introduced on the 9th of March, provided -that no minister should have more than one living; that if he absented -himself from his cure for forty days, he should forfeit his preferment; -and that no member of the University should hold a benefice ten miles -distant from his College, without living in the parish.[162] - -[Sidenote: _Debates respecting Bishops._] - -Another Bill, founded on the resolutions excluding clergymen from -secular offices, came before the House on the first of April, when -it was read a second time, and committed.[163] The supporters of it -argued:--"That there was so great a concurrence towards the passing -this Bill, and so great a combination throughout the nation against the -whole government of the Church, in which the Scots were so resolutely -engaged, that it was impossible for a firm peace to be preserved -between the nations, if bishops were not taken away, and that the army -would never march out of the kingdom till that were brought to pass." -Mr. Hyde, who afterwards, as Lord Clarendon, became his own reporter, -replied that--"It was changing the whole frame and constitution of -the kingdom, and of the Parliament itself; that, from the time that -Parliaments began, there had never been one Parliament when the bishops -were not part of it; that if they were taken out of the House there -would be but two estates left, for that they, as the clergy, were the -third estate, and being taken away, there was nobody left to represent -the clergy, which would introduce another piece of injustice, which no -other part of the kingdom could complain of, who were all represented -in Parliament, and were, therefore, bound to submit to all that was -enacted, because it was upon the matter with their own consent: -whereas, if the bishops were taken from sitting in the House of Peers, -there was nobody who could pretend to represent the clergy, and yet -they must be bound by their determinations." Lord Falkland, who sat -next to Hyde, then started up, and declared himself "to be of another -opinion, and that, as he thought the thing itself to be absolutely -necessary for the benefit of the Church, which was in so great danger, -so he had never heard that the constitution of the kingdom would -be violated by the passing that act, and that he had heard many of -the clergy protest that they could not acknowledge that they were -represented by the bishops. However, we might presume, that if they -could make that appear, that they were a third estate, that the House -of Peers (amongst whom they sat, and had yet their votes) would reject -it."[164] - -What became of this measure we shall see before long. In March and -April, Bills were brought before the Commons for removing the Star -Chamber and High Commission Courts, but they were not presented to the -Lords till the fate of Strafford had been sealed. After a fruitless -attempt by the Peers to modify the Bill respecting the Star Chamber, -that and the measure for extinguishing the other despotic tribunal were -allowed to pass.[165] - -[Sidenote: 1641, April.] - -Before entering on the principal events of the month of May, it is -proper to glance at a controversy, pending about that time, between -bishops Hall and Ussher on the one side, and certain Presbyterians, -together with John Milton, on the other. Hall had, at an earlier -period, written his "Episcopacy by divine right." Now he appeared as -the author of "An Humble Remonstrance," in defence of liturgical forms -and diocesan Episcopacy. He was answered by five Presbyterian divines, -the initials of whose names formed the word _Smectymnus_, under which -ugly title their polemical production figures in literary history.[166] -The prelate insisted on the antiquity of liturgical forms, and on -the apostolical origin of diocesan bishops. The Presbyters contended -that free prayer was the practice of the early Church, and that no -genuine liturgy can be traced up beyond the third century. They -further maintained that the primitive bishop was a parochial pastor, -or preaching presbyter, without superiority of order or any exclusive -jurisdiction; that Presbyters of old ordained, and ruled, and that -what they did at the beginning they had a right to do still. Hall -published a rejoinder in defence of the Remonstrance. The Presbyters -soon produced a Vindication. The Bishop now sought assistance from his -friend Ussher, entreating him to bestow "one sheet of paper in such -distracted times on the subject of Episcopacy." Ussher complied, and -entitled his tract, "The original of Bishops and Metropolitans briefly -laid down." This, as well as another tract from the same pen, on the -position of the bishops of Asia Minor, issued from the Oxford press -in the course of the year, in a collection which further included -extracts from the writings of Hooker and Andrewes. Ussher argued, that -from the writings of the Fathers a succession of bishops may be shown -to have existed ever since the age of the Apostles; and that the Seven -Angels of the Seven Churches were "seven singular bishops who were the -constant presidents" over them.[167] - -[Sidenote: _Debates respecting Bishops._] - -[Sidenote: 1641, April.] - -Milton, with characteristic ardour and eloquence, plunged into this -warfare, and published no less than five treatises on the subject, -advocating ecclesiastical reform, condemning prelatical Episcopacy, -reasoning against its government, animadverting on the "Defence," and -apologizing for Smectymnus. The poet's genius, and his mastery of -English prose, are conspicuous in these pamphlets; but the ferocity -of temper with which he here uses his scalping-knife is hardly less -than what it was in his onslaught upon Salmasius. Andrewes and -Ussher are treated as dunces by the imperious scholar, and Lucifer -is called the "first prelate angel," by this violent Nonconformist. -Yet, behind his bitterest invectives,--with which mercenary feeling or -personal grudge had nothing to do--may be seen a virtuous indignation -against superstition, formality, and despotism; and it is in the very -midst of this stormy assault, that he pauses to speak of that more -congenial work--the great poem which even then floated before his -imagination--which was "not to be obtained by the invocation of Dame -Memory and her syren daughters, but by devout prayer to that Eternal -Spirit who can enrich with all utterance and knowledge, and sends out -His seraphim with the hallowed fire of His altar to touch and purify -the lips of whom He pleases." - - - - - [Illustration.] - - CHAPTER V. - - -The May-day of 1641 was as merry as usual, save where Puritan opinions -interfered with its time-honoured festivities. The May-pole was -brought into the City and reared at St. Andrew's Undershaft with the -accustomed honours. The morris-dancers, with Robin Hood, Maid Marian, -Friar Tuck, and the other appurtenances of the show, made sport for -those citizens who were attached to the old order of things. And in -spite of Stubbs' "Anatomie of Abuses," which exposed these sports as -heathenish practices, such persons looked on them as the symbols of an -anti-Puritan loyalty, and of an old-fashioned affection for Church and -State. At the same period, preparations were being made at Whitehall -for the nuptials of the Princess Mary and the Prince of Orange; and the -next day, being Sunday, the bride was led into the Chapel by the Prince -of Wales and the Duke of York, "convoyed with a number of ladies of her -own age of nine and ten years, all in cloth of silver," when the King -gave away the bride, and "good Bishop Wren made the marriage."[168] The -destinies of England were mysteriously connected with the consequences -of this royal union, and little could the brilliant party before the -altar, dream that from the wedded pair would spring a son, destined -to cut off one branch of the Stuart dynasty for ever from the British -throne; to complete the series of revolutionary events beginning to -arise at the time of the marriage; and to establish for ages the civil -and religious liberties of the English Constitution. - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -The month so inaugurated proved most eventful. During April the perils -of the nation had been on the increase. Plots were contrived by the -King's friends to bring up the army to London and force a dissolution -of Parliament. Pym, on the 3rd of May, declared that "combinations at -home" corresponded with "practices abroad," and that the French were -drawing their forces towards the English shores; that divers persons -of eminence about the Queen were deeply engaged in these plots; that -it was necessary for the ports to be closed, and that it was time to -ask His Majesty to forbid any one who attended Court to leave these -shores without special permission. Sir John Wray, member for the county -of Lincoln, made a speech immediately after Pym had spoken, in which -he urged, that if ever it was meant to perfect and finish the great -work begun, the right way must be followed, which was to become holy -pilgrims, not Popish ones. This he explained as meaning that they were -to be loyal Covenanters with God and the King; binding themselves by -a national oath to preserve religion in this country, without mixture -of superstition or idolatry, and to defend the Defender of the Faith, -his person, crown, and dignity. Doing this, and making Jerusalem their -chiefest joy, the nation would be blessed; but if the people let go -their Christian hold, and lost their Parliament-proof and old English -well-tempered mettle, let them take heed lest their buckler break, and -their Parliaments melt away, and their golden candlestick be removed -for ever.[169] - -[Sidenote: _Debates in the House of Commons._] - -In consequence of these appeals, the Commons resolved upon a solemn -Vow and Protestation, to defend, as far as lawful, "with life, power, -and estate, the true reformed Protestant religion" of the Church of -England, against all popery and popish innovations; to maintain the -privilege of Parliament, and the liberties of the subject; and to -endeavour to bring to condign punishment any person who should engage -in conspiracy, or do anything contrary to this Protestation.[170] It -was forthwith taken by every member, and then the document was sent -up to the Lords. The peers present, except the Earl of Southampton -and Lord Roberts, followed the example of the Commons. In two days -the formulary had passed the lips of eighty temporal lords, seventeen -bishops, nine judges, and four hundred and thirty-eight commoners. It -was then printed and sent to the magistrates throughout the kingdom, -with an order that it should be solemnly adopted on the following -Sunday by heads of families and all persons of proper age.[171] - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -Of course, questions arose as to the meaning of the words, in many -cases, no doubt, after they had been sealed by oath. Episcopalians took -the declaration to mean defending the Protestant religion, as in the -Church of England by law established. No such thing, said the Puritan -majority of the Lower House; it includes not the hierarchy. It is -_against_ all popery and popish innovations, not _for_ the discipline -worship and ceremonies of the Church as they stand at present.[172] -The Commons, having so explained their own measure, afterwards passed -a Bill for its universal enforcement, which however was objected to by -the Lords. A conference between the two Houses followed, conducted by -Denzil Holles, who defended the imposition of the oath, as a shibboleth -to distinguish Ephraimites from Gileadites. With his reasons, "after -some debate, the Lords seemed satisfied."[173] The proceeding shewed -the alarm of the representatives of the people, lest they should be -checkmated by their opponents. It indicated a determination to abide -by what had been done, and further to grapple with all Papistical -tendencies; whilst the Protestation itself anticipated the more famous -Covenant of an after year, much to the joy of Robert Baillie, who, -writing from his house in St. Antholin's, on the 4th of May, informed -a Scotch brother: "After much debate, at last, blessed be the name of -the Lord, they all swore and subscribed the writ, which here you have, -I hope in substance, our Scottish covenant."[174] The intolerance and -injustice of the imposition could not be seen in those days as it -is in ours. Intended to secure liberty for such as were counted its -only friends, it in fact partook of that very injustice, which, when -exercised on the other side, appeared intolerable. - -[Sidenote: _Debates in the House of Commons._] - -The resolute temper of the House of Commons, in resolving upon -the enforcement of the Protestation in spite of the Lords, is to -be ascribed very much to the new position in which the House had -placed itself. Mistrusting the intentions of the King, fearful of -another dissolution, which would frustrate all patriotic plans, the -representatives of the people had passed a Bill to render Parliament -indissoluble until it should dissolve itself. The Bill was read a third -time on the 7th of May, and such was the ascendancy of the Commons, -that the King--either struck for a moment, as if by the eye of a -basilisk, or intending to violate the Act, should it be in his power; -or influenced by "his own shame and the Queen's consternation at the -discovery of the late plot"[175]--gave his assent to the fatal measure -only two days after it had passed the Lords. - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -During the progress of the Protestation, the Londoners manifested the -greatest excitement; crowds assembled in Palace Yard, and the King -sent a message to the House of Lords to say, that, taking notice of -the great tumult and concourse of people, he had called a council to -advise what should be done, and it was his pleasure that Parliament -should adopt some speedy course for preserving peace.[176] A laughable -circumstance occurred amidst this panic. Two fat citizens, in the -gallery of the Commons, stood earnestly listening to Sir Walter Erle, -whilst he was descanting on the dangers of the times. Just then, an -old board gave a loud creak, and Sir John Wray, imagining a second -Guy Fawkes concealed in the cellar, called out, "he smelt gunpowder." -This was enough. Knights and burgesses rushed out and frightened the -people in the lobby, and the people in the lobby ran into Westminster -Hall, crying, "the Parliament House was falling, and the members were -slain." A few, scampering as fast as they could to Westminster Stairs, -took water, and rowing at the top of their speed, reached the City, -where they caused the alarm drums to beat, and the train bands to march -as far as Covent Garden. All this arose from the creaking of a rotten -board.[177] - -The exposure of these idle fears did not, however, compose the House; -for, on the 10th of May, members were in such consternation about a -gunpowder plot, that the Serjeant-at-arms received an order to get the -holes of the floor examined and stopped up; also a committee of five -proceeded carefully to search the building to discover and prevent -the designs of any ill-affected persons who might be imitating the -example of Guy Fawkes. Whilst we smile at these unfounded terrors, -we must believe some real danger to have been in the wind, to make -strong hearts, such as beat in the Long Parliament, thus flutter with -apprehension. - -[Sidenote: _Debates in the House of Commons._] - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -About the same time London echoed with "No popery riots." The presence -of Marie de' Medicis in England excited immense uneasiness; and the -zeal of that lady and her daughter, Queen Henrietta Maria, on behalf of -the interests of the Roman Catholic religion, came to be regarded by -Puritan citizens as a fountain of intrigue. At the end of April, the -London apprentices--a class always foremost in city frays--catching -the spirit of their sires and elders, gave it violent expression, -by assaulting the Spanish ambassador's house in Bishopsgate Street, -threatening to pull it about his Excellency's ears, and to take -his life in revenge for permitting English Papists to frequent his -chapel.[178] - -Other tumults and a deeper excitement appear in connexion with the -trial of Strafford. Though the charges against him were chiefly of a -political character, and his overthrow was accomplished mainly for -political reasons, yet the religious feelings of the Puritans were -intensely excited against this arbitrary chieftain, as the friend of -Laud, and the abettor of his High Church policy. They saw in him the -evil genius of the past, and his removal seemed to them essential for -accomplishing the ecclesiastical reforms which they desired.[179] -The conclusions which a student will reach, or the doubts that he -will entertain touching the righteousness of Strafford's attainder -and sentence, depend entirely upon the point of view from which he -may regard the question. No wonder that lawyers now pronounce the -attainder infamous.[180] Looking at the statutes of treason, it is -impossible to bring the conduct of the Earl within their scope. -The subversion of the fundamental laws of the kingdom, with which -Strafford was charged, can never be fairly construed into an act of -treason against the King. But politicians, examining the subject on -grounds of expediency, may regard the proceeding as one of necessity -to save the liberties of England. They may also think, as some did at -the time, that "stone dead hath no fellow"--that the only effectual -way of getting rid of so formidable an enemy was at once to put him in -his coffin; and, as a matter of state policy--overriding all statute -and common law--such persons will pronounce the execution of Strafford -perfectly justifiable. But when the moralist comes to investigate the -matter, it assumes a different aspect. He will admit--unless he be -under the influence of strong political prejudices--that the Earl was -guilty of high crimes and misdemeanours; and that, though not guilty -of treason at common or statute law, he was guilty of subverting the -principles of the constitution. On grounds therefore of moral equity, -it was right to inflict some punishment on the offender. But to what -extent? Perpetual imprisonment, with proper precautions against rescue, -might have sufficed to meet all which political expediency required. -Sent out of the way, shut up in some strong castle, the Earl might -have been rendered perfectly innocuous; and it may fairly be contended -further, that such a proceeding would have accomplished the ends of -justice--that such an expiation ought to have satisfied the moral -indignation of the country. Yet, when that point is settled, another -arises, which demands consideration from the historian. - -[Sidenote: _Lord Strafford._] - -While, free from the excitements of the seventeenth century, we -calmly look at Strafford's deserts, is it fair to apply our standard -of judgment to the patriots and Puritans of 1641 who took part in -his condemnation? Right and wrong, it is true, in themselves are -unalterable and eternal, but there are almost infinite degrees in the -blameworthiness of men doing wrong, as there are in the meritoriousness -of men doing right. Allowance being made for different ideas of -criminal jurisprudence in the times of the Stuarts from those now -current; and excuses being admitted for stern severity provoked by -long oppression,--the patriots and Puritans who put Strafford to death -must not be condemned as men would be who had done such a thing in -our own times. If it be allowed that the Puritans acted under a sense -of mistaken justice; that, standing before the bar of Heaven, they -could lay their hands on their breasts, and plead the convictions of -conscience and the impulses of patriotism; then, however condemnatory -the deed, lenient should be the sentence on the offenders. I am not -however prepared to contend for the absence of all vindictiveness -in the men who brought Strafford to trial, and then sent him to the -scaffold. One cannot but fear that a large amount of alloy was mixed -up with the purity of their justice. But that must be left for the -decision of a far different tribunal from any which we can erect. - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -Every reader of English history is aware of the perplexity of Charles -when required by Parliament to sanction the death of his Minister. -He did not believe Strafford guilty of treason, and he consequently -regarded his execution as unjust. Yet he sought for some method of -pacifying his conscience, and consulted certain Bishops[181] as to the -course that he should pursue. The general advice they gave is reported -by the most distinguished of the counsellors. Ussher puts it thus: -The matter of fact must be distinguished from the matter of law; of -the matter of fact the King may judge; if he do not conceive the Earl -guilty, he cannot in justice condemn him; but as for law, what is -treason, and what is not, the King must rely on the opinion of the -judges.[182] - -[Sidenote: _Lord Strafford._] - -This casuistry of Charles's advisers indicated the timid expediency of -politicians rather than the grave righteousness of God's ministers. But -what followed was much worse. One of them--probably Williams--suggested -a distinction between the public capacity of Charles as a king, and -the private capacity of Charles as a man; a distinction worthy only -of a Jesuit, and such as, if allowed, would tear up the roots of all -morality in official life.[183] It appears that the other prelates -were not responsible for this suggestion. Still reserve is seen on the -part of the best men amongst the monarch's advisers, very unlike the -outspoken habits of old Hebrew prophets. In their conduct there is much -to provoke censure, though in their circumstances there is something to -suggest excuse. - -In justice to Ussher, let it be added, that he recommended the King -not to consent to the Earl's condemnation unless he was convinced of -his guilt. Charles himself declared, "After the bill was passed, the -Archbishop came to me, saying, with tears in his eyes, 'Oh, Sir, what -have you done? I fear that this act may prove a great trouble to your -conscience, and pray God that your Majesty may never suffer by the -signing of this Bill.'" The Episcopal party, though they did nothing -decidedly against the execution of Strafford, ever afterwards regarded -it as a dark spot in their royal master's history. They were certainly -themselves not free from blame, for if they regarded the proceeding -as they said they did, it became them to do their utmost to save -Strafford's life. But the truth is, as the Minister was made a Jonah -to still the storm, so the Monarch was made a scape-goat to bear the -responsibility of throwing him overboard. With the superstition natural -to a man wanting in straightforward principle, Charles, in the midst of -his after troubles, promised to expiate his offence by public penance, -should he ever be restored to his throne. That day of penance never -came: but the moral effect of Strafford's dignified conduct in prison -and on the scaffold has been such as to soften the opinion of posterity -respecting his character, and to increase the condemnation pronounced -by history upon Charles for consenting to his death. Strafford's last -moments were the noblest of his life. The scene, as he knelt under -Laud's window in the Tower to receive his benediction, touches English -hearts to this very hour; pity is felt for the man going to his doom on -the adjoining hill, which would never have been inspired had his fate -been imprisonment instead of death. Both injustice and impolicy are -sure to meet revenge, as Providence slowly knits up the threads of time. - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -Strafford fell on the 12th of May. Amidst the mingled awe and -exultation of the moment--whilst the name of the nobleman who had -perished passed from lip to lip through London, and the sawdust on the -scaffold continued moist with blood--the House of Commons calmly sat to -hear an appeal respecting Deans and Chapters. The men, who unconscious -of guilt had brought Strafford to the block, and had thus swept from -their path a huge obstacle, were at this awful moment quietly pursuing -their measures of ecclesiastical reform. The event of the morning, -however, one would imagine, came too vividly before them to allow -of perfectly serene attention to the pleadings carried on in their -presence. - -[Sidenote: _Deans and Chapters._] - -Great alarm had been felt for the safety of cathedral establishments, -although no measure at present had appeared in either House affecting -their dignity or diminishing their revenues. But reports of approaching -danger were rife, which did not at first alarm and arouse the -"prelatical court clergy" so much as it did some others. They waited -to see distinctly what impended before attempting a defence. Now they -bestirred themselves and prepared petitions, and being informed that -the order of the House would not permit of their employing counsel, -they delegated Dr. John Hacket, Prebendary of St. Paul's and Archdeacon -of Bedford, to plead their cause. On this 12th of May, Hacket came up -to the bar of the House to fulfil an office which, he said, had been -assigned to him only the afternoon before. He pleaded, that cathedrals -supplied the defects of private worship, though he quaintly admitted -that--through the super-inquisitiveness of the music--what was intended -for devotion vanished away into quavers and airs, whereof he wished -the amendment; and passing to what he termed "the other wing of the -cherubim," he expatiated on the excellent preaching supplied by these -establishments; refuting, by the way, slanders on lecturers as an -upstart corporation, and shewing that the local statutes of most -cathedrals required week-day lectures. The advocate urged further, that -Deans and Chapters advanced the cause of learning, and provided persons -for defending the Church. Moreover, he said, the institute comported -with primitive usage, being in fact a _senatus episcopi_, and therefore -meeting a want of which some of his reverend brethren complained. -Warming with his subject, he praised the magnificence of cathedral -buildings, mentioned the number dependent on the foundations, insisted -on the excellence of Deans and Chapters as landlords, and their -enrichment of cities by their residence and hospitality. The Doctor -proceeded to uphold cathedral revenues as prizes to stimulate lawful -ambition, and contended for a better maintenance of the clergy than in -neighbouring reformed Churches--that they might not be like "Jeroboam's -priests, the basest of all the people." To destroy Deans and Chapters, -he added, would please the Papists--to preserve them would benefit the -nation. He concluded by observing that the honour of God was at stake -in this matter, that alienation of church property would be sacrilege, -and that "on the ruins of the rewards of learning no structure can be -raised but ignorance; and upon the chaos of ignorance nothing can be -built but profaneness and confusion."[184] - -Dr. Cornelius Burgess, a London lecturer of Presbyterian principles, -appeared in the afternoon of the same eventful day, and indulged in -"a vehement invective against Deans and Chapters," their want of -Scripture authority, and their utter unprofitableness. He charged -some of the singing men with debauchery, and all with uselessness.[185] -Yet he considered it unlawful to convert the revenues to private uses. -In his opinion they ought to be consecrated to public purposes of a -religious kind. After hearing the arguments of Hacket and Burgess, the -House allowed the matter to stand over for a while. Hereafter we shall -have to notice its re-appearance. - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -The Commons a few days afterwards (May 17) gave signs of coming -under Presbyterian influence. Having debated certain propositions -presented by the Scotch commissioners, they reciprocated by resolution -the affectionate regards of their brethren, and their desires for -uniformity in Church government. They went so far as to pledge -themselves to proceed in due time with reformatory measures, such as -should "best conduce to the glory of God and the peace of the Church." -Three days subsequently, the House set aside the oath of canonical -obedience, by voting that no minister should be obliged to take any -oath upon his induction, except _such as Scripture warranted_.[186] In -all this, a current of feeling against Episcopacy is distinctly visible. - -[Sidenote: _Abolition of Episcopacy._] - -The Bill for "Restraining Bishops from intermeddling with Secular -Affairs" came again under debate. It had been sent to the Upper House -on the 1st of May, when Bishop Hall made a speech against it.[187] The -Bill reached a second reading, and was committed on the 14th. Whatever -idea of compromise by passing this measure might have existed among the -Commons, no such idea was entertained by the Lords. They disputed -the question with all the logic and eloquence they could master; -evidently regarding the overthrow of this measure as of vital moment. -The Right Reverend bench stood firm, and the Bishop of Lincoln--to -shew that his committee of accommodation meant nothing prejudicial to -the order--boldly defended it in a speech which was full of learning -and rhetoric. Lord Viscount Newark also strenuously opposed the Bill; -but it received earnest support from the Puritan Lord Say and Sele. -Yet the latter wished their lordships not to regard it as introduced -with any ulterior view,--telling them, it meant not the taking away -of Episcopacy _root and branch_, but only the lopping off exuberant -and superfluous boughs which now wasted the juices of the tree. The -Lords feared the consequence of passing the bill, and deemed the -episcopal status amongst them as of ancient and inalienable right. So -they resolved, that Archbishops and Bishops should have "suffrage and -voice as ever;" but to the other propositions they agreed, viz:--that -prelates should have nothing to do with the Star Chamber Court or the -Privy Council, and that no clergyman should be any longer a Justice of -the Peace. These points a year before--had Strafford and Laud conceded -them when they were in power--would have been counted an immense -concession. But ecclesiastical as well as political matters had since -passed through a whole heaven of change; therefore the three articles -granted by the Lords were by the Commons deemed trifles unworthy of -acceptance apart from the first. - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -On the 24th of May, the resolution described passed the House of Lords. -The impression which it made on the Commons is plain from what ensued. -The patriots knitted their brows when the tidings reached them, and -compressed their lips in firm determination to subdue the lordly -prelates. We now reach an important crisis. - -The Commons assembled as usual on the 27th of May. A petition came from -the Lincolnshire farmers and burghers, with many hands to it, praying -for the abolition of the government of Archbishops and Bishops, and -their numerous subordinates.[188] As the gentlemen in broadbrimmed hats -and scanty cloaks with goodly neck-ruffs or ample collars sat gravely -pondering these ominous petitions,--suddenly, from a well-known voice, -a short speech broke on their ears like the explosion of a bombshell. -On the southern, or right-hand corner of St. Stephen's Chapel, a ladder -might have been discovered, leading up to a gallery where certain -members were accustomed to sit. Sir Arthur Haselrig commonly took his -place there. That morning Sir Edward Dering was seen striding up the -ladder to a seat next Sir Arthur. The member for Leicestershire held -close and earnest conference with the Kentish knight. A paper was -pressed into his hands, and after a hasty perusal, with a good-natured -air of importance, he rose, leaned over the gallery, and made the -following impromptu remarks:-- - -[Sidenote: _Abolition of Episcopacy._] - -"Mr. Speaker--The gentleman that spake last, taking notice of the -multitude of complaints and complainants against the present government -of the Church, doth somewhat seem to wonder that we have no more -pursuit ready against the persons offending. Sir, the time is present, -and the work is ready perhaps beyond his expectation. Sir, I am now -the instrument to present unto you a very short but a very sharp Bill, -such as these times and their sad necessities have brought forth. It -speaks a free language, and makes a bold request. It is a purging -Bill. I give it you as I take physic, not for delight but for a cure. -A cure now, the last and only cure, if as I hope all other remedies -have been first tried, then--_immedicabile vulnus, &c._, but _cuncta -prius tentanda_. I never was for ruin so long as I could hold any -hope of reforming. My hopes that way are even almost withered. This -Bill is entitled, 'An Act for the utter abolishing and taking away of -all Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellors and Commissaries, Deans, -Deans and Chapters, Archdeacons, Prebendaries, Chanters, and Canons, -and all other their under officers.' Sir, you see their demerits have -exposed them, _publici odii piaculares victimas_. I am sorry they are -so ill. I am sorry they will not be content to be bettered, which I -did hope would have been effected by our last Bill. When this Bill -is perfected I shall give a sad aye unto it; and at the delivery in -thereof, I do now profess beforehand, that if my former hopes of a full -Reformation may yet revive and prosper, I will again divide my sense -upon this Bill, and yield my shoulders to under-prop the primitive, -lawful, and just Episcopacy; yet so as that I will never be wanting -with my utmost pains and prayers to root out all the undue adjuncts and -superstructures on it. I beseech you read the Bill, and weigh well the -work."[189] - -[Sidenote: 1641, May.] - -It was an odd speech for any man to make who had undertaken so grave a -business, and it looked doubly odd that Sir Edward Dering should father -such a motion; seeing that, though he was a Puritan, he professed to -love the Episcopal Church. Men stared and wondered. A pause followed. -Then some one moved, that the Bill might not be read:-- - -"That it was against the custom and rule of the House that any -private person should take upon him, without having first obtained -the leave and direction of the House to bring in a new Act, so much -as to abrogate and abolish any old single law; and therefore that it -was wonderful presumption in that gentleman, to bring in a Bill that -overthrew and repealed so many Acts of Parliament, and changed and -confounded the whole frame of the government of the kingdom."[190] - -The Bill, however, was then read a first time. On the motion for the -second reading, Sir John Culpeper, one of the popular party, opposed -it on the ground, that Episcopal government was not beyond all hope of -reformation. He advised the House to see what the Lords would yet do -with the Bill sent up to them. D'Ewes supported the second reading. -Sir Charles Williams, member for Monmouthshire, opposed it, declaring -that he would divide the House, though there should be "but six noes." -For this he was called to account, and compelled to apologize, to "the -good satisfaction of the House." The second reading passed by 139 to -108. On a resumption of the debate, Pleydell and Hyde took the lead -in opposing the measure. The latter argued that Church and State had -flourished many centuries under the present ecclesiastical rule, and -that the Bill must not be hastily adopted, since it contained matter of -great weight and importance. D'Ewes promptly replied, that the existing -ecclesiastical rule had hardly reached its hundredth year. Hyde would -have rejoined, but the House did not allow him so to do. Holles and Pym -followed, contending that bishops had well nigh ruined all religion, -and complaining that they had determined to continue in the Upper -House, despite the opposition of the Lower. The Commons ordered the -Bill to be committed on the 3rd of June. It was then deferred to the -11th of the same month.[191] - -[Sidenote: _Abolition of Episcopacy._] - -Dering's conduct at the time appeared a mystery. Afterwards he -explained,[192] that he had nothing to do with the preparation of -the measure--that it was entrusted to him by Sir Arthur Haselrig, -who had received it from Sir Harry Vane and Oliver Cromwell. It -further appears, that he scarcely read the motion before moving its -adoption. Haselrig's connection with this bold proceeding, as well as -with Strafford's attainder, are proofs of his having then assumed a -prominent position amongst ultra-politicians; but the character of the -measure would rather suggest that Sir Harry Vane must really have been -its author. Cromwell's relation to it is also worthy of notice, as it -indicates his advanced opinions at the period, and his already active -and influential statesmanship. According to Clarendon, the Solicitor -General, Oliver St. John, "the dark-lantern man," had drawn up the -Bill--a statement, which, if true, shows another of the republican -commonwealth men taking up an extreme position at the outset of the -strife.[193] - -[Sidenote: 1641, June.] - -No doubt the concocters of this design considered that it would meet -with better acceptance if presented by a merely doctrinal Puritan; and -it indicates the excited temper of the Commons at the moment, and how -the resistance of the Lords had wrought them up to a resolution of -frightening mitred heads--that the Bill immediately came to a second -reading, and that too by such a majority. Moreover, it expressed -growing indignation against the course of oppression with which -Episcopacy stood identified. For long years the Church had been sowing -the wind--now, in a few short hours, it reaped the whirlwind. To those -who wished to get rid of Episcopacy altogether, the proceedings of the -Lords, although very exasperating, would not be altogether unwelcome, -as advanced politicians might gather from it an argument against what -they deemed to be half-measures. They asked--since bishops cling so -tenaciously to their temporalities, would it not be as easy to get rid -of both, as to tear one from the other? Some moderate men, discouraged -and annoyed, were thus thrown into the arms of excited companions. -Policy led them on to extremes, hoping that the boldness of the -people's representatives now in the ascendant, would alarm the Lords, -especially the spiritual ones, and induce them to give way, even on a -point where they had staked their fortunes and planted the defence of -their order. - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -As the business of Dering's bill was under debate, a message arrived -from the Upper House, signifying a readiness to concur in the Bill -which they had already received, excepting only the clause for taking -away the bishops' votes. "This message," we are told, "took little -effect with the Commons."[194] - -A conference followed on the 3rd of June, when the peers were as -decided as the Commons. They contended that there could be no question -of the bishops' right to sit in Parliament, as well by common and -statute law as by constant practice; and they further declared, that -they knew of no inconveniences attending the privilege; still, if there -were any, they were ready to consider them.[195] In reply the Commons -alleged, that intermeddling with secular business hindered the exercise -of ministerial functions, and that bishops should devote themselves -entirely to their spiritual vocation. They added, that councils and -canons forbid their engaging in secular affairs--that the twenty-four -bishops are dependent on two archbishops--that with a peerage only -for life, they are ever hoping for translation--that of late several -prelates had encroached on the liberty of conscience belonging to His -Majesty's subjects, and would still do so--and that they were pledged -in their parliamentary character to maintain a jurisdiction grievous -to the three kingdoms, and already abolished in Scotland, while it was -petitioned against both in England and Wales. Finally, the Commons -urged that rank as peers placed the prelates at too great a distance -from the rest of the clergy. The arguments of neither House satisfied -the other. The Commons could not accept the answer of the Lords. We -will, declared they, have the whole Bill or none. Then, replied the -Lords, you shall have none; and threw it out altogether. A wedge had -before entered the oak of the English constitution. This blow split the -two branches asunder, and they stood apart wider than before. - -[Sidenote: 1641, June.] - -The Commons went on their way, and framed a piece of Sabbath -legislation, by prohibiting bargemen and lightermen from using their -barks on the day of rest. Further, they separated ancient usages from -parish perambulations, by requiring that no service should be said, nor -any psalms sung when such perambulations took place. And then--perhaps -to cover the measure against the bishops with some show of zeal for -clerical order--the House reproved some poor people brought before them -for schismatical irregularities.[196] - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -Needing themselves a lesson on religious liberty, the Commons resolved -to follow up their attack on those whom they considered to be its -greatest enemies. "We fell upon the great debate of the Bill of -Episcopacy," observes D'Ewes, in his Diary, June 11. "Robert Harley, -as I gathered, Mr. Pym, Mr. Hampden, and others, with Mr. Stephen -Marshall, parson, of Finchingfield, in the county of Essex, and some -others, had met yesternight and appointed, that this Bill should be -proceeded withal this morning. And the said Sir Robert Harley moved -it first in the House, for Mr. Hampden out of his serpentine subtlety -did still put others to move those businesses that he contrived."[197] -From this passage it appears, that Pym had within six months made a -considerable advance in his advocacy of ecclesiastical reform. It will -be recollected, that in January he "thought it was not the intention -of the House to abolish Episcopacy," but now before Midsummer he -seems to agree in opinion with the "root and branch men." Hampden, -probably, entered the Long Parliament with at least a deep suspicion -of the inexpediency of upholding episcopal rule: and both he and -Pym were now in close conference with Stephen Marshall, the famous -Presbyterian divine: who, by the way, affords an instance of the active -part in political movements for the overthrow of bishops, which even -then had begun to be taken by clergymen of his order. D'Ewes further -reports:--"So after a little debate the House was resolved into a -committee, and Mr. Edward Hyde (a young utter-barrister of the Middle -Temple), upon the speaker's leaving his chair, went into the clerk's -chair, and there sat also many days after." The making Hyde chairman -was a stroke of policy--so he says himself--on the part of those who -were favourable to the Bill, on the ground that thus he would be -prevented from speaking against it. - -According to his own account, he amply revenged himself, and proved -no small hindrance, by mystifying questions and frequently reporting -"two or three votes directly contrary to each other," so that after -nearly twenty days spent in that manner, the Commons "found themselves -very little advanced towards a conclusion."[198] The trick indicates -the character of the man; and the confession of it years afterwards, -is a sign of his effrontery; indeed, the whole of his conduct on this -occasion proves how little he could have had at heart the interests of -Episcopacy, not to speak boldly on its behalf, and vindicate that which -he professed was venerable in his eyes, in this the crisis of its fate -and the hour of its humiliation. - -[Sidenote: 1641, June.] - -In the course of debate, Sir Harry Vane advocated the abolition of -Episcopacy, inveighing against it as a plant which God's right hand -had not planted, but one full of rottenness and corruption, a mystery -of iniquity fit to be plucked up and removed out of the way. Yet he -did not advocate what would now be called the separation of Church -and State; nor did he enter upon the defence or exposition of any -broad principle of religious liberty. At the same time, Waller, the -poet--a lively speaker, who, even at the age of eighty, could amuse -the House with his badinage and wit--protested against further attacks -on Episcopacy, now that its horns and claws were cut and pared. He -was, he said, for reform, not for abolition. Upon the close of the -debate on the 11th--which lasted from early in the morning till late -at night--the committee, in spite of Mr. Hyde's expedients, resolved -on the preamble of the Bill: "Whereas the government of the Church of -England by archbishops, bishops, their chancellors, and commissaries, -deans, archdeacons, and other ecclesiastical officers, hath been found, -by long experience, to be a great impediment to the perfect reformation -and growth of religion, and very prejudicial to the civil state and -government of this kingdom."[199] - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -On the 15th June, during an earnest discussion relative to the -abolition of cathedral chapters, Mr. William Thomas, member for -Carnarvon, related to the House the history of Deans, tracing them -up to the time of Augustine, who describes each as having the care -of ten monks; and then he asked, "whether the office, as now it is -exercised, be the same as then?" "They are deceived that urge it," -the Welsh representative proceeded to say, "and they should know that -this judicious House is able to discern and distinguish a counterfeit -face of antiquity from the true. In vain do they, with the Gibeonites, -labour to deceive us by old sacks, old shoes, old garments, old boots, -and old bread that is dry and mouldy; therefore to no purpose and -causelessly do they charge us to affect novelty, by our offering to -take away church governors and government." He narrated stories of -wicked deans; and said much about church music, as tickling the ear, -without touching the heart, "whilst, as Augustine complaineth of -himself, most were more moved by the sweetness of the song, than by -the sense of the matter--working their bane like the deadly touch of -the asps in a tickling delight--or as the soft touch of the hyena, -which doth infatuate and lull asleep and then devoureth." Sir Benjamin -Rudyard, who had before declared himself for Church reform, and still -advocated it, offered some defence of cathedral establishments on the -ground of their being conducive to the promotion of piety and learning. -He deplored the selfishness which, in certain cases, led to the -alienation of ecclesiastical property at the time of the Reformation; -he warned his hearers against looking on Church lands with a carnal -eye, and he besought them to search their hearts, that they might -pursue sincere ends, without the least thought of saving their purses. -Mr. Pury, alderman and member for Gloucester, produced the statutes -which ordained that Deans and Canons should always reside within the -cathedral's precincts, exercising the virtues of hospitality; that they -should preach the Word in season and out of season, especially in the -cathedral church and attend to the education of the young; and that -they should have a common table in the Common Hall, where the canons, -scholars, choristers, and subordinate officers should meet together. -The Alderman then proceeded to observe, that not one of the statutes -was kept, that the Dignitaries came once a year to receive the rents -and profits of the lands, but did not distribute to the poor their -proportion; that they neither mended the highways and bridges, nor kept -any common table; and instead of preaching the gospel, they neglected -it themselves, and did not encourage the discharge of the duty by -others.[200] Throughout this debate the unpopularity at the time of -that class, commonly termed the dignified clergy, appears in a very -distinct and serious form. They had so completely identified themselves -with the High Church party; they had become so imbued with the spirit -of pride and intolerance; they had been so selfish in the exaction and -enjoyment of their revenues; and they had been so unmindful of their -spiritual duties, as to separate themselves from public sympathy:--a -consequence which no class of religious ministers, whatever may be -their legal and social position, can long afford to brave; a result -which the highest privileged orders have never at last been able to -face with impunity. - -[Sidenote: 1641, June.] - -The discussion ended with a resolution that Deans and Chapters, and -all Archdeacons should be utterly abolished, and that their lands -should be employed for the advancement of learning and piety, competent -maintenance being afforded to those who might thereby suffer loss, -provided that they were not delinquents. The House further resolved, -that the forfeited property should be entrusted to feoffees, that -the bishops' lands should be given to the King, except advowsons -and impropriations, and that competent funds should be reserved for -supporting preachers in cathedrals, and for repairing the sacred -edifices. - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -Proceeding with the business respecting Deans and Chapters, the -committee did not drop the question of Bishops. On the 21st of June -no change had come over the pleadings of the originator of the whole -discussion. Dering's anti-prelatical zeal had not yet begun to -wane, although he now complained of his adopted Bill as defective, -and insisted on the importance of deciding on a future form of -government before abandoning the present. He still alluded to existing -Episcopacy in disrespectful terms, and advocated the introduction of a -Presbyterian element into ecclesiastical rule. Dioceses, he said, were -too large, and diocesans needed grave and able divines, assessors and -assistants, amongst whom they were entitled to have the first place -and to exercise the chief power. Then turning to the chairman for an -illustration, the lively baronet observed: "Mr. Hyde, yourself are now -in this great committee; Mr. Speaker is in the House the bishop of -our congregation." "You,"--addressing himself to both gentlemen--"are -in yourselves but fellow-members of the same House with us, returned -hither (as we also are) to sit on these benches with us, until by our -election, and by common suffrage, you are incathedrated. Then you -have (and it is fit and necessary that you should have) a precedency -before us and a presidency over us. Notwithstanding this, you are not -diversified into a several and distinct order from us. You must not -swell with that conceit. You (Mr. Chairman and Mr. Speaker) are still -the same members of the same House you were, though raised to a painful -and careful degree among us and above us. I do heartily wish that -we had in every shire of England a bishop such and so regulated for -Church government within that sphere, as Mr. Speaker is bounded in, and -limited by the rules of this House."[201] - -[Sidenote: 1641, June.] - -The comparison was as amusing as it was pertinent, and fell in with the -prevalent opinion of the Puritan party, that if bishops were retained -in England it must be according to a greatly reduced standard of -authority and power, and one that should resemble the dimensions of the -Episcopal office, as many believed it to have existed in the first and -second centuries of the Christian era. - -Before we terminate this chapter, another subject requires notice. -The Long Parliament, at an early period, turned its attention to the -character of the clergy. So many complaints were made against them, -that the committee for religion, in the month of May, divided itself -into sub-committees, whose business it was to investigate clerical -scandals. Their proceedings have been subjected to severe criticism. -It is said by Nalson, that accusations against the best ministers, -by malicious persons, were invited and encouraged, and then admitted -without any proof.[202] But this statement receives contradiction -from the evidence which was laid before the Committees, and is still -preserved; and though some portion of it might be untrustworthy, as is -the case in every kind of judicial trial, other parts of it appear of a -nature not to be gainsayed. In conducting these enquiries the practice -was to receive written evidence, a practice borrowed from the Court -of Arches, where the method of procedure is by libel and affidavit. -Englishmen prefer the _vivâ voce_ testimony of witnesses before a jury; -yet there are not wanting men of judgment, in modern times, who favour -a written statement of fact. At any rate, the Committees could plead -precedent for the course which they pursued, and as the causes which -came before them were ecclesiastical, they did but adopt the usages -of ecclesiastical courts. The constitution of the tribunal, rather -than the mode of trial, is open to exception. There is no vindicating -the former but on the fundamental principle of all revolutions, that -old authorities having become thoroughly corrupt, new ones must be -constituted by the popular power--in such cases the supreme power--to -meet emergencies arising out of previous derangement. - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -Cases which came under the notice of White's committee were published -at a later period in his "Century of Scandalous Ministers."[203] On -comparing that extraordinary volume with the proceedings of the Kent -and Essex Committees, we must be struck with the large proportion -in the former, not merely of allegations touching immorality, but -of charges respecting the foulest and most atrocious crimes. Most -of the complaints before Sir Edward Dering[204] related mainly -to delinquencies of a theological, ecclesiastical, or political -description; and the same may be said of the accusations brought -against the Essex ministers: but on turning over White's pages we -are nauseated with the filthiest accusations and the most abominable -stories. If only half of them be true, he assuredly was supplied with -abundant proofs of the extensive and utter degradation of the clergy. -But some of the narratives seem to us so absurd as almost to defy -belief; yet supposing that they are truthfully related, it is evident -there existed in the parishes of England, at that time, incumbents who -must be regarded as no less thoroughly mad than radically immoral. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER VI. - - -While so much of argument and eloquence was expended upon Episcopacy -in the abstract, it is natural to ask what became of the bishops -themselves? At the opening of the Long Parliament a committee had been -formed to prepare charges against Laud. The Scotch busied themselves -with the same matter as soon as they reached London, being exasperated -by the attempts of the prelate to force Episcopacy upon their -countrymen. On the 18th of December the Commons voted the Archbishop -a traitor, and sent up a message to the Lords desiring that he might -be committed to custody, stating also that their accusation would be -established in convenient time.[205] - -On the 24th of February articles were voted, and then presented to -the Lords by Mr. Pym. He charged the Archbishop with subverting the -constitution, by publications which he had encouraged; by influence he -had used with ministers of justice; by his conduct both in the High -Commission Court and in reference to the canons; by his tyrannical -power in ecclesiastical and temporal matters; by setting up Popish -superstition and idolatry; by abusing trust reposed in him by his -Majesty; by choosing chaplains disaffected to the reformed religion; -by attempting to reconcile the Church of England and the Church -of Rome; by persecuting orthodox ministers; by causing division in -England, and between the two kingdoms; and, finally, by subverting the -rights of Parliament. Mr. Pym read these articles, and supported them. -A few days afterwards the Archbishop was sent to the Tower.[206] - -[Sidenote: _Bishops._] - -Bishop Wren, who, according to a witticism of the age, is called the -least of all these birds, and the most unclean among them, was early -arrested (December 22), yet he was allowed to remain at large on bail. -On the 20th of July the articles of his impeachment were presented -by Sir Thomas Widdrington. The bishop--it was alleged, amongst -other things--had ordered that the Communion-table should be placed -altar-wise with steps and rails, and that communicants should kneel as -they received the sacrament. He had enjoined the reading of the "Book -of Sports," and had deprived godly ministers for refusing to submit to -that unscriptural injunction. Prayers had been forbidden by him before -sermon; and clergymen had been required to preach in hood and surplice. -He had also been the means of excommunicating as many as fifty -faithful pastors, and had been guilty of appointing Popishly-affected -chaplains.[207] - -[Sidenote: 1641.] - -One bishop escaped the enquiry of the Long Parliament by being called -to appear before a higher tribunal. We refer to Richard Montague, a man -of learning, well read in the Fathers, an ecclesiastical antiquary, -but a thorough Anglo-Catholic. Adopting Arminian views, supporting -the encroachments of ecclesiastical power, loving ceremonial worship, -and hating Puritanism with a perfect hatred, this prelate was just -the person to please Archbishop Laud and Charles I. He had written, -as early as 1623, a book against Popery, entitled "A new gag for the -old goose," in which he was considered by many Protestants to have -betrayed the cause he pretended to serve. For publishing this book, -containing sundry propositions tending to the disturbance of Church and -State, the author had been cited before the bar of the Commons, and, -on the same account--and for the contents of his "Appeal to Cæsar," -and his "Treatise upon the Invocation of the Saints"--articles of -impeachment had afterwards been presented against him. He was charged -with fomenting the King's hatred of the Puritans, abusing them as -"Saint-seeming," "Bible-bearing," and "Hypocritical;" representing -their churches as "Conventicles," and their ministrations as mere -"prating:" and also with sneering at Reformers as well as Puritans, -affirming that the Church of Rome was the spouse of Christ. Yet, -notwithstanding Montague's Popish tendencies and his unpopularity -with all but very High Churchmen, Charles elevated him to the see of -Chichester--the worst episcopal appointment he ever made, next to his -promotion of Laud to the Archiepiscopate. The death of this bishop, in -April, 1641, alone prevented Parliament from instituting very severe -proceedings respecting his conduct. - -Davenant, who presided over the diocese of Salisbury, died the same -month. Totally unlike Montague, he had fallen into trouble for contempt -of King James's injunctions relative to preaching on predestination. -His humble and peaceable life, his strict observance of the Sabbath, -his condemnation of clerical pomp and luxury, and his disapproval of -certain court proceedings, had secured for him the sympathies of the -Puritans, and excited the displeasure of the High Church party. His -death corresponded with his life; for in his last illness "he thanked -God for this Fatherly correction," because in all his life-time he -never before had one heavy affliction; which made him often much -suspect with himself whether he was a true child of God or no, until -this his last sickness. "_Then_," says Fuller--whose words we have -followed--"_he sweetly fell asleep in Christ, and so we softly drew the -curtains about him_."[208] - -[Sidenote: _Bishops._] - -On the 4th of August, 1641, Serjeant Wylde carried up to the House -of Peers a series of articles prepared by a Committee of the House -of Commons, impeaching thirteen bishops of certain crimes and -misdemeanours. The accused were allowed till the 10th of November to -prepare their answer, when they put in a Demurrer; after which the -prosecution was superseded by other events hereafter to be described. - -[Sidenote: 1641, July.] - -Shortly before the impeachment of the thirteen prelates, a remarkable -correspondence took place between certain Presbyterian clergymen -of London and their brethren beyond the Tweed. It shows the high -spirits of the former excited by recent events, their expectation of a -speedy union with their neighbours in ecclesiastical polity, and the -inspiration of fear from quarters opposite to those which had given -them alarm a few months before. In a letter dated 12th July, 1641, the -London ministers observe, that Almighty God having now of His infinite -goodness raised their hopes of _removing the yoke of Episcopacy_, under -which they had so long groaned, sundry other forms of Church government -were projected to be set up in the room thereof; one of which was, that -all power, whether of electing and ordaining ministers, or of admitting -or excommunicating members, centred in every particular congregation, -and was bounded by its extent. Independency in fact is meant by this -passage, and the writers wished to know the judgment of their Scotch -compeers on the point, as this would conduce by God's blessing to the -settlement of the question. All the more earnestly was this entreated, -because of a rumour that some famous and eminent brethren in the North -were inclined to that form of government. In reply to this, an epistle -arrived from the General Assembly, in which that reverend body assured -their London brethren, that since the Reformation--especially since -the union of the two kingdoms--the Scotch had deplored the evil of -Great Britain having two kirks, and did fervently desire one confession -and one directory for both countries. This they considered would be -a foundation for durable peace, and the two Churches welded into one -would be strong in God against dissensions amongst themselves, and -also against the invasion of foreign enemies. The Assembly grieved to -learn that any godly minister should be found not agreeing with other -reformed kirks in point of government as well as doctrine and worship; -and they feared that if the hedge of discipline were altered, what it -contained would not long preserve its character. After laying down -Presbyterian principles, the writers conclude by declaring themselves -to be of one heart and of one soul; and to be no less persuaded that -Presbyterianism is of God than that Episcopacy is of men.[209] - -Other circumstances about the same period encouraged the Scotch. Their -army was to be disbanded, and their troops were to be paid--a point -respecting which the commissioners had been very solicitous--and a -promising treaty between the two countries appeared on the eve of -ratification. To the desire of the northern brethren respecting unity -of religion, it was answered in the treaty, that his Majesty, with -the advice of both Houses, approved of the desire of ecclesiastical -conformity; and since Parliament had already taken it into their -consideration, they would proceed in a manner conducive to the glory -of God and the peace of the two kingdoms.[210] This passage is -equivocal, for it might signify conformity to Episcopal or conformity -to Presbyterian government. The King, no doubt, meant in his heart the -former, but was quite willing at the same time that his subjects in the -North should understand the latter. - -[Sidenote: _Royal Visit to Scotland._] - -When affairs were coming into this posture, Charles determined to -visit his native land. Into his political motives for so doing this -is not the place to enter--whether he hoped thereby to procure an -adjournment of Parliament; or thought that he should break up the -combination between the northern and southern patriots; or expected -to obtain evidence and assistance against the latter by conference -and co-operation with the antiCovenanters under Montrose. But most -certainly his intention in reference to religion, as appears from his -conduct, was to conciliate his countrymen and to throw them off their -guard by veiling his strong attachment to Episcopacy, under an assumed -friendliness for Presbyterianism. - -[Sidenote: 1641, August.] - -Charles had determined to start on the 10th of August, and therefore, -having passed certain bills on Saturday, the 7th, he then bid his -Parliament farewell. The House of Commons greatly disliked this -expedition. On the same day they requested the Lords to join them in -petitioning his Majesty to delay his departure at least a fortnight -longer. Only a strong reason could have induced Puritans to meet for -business on the following day, being Sunday, but they did so meet. On -that summer morning the members went down to Westminster, first to -worship at St. Margaret's, and then to debate at St. Stephen's. But -before entering on political affairs they were careful to guard against -this Sunday sitting being drawn into a precedent. Often likened to the -Pharisees for rigid formalism, these men, on this occasion, really -shewed that--with their devout reverence for the holy season--they had -caught the spirit of Him who said, the Sabbath was made for man, and -not man for the Sabbath. Their attempt--on a day they so much loved to -honour by religious exercises--at staying the King's journey northward, -showed how much mischief they apprehended from that visit. But their -effort did not succeed. On Tuesday, the 10th, Charles came to the House -of Lords, and sending for the Commons, gave his assent to the Scotch -Treaty and to certain Bills; after which he again took leave of the -Houses, and started for Edinburgh, at two o'clock in the afternoon, -accompanied by the Elector Palatine and the Duke of Lennox. On the 18th -the Commons despatched commissioners to watch the ratification of the -treaty, and "keep up a good correspondence between the two kingdoms." -Mr. Hume calls them spies; their public appointment and legal -credentials refute that representation; yet it cannot be a question -that their intended business was to keep a sharp eye on his Majesty's -proceedings, and to thwart any sinister design of his which they might -be able to discover. - -[Sidenote: _Royal Visit to Scotland._] - -By the help of certain letters from Sidney Bere--afterwards Under -Secretary of State, who formed one of the royal suite during this -Scotch visit--we are able to follow the King into some of the religious -and social scenes of the northern capital, which the courtier watched -with much curiosity, and in his own fashion thus describes:-- - -"The chaplains' places are supplied by Mr. Henderson and another, -who say grace, but I cannot say read prayers, they being likewise -extemporary, one in the beginning, then a chapter or two, after that -another prayer, then a psalm, and so the benediction. This is in the -Chamber of Presence at the usual hours; the sermons have been hitherto -in the parish church, though the chapel here be fitted up, but after -their fashion, without altar or organs."[211] - -"His Majesty is neither wanting in pains nor affection, going every -morning to their Parliament, and this Sunday was in two of their -churches, and daily takes the prayer and preachings according to -their form, which gains much on the people. In a word, his Majesty is -wholly disposed to settle both Church and State before he leaves this -place."[212] - -[Sidenote: 1641, August.] - -"I will only add a relation of a feast, made by this town unto the -King and the Lords in the Great Hall of the Parliament this day, -August 30th. The King and the Prince Elector sat at one table, the -Lords at another, but both in one room. The Duke of Richmond on one -side, General Leslie over against, and next him the Marquis Hamilton, -who gives him the place ordinarily, in respect, (I take it), that his -commission of General is not yet delivered up. The mayor of the town, -like a plain Dutch host, bestirred himself bravely, drank a health -to the King, to the Queen, and the royal Children, and afterwards -insisted with his Majesty to pledge; and so, in this Scotch familiar -way, but with a great deal of familiarity, bid the King and the -Lords welcome, with such hearty expressions as it served both for -mirth and satisfaction. The glasses went liberally about, and the -entertainment was great; indeed, over the whole town there was nothing -but joy and revelling, like a day of jubilee; and this in token of -the union, which, doubtless, is more firm than ever, by reason of the -happy intervention of the unity of form of religion, at least for -the present; and in the King's own practice, which wins much upon -this people. Yesterday his Majesty was again at the great church -at sermon, where the bishops were not spared, but put down in such -language as would a year ago have been at the least a Star Chamber -business, imputing still all that was amiss to ill counsellors, and so -ingratiated his Majesty with his people, who indeed show a zeal and -affection beyond all expression."[213] - -[Sidenote: _Royal Visit to Scotland._] - -While reading these extracts we cannot help noticing that the services -in Edinburgh, attended by the Anglo-Catholic King, in 1641, were as -different as possible from the ceremonial exhibitions arranged -for Holyrood in 1633, by an Anglo-Catholic bishop, when the musical -servants, with their chapel goods and paraphernalia were despatched -by the Dreadnought for the Firth of Forth.[214] Experience since then -had taught some little wisdom in such matters. Defiance having failed, -conciliation was now attempted, and it would seem that the whole -political bearing of Charles whilst in Scotland was in keeping with -his social and religious conduct at that time. He ratified the Acts -of June, 1640, by which Presbyterianism had become the established -religion of the country; he bestowed fresh titles and dignities on -certain noblemen who had opposed him at the council table, and arrayed -themselves against him in the field; and he consented to the partition -of ecclesiastical revenues amongst Presbyterian claimants, when, as -it was said, "leading men, cities, and universities cast lots for the -garments which had clothed the Episcopal establishment." Such was the -conduct of the Sovereign on the whole, that he alarmed his friends and -encouraged his foes; some on both sides concluding that he meant to -establish Presbyterianism throughout his dominions; but of that idea, -however, he took care to disabuse "his servants," assuring them of -his remaining "constant to the discipline and doctrine of the Church -of England established by Queen Elizabeth and his father," and his -resolution "by the grace of God to die in the maintenance of it."[215] - -[Sidenote: 1641, September.] - -When the pacification had been effected, the English Parliament -solemnly celebrated the event on the 7th of September, by attending -divine worship.[216] But the two Houses did not agree in the manner of -service. Bishop Williams, as Dean of Westminster, had prepared for the -occasion a form of prayer. The Commons pronounced this to be beyond -his power, and ordered the prayer not to be read in the liberties of -Westminster or elsewhere. When the Lords met in the Abbey, the Commons -went to Lincoln's Inn Chapel, where Burgess and Marshall preached, and -prayers were offered _extempore_. - -[Sidenote: _Proceedings of the Commons._] - -The Commons, conscious of strength, perhaps a little over-estimating -it, were not slow in pressing Church reforms, though they proceeded -with some caution. At the end of August, they resolved that -churchwardens should remove communion-tables from the east end of -churches where they had stood altar-wise, and that they should take -away the rails, level the chancel floors, and altogether place -the buildings in the same state as they were in before the recent -innovations. Perhaps excitement in our own day, respecting usages -adopted at St. George's in the East, may serve as an illustration of -the feeling awakened in the middle of the seventeenth century, by -Anglican worship. Only it is to be remembered that instead of one St. -George's in the East at that time, there were a hundred in different -parts of the country. In villages and towns with High Church clergymen, -and Low Church congregations, where semi-Popish arrangements had been -adopted in the chancel, while rigid and ultra-Protestant Puritans sat -in the nave, or absented themselves altogether--such feuds arose, -that, to preserve the peace, as well as to check "innovations," the -Lower House deemed it necessary to interfere. The opposition to -Sunday afternoon lecturing, and the refusal of incumbents to admit -lecturers into their pulpits, increased the strife; and, in reference -to this, the Commons interfered by declaring it lawful for the people -to set up a lecturer at their own charge.[217] Bishops inhibited such -proceedings; but the Commons declared the inhibition void. As bishops -were members of the Upper House, all this tended to make the breach -between the two branches of the legislature wider than before. - -[Sidenote: 1641, September.] - -The question of worship could not be allowed to rest. "Innovations" -were still discussed; it was resolved in the Lower House, on the 1st -September, that scandalous pictures and images should be removed from -sacred edifices, and candlesticks and basins from the Communion-table, -that there should be no "corporal bowing" at the name of Jesus, and -that the Lord's Day should be duly observed.[218] The Peers did not -agree with the other House in all these proceedings; they were prepared -to command, that no rails should be erected where none existed already; -that chancels should be levelled if they had been raised within the -last fifteen years; that all images of the Trinity should be abolished; -and that any representation of the Virgin set up within twenty years -should be pulled down. But the Lords declined to forbid bowing at the -name of Jesus; and--omitting any direct reply to the message on the -subject from the Lower House--they simply resolved to print and publish -the order of the 16th of January, commanding that divine service -should be performed according to Act of Parliament; that those who -disturbed "wholesome order" should be punished; and that clergymen -should introduce no ceremonies which might give offence.[219] The -Commons were highly displeased at this, and immediately published their -own resolution on their own authority, adding, that they hoped their -proposed reformations might be perfected; and that, in the mean time, -the people "should quietly attend the reformation intended," without -any disturbance of God's worship and the public peace.[220] - -The Houses, on the 9th of September, adjourned their sittings for six -weeks. When the conflicting orders of Parliament respecting worship -came before the nation, the Anglicans adhered to the one issued by -the Lords for preserving things as they were, the Puritans upheld -the other published by the Commons in favour of reformation: party -strife consequently increased, leading to fresh disturbances of the -peace. Resistance to the order of the Commons burst out in St. Giles' -Cripplegate, St. George's Southwark, and other parishes. There the -High Church party defended the threatened communion-rails, as though -they had been the outworks of a beleaguered citadel. On the other -hand, where Puritanism had the ascendancy, violent opposition was made -to the reading of the liturgy, service books were torn and surplices -rent.[221] - -[Sidenote: _Reaction._] - -A considerable reaction in the state of public feeling began to appear -in many quarters. There were persons who, having hailed with gratitude -and delight the earlier measures of the Long Parliament, now felt -disappointed at the results, and at the further turn which affairs -were taking. Always, in great revolutions, a multitude of persons -may be found in whose minds sanguine hope has been inspired by the -inauguration of change; but, being moderate in their opinions and quiet -in their habits, they are so terribly alarmed at popular excitement, -and by the apprehension of impending extravagances of procedure, that -they call on the drivers of the chariot of reform to pull up, as -soon as ever the horses have galloped a few yards and a little dust -begins to rise around the vehicle. Want of skill, reckless haste, even -mischievous intentions, are sure to be imputed to those who hold the -reins, and the conviction gains ground that speedily the coach will be -overturned. - -[Sidenote: 1641, September.] - -So it happened in this instance. People who had cheered on Pym and -his compatriots a few months before, were now becoming thoroughly -frightened. Semi-Puritans, and other good folks, who wished to see -matters mended very quietly, thought changes were going a great -deal too far; also self-interest aided the reaction. Bishops had -been assailed, but bishops as yet had neither been dethroned in the -cathedral nor dismissed from the Upper House. They were provoked -without being deprived of power, irritated without being divested of -influence. They still lived in palaces, and had the establishments of -noblemen, and at the same time they retained the means of attaching to -them such of the clergy as waited for preferment. Persons of the latter -description naturally dreaded the impoverishment of the prelates, and -deprecated taking away the rewards of learning and piety. - -They did what they could to make Parliament odious. Many, too, were -"daily poisoned by the discourses of the friends, kindred, and -retainers to so many great delinquents, as must needs fear such a -Parliament." This is stated by a candid contemporary, Thomas May, -secretary to the Parliament, who dwells at large upon the reaction at -this period, and points out its causes. Besides those now mentioned, -he adds: "daily reports of ridiculous conventicles, and preachings -made by tradesmen and illiterate people of the lowest rank, to the -scandal and offence of many, which some in a merry way would put off, -considering the precedent times, that these tradesmen did but take up -that which prelates and the great doctors had let fall,--preaching the -Gospel; that it was but a reciprocal invasion of each other's calling, -that chandlers, salters, weavers, and such like, preached, when the -archbishop himself, instead of preaching, was daily busied in projects -about leather, salt, soap, and such commodities as belonged to those -tradesmen." - -[Sidenote: _Reaction._] - -He then proceeds: "but I remember within the compass of a year after, -(when this civil war began to break out over all the kingdom, and men -in all companies began to vent their opinions in an argumentative -way, either opposing or defending the Parliament cause, and -treatises were printed on both sides,) many gentlemen who forsook -the Parliament were very bitter against it for the proceedings in -religion, in countenancing, or not suppressing, the rudeness of people -in churches--acting those things which seemed to be against the -discipline of the English Church, and might introduce all kinds of -sects and schisms. Neither did those of the Parliament side agree in -opinions concerning that point; some said it was wisely done of the -Parliament not to proceed against any such persons for fear of losing -a considerable party; others thought and said, that by so doing, they -would lose a far more considerable party of gentlemen than could be -gained of the other sort. They also affirmed, that laws and liberties -having been so much violated by the King, if the Parliament had not so -far drawn religion also into their cause, it might have sped better; -for the Parliament frequently at that time, in all their expressions, -whensoever they charged the corrupt statesmen of injustice and tyranny, -would put Popery, or a suspicion of it, into the first place against -them."[222] - -This reaction should be kept in mind, as it will serve to explain some -things which followed. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER VII. - - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -After the Commons had resumed their sittings on the 20th of October, -the difference which had arisen amongst the Puritan members became -very apparent. The very next day, Sir Edward Dering questioned the -legality of the recent order of the House respecting Divine worship; -and the day after that, he indicated a still wider divergence from -the policy of his former political friends. Upon a new bill being -then introduced for excluding Bishops from Parliament--a bill which -was, in fact, a reproduction of the old measure which the Lords had -rejected--the Commons resolved to have a conference with the Upper -House, respecting the thirteen accused prelates, and to request that -the other occupants of the episcopal bench should be prevented from -voting on this particular question, which so vitally affected their -own personal interests. All this so alarmed the member for Kent that -he hastily rose, and delivered a speech indicative of a still more -decided veering toward the conservative point of the compass; for -he went so far as to say that he did not conceive the House to be -competent and fit to pronounce upon questions of Divinity. It seemed -to him, he remarked, a thing unheard of, that soldiers, lawyers, and -merchants should decide points which properly belonged to theologians. -Laymen, he considered, should maintain only those doctrines which -were authorized and established, and should leave the exposition and -advocacy of what was new to a regularly constituted ecclesiastical -assembly, in short, "a synod of Divines chosen by Divines." Whether or -not he was animated in his retrograde course by cheers which came from -the conservative benches, Sir Edward the following day bewailed the -miseries of the Church between "Papism" on the one hand, and "Brownism" -on the other; and instead of dwelling, as he had been wont to do, on -"Puritan sufferings," his sympathies were now entirely bestowed on the -opposite party. He related a story of two clergymen who had preached -thousands of excellent sermons, but who now, like other deserving men, -saw their infected sheep, after long pastoral vigilance, straggling -from the fold, and mingling with the sects. Government, he complained, -had begun to permit a loose liberty of religion; and, amidst varieties -of opinion, and the perils of unity, what, he asked, could be thought -of but a council--"a free, learned, grave, religious synod?"[223] Such -a style of address seems strangely at variance with the speaker's -earlier speeches in this very Parliament, and also with proceedings -which the House had adopted in accordance with his own impetuous -appeals. The course which he now pursued was in decided opposition to -his conduct when he spoke from the gallery of the House on behalf of -the bill for the abolition of Episcopacy; and subsequent proceedings by -this gentleman, in the same new direction, are yet to come under our -notice. But, after all, the lapse of four months had not essentially -altered his character. He was in October only the same versatile and -impetuous, but well-meaning person, which he had shewn himself to be in -May. - -[Sidenote: 1641, September.] - -Another member, who expressed his alarm at the distractions of the -times, was Mr. Smith, of the Middle Temple. While denouncing the "Book -of Sports" and the persecutions inflicted by the Anglican party, he -deplored existing differences of religious opinion, and besought his -countrymen to worship God with one mind, and not go every one a way -by himself. In the stilted euphuism of the day, he lamented that -uncertainty staggers the unresolved soul, and leads it into such a -labyrinth, that, not knowing where to fix for fear of erring, it -adheres to nothing, and so dies ere it performs that for which it was -made to live. Uniformity in religious worship, he proceeded to say, is -that which pleaseth God, and, if we will thus serve Him, we may expect -His protection; and then, passing over to the constitutional question, -the orator declared both prerogative and liberty to be necessary, and -that like the sun and moon they gave a lustre to the nation, so long -as they walked at proper distances. But, he added, when one ventures -into the other's orbit, like planets in conjunction, they then occasion -a deep eclipse. "What shall be the compass, then, by which these two -must steer? Why, nothing but the same by which they subsist--the law, -which if it might run in the free current of its purity, without being -poisoned by the venomous spirits of ill-affected dispositions, would -so fix the King to his crown that it would make him stand like a -star in the firmament, for the neighbour world to behold and tremble -at."[224] Smith did not plunge into that ecclesiastical reaction which -had carried Dering completely away; but he contended for some measure -of uniformity and for the suppression of increasing sects, whilst in -political matters he recommended a course of moderation. - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -Another individual--far different from this pedantic adviser, and -incapable of the tergiversations of the representative for Kent, though -he is not to be confounded with reckless revolutionists--was still -inflexibly pushing forward those ecclesiastical and political reforms -which he had inaugurated by the blow he struck at Strafford, the patron -and upholder of arbitrary power. Pym supported the new bill against -Bishops, and managed the conference respecting the impeachment of -the obnoxious thirteen prelates, and the prevention of the remaining -occupants of the Bench from voting upon this question. He asked whether -those who had made the hateful canons, who had endeavoured to deprive -the subject of his liberties, and who were accused of sedition, were -fit to be continued as legislators? St. John, the Solicitor General, -and "dark-lantern man," supported Pym, and supplied an erudite legal -argument to shew that bishops did not sit in the Upper House as -representatives of the clergy; and that their right of peerage differed -from the claim of temporal lords--they having no vote in judgments -touching life and death, and their consent not being essential to the -integrity of an Act of Parliament.[225] - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -Change and reaction went on. There had long been much talk about some -"Grand Remonstrance," and a committee had been appointed as soon -as Parliament assembled, to draw up such a document. In April the -committee had been directed to collect a list of grievances, and on -the 22nd of November the long delayed paper came before the House, -to be "briskly debated." This remarkable production deals largely -with ecclesiastical affairs; and the intimate connection between the -religion and the politics of the times is apparent throughout its -various contents. In a series of numbered propositions, amounting -altogether to 206, the history of arbitrary government is carefully -traced from the beginning of Charles' reign; religious grievances are -made distinct and prominent; complaints appear of Papists, bishops, -and courtiers, who had aimed at suppressing the purity and power of -religion, and who had cherished Arminian sentiments; prelates and -the rest of the clergy are depicted as triumphing in the degradation -of painful and learned ministers; and the High Commission Court is -compared to the Romish Inquisition. The vexatiousness of episcopal -tribunals shares in the general censure, and the exile and depression -of Puritans are noticed with the deepest sorrow;--preaching up the -prerogative, sympathy with Papists, superstitious innovations, the late -canons, the toleration of Papists, and the permission of a Papal nuncio -at court, are all deplored as very great evils, whilst an opinion is -expressed that there is little hope of amendment so long as Bishops -and recusant Lords remain numerous, and continue to misrepresent the -designs of the patriots.[226] - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -Yet it is affirmed that there exists no intention of loosing the golden -reins of discipline, and of leaving to private persons and particular -congregations the right to take up what Divine service they pleased. -Horror respecting a general toleration is plainly confessed, and -the remonstrants advocate Conformity "to that order which the laws -enjoin according to the Word of God," even while they are desirous -of unburdening the conscience from superstitious ceremonies and are -taking away the monuments of idolatry. A general synod is suggested as -the remedy for ecclesiastical evils, and care is advised to be taken -for the advancement of learning, and the preaching of the Gospel. The -two Universities are referred to as fountains of knowledge which should -be made clear and pure. - -The sting of the Remonstrance is found in its head, not in its tail. In -the petition prefixed, the King is asked to concur with his subjects -in depriving the bishops of their votes in Parliament, in abridging -their power over the clergy and people, in staying the oppression of -religion, in uniting loyal Protestants together against disaffected -Papists, and in removing unnecessary ceremonies, which were a burden -to weak and scrupulous consciences. Such requests were opposed to -his Majesty's ideas of the constitution of the Church, though the -remonstrants were prepared to rebut the charge of there being anything -whatever revolutionary in their proposals and requests. - -Looking at the current of Parliamentary debates for the last twelve -months, the Remonstrance may be regarded as presenting to us the -sentiments of the patriotic party. Sir Edward Dering, in May, -had gone beyond this remonstrance, far beyond it; but Sir Edward -Dering, in November, though the same character that he ever was, -had become another kind of politician. The same remarks will apply -to others. He now disputed some of the statements in this famous -political instrument, vindicated several of the accused bishops and -clergy, protested against the spoliation of ecclesiastical estates, -and intimated his apprehension of the perilous consequences which -would follow the changes now set on foot. Other members pronounced -the measure to be unnecessary and unreasonable, because several of -the grievances now complained of were already redressed; and they -declared that the King, after his concessions, ought not on his return -from Scotland to be received by his loyal subjects with ungrateful -reproaches. - -[Sidenote: 1641, November.] - -More was lying underneath the Remonstrance than appeared upon the -surface. Looking at the character of the King, his obvious want of -sincerity, and his manifest intention to recover what he had lost of -arbitrary power whenever he should have the opportunity; considering -also the reinvigorated spirit of the party opposed to constitutional -reforms; further, taking into account the reaction going on, which -had withdrawn from the remonstrants certain active confederates; -and pondering, too, the unsettled and disturbed condition of the -country at large--the authors of this important measure foresaw that -matters could not rest where they were, and that more must be done, -or everything would be lost. Breaches made in the Constitution by its -enemies, rendered extraordinary efforts necessary for the preservation -of popular freedom. Calculating, therefore, on further and more serious -struggles, the advanced party determined to make their instrument -in question a manifesto, to which they might afterwards appeal in -self-justification when that day of battle should come, which appeared -to them then, both so likely and so near. This must be remembered, or -the Remonstrance will not be understood. - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -Regarded by its supporters as their palladium, it was strenuously -opposed by courtiers and reactionists. The debate upon the measure, -which took place on Monday, November the 22nd, lasted beyond midnight. -After lights had been brought in, the members--amidst the gloom of St. -Stephen's chapel and the glimmer of a few candles--continued hotly -to dispute respecting this great question, with looks of sternest -resolution; very distinct to us even now, although upon the darkness -made visible, there also rest the shadows of two centuries and a -half. Puritans and High Churchmen that night uttered sharp words -against each other, as they stood face to face and foot to foot in -conflict. A division arose on the clause for reducing the power of -Bishops, when 161 voted for it and 147 against it. On the grand -division soon afterwards, respecting the Remonstrance itself, 159 -voted that it should pass, 148 took the opposite side. This gave but a -scant majority. Immediately on the announcement of the result, there -arose a discussion as to the printing of the document--a discussion -which became more violent than the former ones.[227] The printing of -the Remonstrance at once, prior to its being adopted by the Upper -House, and prior to its being presented to the Sovereign, could not -but be regarded as a step indicative of the elements of the English -Constitution being thrown into a state of lamentable derangement. Hyde -declared that he was sure the printing of it would be mischievous, and -also unlawful: and then proceeded to assert for himself the right of -protest, which, in a member of the Lower House, was an act as irregular -as even the printing of the Remonstrance could be. Up started Jeffrey -Palmer, "a man of great reputation," and likewise claimed that he -might protest "Protest, protest," rung in wrathful tones from other -lips; and some members, in the storm of their excitement, were on the -point of bringing dishonour upon themselves and upon the House. "We had -catched at each other's locks," says Sir Philip Warwick, "and sheathed -our swords in each other's bowels, had not the sagacity and calmness of -Mr. Hampden, by a short speech, prevented it, and led us to defer our -angry debate until next morning."[228] - -[Sidenote: 1641, November.] - -In corroboration of this general statement, and for the filling up of -this graphic outline, happily we can turn to the journal of D'Ewes, the -Puritan, who, like Warwick, was present, but who took the other side in -the controversy. In answer to a question, as to who claimed the right -of protest, there were loud cries of "All! All!!" This reporter, who -took part with the patriots, goes on to say: "And some waved their hats -over their heads, and others took their swords in their scabbards out -of their belts, and held them by the pummels in their hands, setting -the lower part on the ground, so as if God had not prevented it, there -was very great danger that mischief might have been done. All those -who cried, 'All! all!' and did the other particulars, were of the -number of those that were against the Remonstrance."[229] Whether or -not D'Ewes was right in attributing these acts of warlike defiance -_exclusively_ to his opponents--in the faint rays of the candle-light -he could not have seen very distinctly all which was going on--he -certainly substantiates the account given by Warwick of extensive -violent confusion, a Parliamentary tempest in short, calmed by the -wisdom and moderation of John Hampden. Before the Commons broke up, -on that memorable night, it was resolved by 124 against 101, that the -declaration should "not be printed without the particular order of the -House," a conclusion which left the publication of the Remonstrance -open for the present. - -[Sidenote: _Debates by the Commons._] - -"The chimes of St. Margaret's were striking two in the morning," as -Oliver Cromwell came down stairs, and, according to rumour, recorded by -Clarendon, met Lord Falkland, and whispered in his ear, "that if the -Remonstrance had been rejected, he would have sold all he had the next -morning, and never have seen England more; and he knew there were many -other honest men of the same resolution."[230] - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER VIII. - - -Charles returned from the North improved in spirits, fancying he -had made a favourable impression upon his Scottish subjects, and -pondering sanguine schemes for crushing the power of Pym, and of all -the patriots. The reaction towards the close of the summer of 1641, -which we have already described, was decidedly in his favour--and there -seemed room to expect that Parliament, after the course which the King -now seemed disposed to pursue, might, in its eagerness for victory, -place itself altogether in a false position. - -During his stay in Edinburgh, he had been anxious to fill up -certain vacant bishoprics, but delayed doing so at the request of -Parliament. Soon after his return, he made Williams,--then Bishop of -Lincoln,--Archbishop of York; and appointed Dr. Winniffe to succeed -Williams. Dr. Duppa was translated from Chichester to Salisbury; King, -Dean of Rochester, was promoted to Chichester; Hall had the See of -Norwich presented to him in the room of Exeter; where he was followed -by Brownrigg, who had been Master of Catherine Hall, Cambridge; Skinner -went from Bristol to Oxford; Westfield had the former See conferred on -him, and Ussher received the Bishopric of Carlisle _in commendam_. A -conciliatory temper appeared in the episcopal arrangements thus made -by His Majesty, inasmuch as all the prelates whom he now appointed and -advanced were popular men, and were well esteemed by the Puritan party. - -[Sidenote: _The King's Reception._] - -Charles, on his arrival in town on the 25th of November, received a -welcome which vied in splendour with the renowned receptions given to -our Edwards and Henries. The Lord Mayor and Aldermen in their robes; -citizens in velvet coats; and noblemen richly apparelled, with a goodly -array of trumpeters, pursuivants, equerries, and sheriffs' men, wearing -scarlet coats, and silver-laced hats crowned with feathers, marched -to meet the Royal party at Moorgate, whence they proceeded--the King -on horseback, the Queen in her richly embroidered coach,--by way of -Bishopsgate, Cornhill, and Cheapside, to Guildhall; the streets being -lined by the livery companies, and adorned with banners, ensigns, and -pendants of arms. The conduits in Cheapside ran with claret, and along -the line of procession the people shouted "God bless, and long live -King Charles, and Queen Mary."[231] A grand banquet followed on the -hustings of the Old City Hall; the floor being covered with Turkey -carpets, and the walls hung with rich tapestry. Their majesties sat -in chairs of state, under a grand canopy, and the royal table was -covered with "all sorts of fish, fowl, and flesh, to the number of -120 dishes, of the choicest kinds," with "sweetmeats and confections, -wet and dry." After a short repose, at about four o'clock, the Royal -party advanced towards Whitehall; and as the evening shadows fell upon -the spectacle, the footmen exchanged their truncheons for flambeaux, -"which gave so great a light, as that the night seemed to be turned -into day." Trumpets, bands of music, and the acclamations of the -people,--according to the chroniclers--made the streets ring again.[232] - -[Sidenote: 1641, November.] - -This exhibition so artistically contrived, which had been a subject -of much correspondence with the King, as well as of deliberation on -the part of the citizens, had a no less religious than political -significancy. A year before, Presbyterians and Sectaries had made -themselves conspicuous by "Root and Branch petitions," and since then, -their activity had not declined, or their numbers diminished. On the -contrary, the sectaries had increased, and had given alarming signs of -zeal, in purifying certain Churches from the abominations of idolatry, -and in organizing ecclesiastical societies of their own quite apart -from the establishment. - -In this state of things, the conservative portion of the corporation, -and the citizens who sympathized with them, had, for the purpose of a -party demonstration, elected a Lord Mayor who was a decided Royalist -and a High Churchman. "The factious persons," remarks Sir Edward -Nicholas, writing on this subject to the King, "were making a noise, -and would not proceed to the election, when the sheriff proposed -Alderman Gourney (who I hear is very well-affected and stout) and -carried it; and the schismatics who cried 'no election,' were silenced -with hisses, and thereupon the Sheriff dismissed the Court."[233] This -victory equally gratified Sir Edward and his master, and placed at -the head of the costly civic reception, a gentleman in whom the King -had the fullest confidence. More indeed was intended, both of loyal -and religious demonstration, by the party who now took the lead in -the City, than they were able to accomplish. A present of money and -an address in favour of Episcopacy had been proposed, but without -success.[234] Notwithstanding, the King took care, in answer to the -address of the recorder and corporation--as they stood by Moorgate, -bare-headed,--to assure them of his determination, at the hazard of -his life and of all that was dear to him, to maintain and protect the -Protestant religion, as it had been established by his two famous -predecessors, Queen Elizabeth and his father King James. - -[Sidenote: _The King's Reception._] - -Some significancy is to be attached to a little display at the south -door of St. Paul's Cathedral, where "the quire in their surplices, -with sackbuts, and cornets, sung an anthem of praise to God, with -prayers for their Majesties' long lives, that his Majesty was extremely -pleased with it, and gave them very particular thanks."[235] For -unobjectionable as this kind of music might now-a-days appear even -to a staunch nonconformist, it had a look, at that period, of stern, -jealous, and watchful controversy, very obvious and very annoying to -presbyterians and "sectaries;" so that, altogether, this City affair -became a decided success for the King and the Church party, and as -such, Royalists and Anglicans greatly rejoiced in it. - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -"Londoners are a set of disaffected schismatics, bent upon upsetting -the godly order of things which they received from their fathers," -was the opinion of many a country knight and yeoman, as he turned his -attention to the metropolis, and thought of the current stories of the -day. "No," said one, who sympathized with the Court, in a letter he -wrote to a friend just at that time, "you much mistake, if you think -that those insolent and seditious meetings of sectaries, and others -ill affected, who have lately been at the Parliament House, to cry for -justice against the delinquent bishops, are the representative body of -the city. They are not. The representative body of the city is the Lord -Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Council, who gave the entertainment to the -King, and will stick to him to live and die in his service. As for the -rest, when the House of Commons please to give laws to suppress them, -we shall quickly see an end of these distractions both in Church and -Commonwealth, and, therefore, I pray give no ill interpretation to our -actions."[236] These words show what capital the clique, to which the -writer belonged, was determined to make out of the grand pageant which -had just come off with so much _éclat_. - -The King himself, who was disposed to construe the conduct of the -citizens as having a political and ecclesiastical signification, had -on the occasion of his entry, knighted the Lord Mayor and Recorder, -doubtless with a feeling which made it more than a formal ceremony. He -had also conferred a like honour, a few days afterwards, at Hampton -Court, upon certain Aldermen, who had come to thank him for accepting -their entertainment. - -The reception of these civic dignitaries in the old palace of Cardinal -Wolsey occurred on the 3rd of December.[237] A very different kind of -audience had been held within the same walls two days before. - -[Sidenote: _The Remonstrance._] - -A committee for presenting the Remonstrance had been appointed by the -Commons, composed of persons not likely to be offensive to the King, -including Sir Edward Dering, who, in spite of his opposition to the -measure, was requested to read and present the document; but, when the -time came, he "being out of the way," Sir Ralph Hopton took his place. -The deputation started in the afternoon, and their object being well -understood by the populace, they would attract much attention, as they -travelled along under leafless trees, and a wintry sky, and drew up at -last before the old gates at Hampton Court. After they had waited a -quarter of an hour in the anteroom, the King sent a gentleman to call -them to his presence, with an order that no one besides the deputation -should be admitted. He received his "faithful Commons" with some -anxiety, but in addition to his other encouragements, at that moment -there remained the halo thrown round him by the late entry; and it -would not be forgotten by the monarch as the members knelt before him, -that the Remonstrance which they brought--(as obnoxious to royalty as -it was dear to the patriots)--had been after all carried only by a -scant majority. Sir Ralph Hopton, who headed the deputation, commenced -reading the document on his bended knees, when his Majesty commanded -all the members to rise: and as soon as that passage was reached, which -alluded to the desire of the malignants to change the religion of the -country, the King exclaimed, "The devil take him, whomsoever he be, -that had a design to change religion." Upon reference to the disposal -of the estates of the Irish rebels, he added, "We must not dispose of -the bear's skin till he be dead." His Majesty proceeding to put some -questions, the wary members replied, "We had no commission to speak any -thing concerning this business." "Doth the House intend to publish this -declaration?" Charles afterwards asked--thus touching the core of the -matter. "We can give no answer," persisted the reticent diplomatists. -"Well then," he rejoined, "I suppose you do not now expect an answer -to so long a petition." A very reasonable remark, looking at the two -hundred and more clauses which the petition contained.[238] When the -answer did come, it included this carefully-worded paragraph:-- - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -"Unto that clause which concerneth corruptions (as you style them) in -religion, in Church government, and in discipline, and the removing of -such unnecessary ceremonies as weak consciences might check, that for -any illegal innovations, which may have crept in, we shall willingly -concur in the removal of them. That if our Parliament shall advise us -to call a national synod, which may duly examine such ceremonies as -give just cause of offence to any, we shall take it into consideration, -and apply ourself to give due satisfaction therein, but we are very -sorry to hear in such general terms, corruption in religion objected, -since we are persuaded in our conscience, that no church can be found -upon the earth that professeth the true religion with more purity of -doctrine than the Church of England doth; nor where the government and -discipline are jointly more beautified, and free from superstition, -than as they are here established by law; which by the grace of God, we -will with constancy maintain (while we live) in their purity and glory, -not only against all invasions of popery, but also from the irreverence -of those many schismatics and separatists, wherewith of late this -kingdom and this city abound, to the great dishonour and hazard both of -Church and State, for the suppression of whom we require your timely -aid and active assistance."[239] - -[Sidenote: _Arrest of the Five Members._] - -After the Remonstrance had been presented, affairs remained hopeful to -the Royal eye; and as the Commons had issued their ordinance touching -religious worship, the King on the 10th of December published one of -his own, enjoining strict conformity to the form of divine service as -by law established. But whatever advantages he might possess at the -close of 1641, all were forfeited by the monstrously rash attempt to -arrest the five members at the beginning of 1642. That fatal act rung -the death-knell of his hopes throughout the country, startling at -once friends and foes. A letter by Captain Robert Slingsby to Admiral -Pennington gives a Royalist version of the affair, which happened on -the 4th of January. - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -"All parts of the court being thronged with gentlemen and officers -of the army, in the afternoon the King went with them all, his own -guard and the pensioners, most of the gentlemen armed with swords and -pistols. When we came into Westminster Hall, which was thronged with -the number, the King commanded us all to stay there; and himself, with -a very small train, went into the House of Commons, where never king -was (as they say), but once, King Henry VIII." The writer, who remained -in the lobby, then proceeds to report what occurred inside the House; -depending for his information, it appears, on some member, from whose -lips he had eagerly caught up the following account:--"He came very -unexpectedly; and at first coming in commanded the Speaker to come -out of his chair, and sat down in it himself, asking divers times, -whether those traitors were there, but had no answer; but at last an -excuse, that by the orders of the House, they might not speak when -their Speaker was out of his chair. The King then asked the Speaker, -who excused himself, that he might not speak but what the House gave -order to him to say, whereupon the King replied, 'it was no matter, for -he knew them all if he saw them.' And after he had viewed them all, -he made a speech to them very majestically, declaring his resolution -to have them, though they were then absent; promising not to infringe -any of their liberties of Parliament, but commanding them to send the -traitors to him, if they came there again. And after his coming out, -he gave orders to the Serjeant-at-arms to find them out and attach -them. Before the King's coming, the House were very high; and (as I -was informed), sent to the city for four thousand men to be presently -sent down to them for their guard: but none came, all the city being -terribly amazed with that unexpected charge of those persons; shops all -shut, many of which do still continue so. They likewise sent to the -trained bands in the Court of Guard, before Whitehall, to command them -to disband, but they stayed still." - -[Sidenote: _Arrest of the Five Members._] - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -The same correspondent then relates what he had himself witnessed in -London. "Yesterday it was my fortune, being in a coach, to meet the -King with a small train going into the City; whereupon I followed him -to Guildhall, where the Mayor, all the Aldermen, and Common Council -were met. The King made a speech to them, declaring his intention to -join with the Parliament in extirpation of popery and all schisms and -sectaries; of redressing of all grievances of the subject, and his -care to preserve the privileges of the Parliament: but to question -these traitors, the reason of his guards for securing himself, the -Parliament, and them from those late tumults, and something of the -Irish; and at last had some familiar discourse to the Aldermen, and -invited himself to dinner to the Sheriff. After a little pause a cry -was set up amongst the Common Council, 'Parliament, privileges of -Parliament;' and presently another, 'God bless the King'--these two -continued both at once a good while. I know not which was louder. -After some knocking for silence, the King commanded one to speak, if -they had anything to say; one said, 'It is the vote of this Court -that your Majesty hear the advice of your Parliament'--but presently -another answered--'It is not the vote of this Court, it is your own -vote.' The King replied, 'Who is it that says, I do not take the -advice of my Parliament? I do take their advice, and will; but I must -distinguish between the Parliament and some traitors in it;' and those -he would bring to legal trial. Another bold fellow, in the lowest rank, -stood up upon a form, and cried, 'The privileges of Parliament;' and -another cried out, 'Observe the man, apprehend him.' The King mildly -replied, 'I have, and will observe all privileges of Parliament, but no -privileges can prevent a traitor from a legal trial'--and so departed. -In the outer hall were a multitude of the ruder people, who, as the -King went out, set up a great cry, 'The privileges of Parliament.' At -the King's coming home, there was a mean fellow came into the privy -chamber, who had a paper sealed up, which he would needs deliver to -the King himself--with his much importunity he was urged to be mad or -drunk, but he denied both. The gentleman usher took the paper from him -and carried it to the King, desiring some gentleman there to keep the -man. He was presently sent for in, and is kept a prisoner, but I know -not where."[240] The arrest, which with its accompanying circumstances -is vividly brought before us in this letter by Slingsby, was a fatal -crisis in the history of Charles I. He thought by one stroke of policy -to crush his enemies, but the avenging deities, shod in felt, were -turning round on the infatuated prince, who could not perceive his own -danger, but was in a fool's paradise, dreaming of restored absolutism. -The liberties of the country having now become more obviously, perhaps -more completely, than before, imperilled by the sovereign's misconduct, -the national indignation was immediately aroused; and whatever Anglican -and Royalist reaction might have set in from Michaelmas to Christmas, -the tide turned, and furiously rushed in the opposite direction after -New Year's Day. Such a defiance of the Constitution by the King, such a -manifestation of despotism, after promising to rule according to law, -left no doubt as to his character, his principles, and his motives. - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Riots._] - -The arrest was interpreted as an assault upon the interests of -Puritanism, no less than upon the liberties of the nation; because the -one cause had become identified with the other, and the friends of -reformation in the Established Church, and the separatists who stood -outside of it, saw that their hopes would be entirely cut off if the -King were permitted to re-establish his despotic rule, or if he were -allowed to perpetrate with impunity such a political crime as the -arrest involved. - -Other circumstances had helped forward the political reaction in favour -of the Puritan cause. Not only had the popular dislike to Bishops -continued in London, Southwark, and Lambeth, in spite of all which -might appear to the contrary in the civic doings on the King's return, -but the revived spirit of ecclesiastical conservation roused afresh -the spirit of ecclesiastical revolution. After petitions had flowed -in from different parts of the country in favour of Episcopacy, the -Aldermen,[241] Common Council, and other inhabitants of London, went -down to Westminster in sixty coaches, carrying a counter petition for -removing prelates and popish peers from their seats in Parliament. -Crowds also assembled on Blackheath for a similar purpose; and the -Puritan clergy of London again addressed the House, for taking -away whatever should appear to be the cause of those grievances -which remained in existence.[242] The Prayer Book--said these -ministers--continued to be vexatiously enforced, and what remedy, asked -they, for this and other evils could there be but the debate of a free -synod, and till that was held some relaxation on matters of ceremony? -The London apprentices at such a time could not be quiet, and impelled -by their own zeal, and perhaps also guided by their masters' commands, -they in large numbers put their hands to a farther "Root and Branch" -petition. - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -Every day the lobbies of the Houses were thronged by people eagerly -watching the fate of the documents which expressed their opinions. -Every day the area of Westminster Hall echoed with the tramp of -jostling crowds and the loud buzz of angry talk touching Church and -Bishops. Episcopalians came face to face with Puritans and Separatists. -Staid and sober citizens anxious for reform, were elbowed by rollicking -country squires, who wished to see things restored to the state in -which they had been in the days of Lord Strafford. Cavaliers, full of -pride and state, crossed the path of patriots whom they denounced as -the enemies of their country. Soldiers, with swords by their side, -marched up and down amidst the rabble, who carried staves or clubs. -Roistering apprentices, with idlers and vagabonds of all descriptions, -putting on a semblance of religious zeal, shouted at the top of their -voice favourite watchwords as they went along, and delighted in all -sorts of mischief.[243] - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Riots._] - -December the 27th, being the Monday after Christmas Day, Colonel -Lunsford, just appointed Lieutenant of the Tower--much to the -disquietude of the Londoners, who denounced him as a Papist, and as -being on that account utterly unfit for such a trust--came into the -Hall; when some of the citizens beginning to abuse him, he and his -companions drew their swords. The same day, Archbishop Williams walked -towards the House of Peers with the Earl of Dover, when an apprentice -lad, seeing his Grace, vociferated the popular cry of "No Bishop." -This so aroused the Welshman's ire, that, leaving his noble friend, -he rushed toward the vulgar urchin, and laid hands on him. This -unbecoming act,--for "a Bishop should be no striker,"--made the wrath -of the populace boil up afresh; and hemming in the prelate so that -he could not stir, they continued shouting in his ears, "No Bishop," -"No Bishop:" until they proceeded to an act of violence, and tore his -gown "as he passed from the stairhead into the entry that leads to -the Lords' House."[244] It is also stated that he was beaten by the -prentices. A blustering "reformado," named David Hide, mingled in -the fray, and looking savagely on the apprentices with their cropped -hair, declared that he would cut the throats of "those round-headed -dogs that bawled against bishops."[245] "Round-headed,"--the words so -aptly fitted to the London lads--took with the Cavalier gentlemen; -they forthwith applied it to the whole Puritan party, and so David -Hide's impromptu became Court slang, and rose into the dignity of a -world-known appellation. - -The next day, certain people in the Abbey, who said that they were -tarrying there a little while for some friends, who had just brought up -a petition, but who were charged with coming to commit depredations -in the sacred edifice, were attacked by the retainers of Archbishop -Williams--who continued Dean of Westminster--and a sort of siege and -assault followed. Amidst the riot and uproar several persons were -hurt, and a stone thrown from the battlements[246] fatally injured Sir -Richard Wiseman, who appeared conspicuous amongst the anti-episcopal -citizens. - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Riots._] - -On Wednesday, the 29th, between three and four o'clock in the -afternoon, when "the scum of the people[247]" had floated down to -Westminster, there occurred a disturbance which, in a confused way, -is apparent in the records of the period, but which becomes more -luminous when examined in the light of the depositions of witnesses, -still preserved amongst the State papers.[248] The tumult seems to -have commenced by Whitehall Gate. Some military gentlemen were walking -"within the rails," in the direction of Charing Cross. The difficulty -is to make out who commenced the quarrel. One deponent says, the -apprentices called the "red coats a knot of Papists," meaning, of -course, the Royalist officers. Another declared, the gentlemen within -the rails cried, "If they were the soldiers they would charge the mob -with pikes and shoot them." Thereupon--so it was affirmed--the people -replied, "You had best do it, red coats," and threw at them clots of -dry dust. Then the cavalier swordsmen leaped over the rails, and, sword -in hand, dashed into the midst of the mob. Other gentlemen came out -of the Court gate and joined their friends; upon which the parties -fell to, pell-mell. One witness says, that he saw but one sword drawn -on the citizens' side, but he saw many of the citizens wounded by -the gentlemen. Another affirms, that one of the gentlemen received a -wound in the forehead. It is manifest that the disturbance was made -the very most of by each party, so as to reflect discredit upon the -opposite side: for in a letter written the next morning, the writer, -after recording how apprentices were wounded, and how they lost -their hats and cloaks, gravely states, "It is feared they will be at -Whitehall this day to the number of _ten thousand_." The City was in -an uproar on account of the outrage on the apprentices, and the Court -gentry were full of indignation at the abuse which the apprentices -had heaped on the Bishops. The High Church Lord Mayor and Sheriffs, -who rode about all night to preserve peace, had the City gates shut, -the watch set, and the trained-bands called out. By those of a -different class in politics this was thought quite unnecessary; as they -implicitly believed that the citizens would commit no act of violence -if the courtiers would but keep their swords in their scabbards. The -majority of the Commons, too, were jealous of interfering with those -whom they hailed as friends to reform; while the King, the Court, and -the Archbishop, exaggerated the disturbance, and were for coercing the -people as enemies of order. The whole story, as it appears from the -documents we have mentioned, indicates rudeness and insolence on the -part of the populace, but not any disposition in the first instance to -proceed to violence. Their opponents sought to bolster up their own -cause by highly-coloured reports of the uproar; the irritated pride and -hot revenge of a few royalist officers having really brought on the -bloodshed, to be followed by the blackest recrimination on the Puritan -side.[249] The squabble would be beneath our notice, were it not for -the consequences which followed it;[250] and for its significance as -illustrating the way in which religious questions became mixed up with -political ones, and how both, in some cases, sunk down to the most -vulgar level. - -[Sidenote: _Protest of the Bishops._] - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -Bishop Hall relates, in connection with the riot, that in the afternoon -of the 28th of December, the Marquis of Hartford came up to the -Bishops' bench, and informed their lordships that they were in danger, -because the people were watching outside with torches, and would -look into every coach to discover them; he adds that a motion made -for their safety was received with smiles; and that some sought the -protection of certain peers, whilst others escaped home by "secret -and far-fetched passages."[251] From the same authority--corroborated -by other witnesses--we also learn, that Archbishop Williams, with the -cry of "No Bishop" ringing in his ears, with a still more unpleasant -recollection of the apprentice's attack, and also alarmed by the -Marquis of Hartford's story, determined to protest against this state -of things, not simply as a violation of his personal liberty, but as -a violation of the freedom and rights of the Upper House. We Bishops, -he argued, can no longer perform our Parliamentary duties if this be -the case, and without the bishops the House of Lords is a nullity in -the legislature. Upon this view being taken, twelve prelates, Williams -being one of the number, repaired to the "Jerusalem Chamber in the -Dean's lodgings"--that room which has witnessed so many ecclesiastical -discussions, and which is so linked to the fortunes of the Church of -England--and there drew up a protest against whatever should be done -during the absence of their order from the House of Lords.[252] - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -To this protest signatures were hastily procured. On the 27th, Williams -was assaulted; on the 29th, the protest reached the house of the Bishop -of Lichfield, between six and seven o'clock at night, he not having -heard of it before.[253] - -The document had been drawn up without proper deliberation, and after -being signed, it was immediately presented to the King.[254] Much as -he might sympathize with the prelates, he had prudence enough now to -do nothing more than at once refer the matter to the House of Lords, -who, in their turn, invited the Commons to a conference on the subject. -The Lower House promptly resolved to impeach the prelates;--only one -member offering any opposition, and that simply on the ground that -he did not believe they were guilty of high treason, but were only -stark mad, and ought to be sent to Bedlam. Upon receiving a message, -notifying the impeachment, the Upper House immediately despatched Black -Rod to summon the accused Spiritual Lords to the bar, where they soon -appeared. The same night saw ten of the prelates safe in the Tower.[255] - -[Sidenote: _Protest of the Bishops._] - -[Sidenote: 1641, December.] - -The protest produced an "immense sensation." Unpopular before with -the Puritans and the patriots, the bishops now became more unpopular -than ever, with the former, on account of their alleged pride and -arrogance; with the latter, on account of their esteeming themselves -essential to the integrity of Parliament; and with all, on account -of their obstinately obstructing the paths of reform. Still, the -party most in advance felt rather glad than otherwise at this act of -Episcopal imprudence, since it made the bench increasingly odious; and -therefore afforded another and still stronger argument for hastening -forward its overthrow.[256] Even Episcopalians blamed the protesters, -considering they had much hindered the cause they should have helped; -and Clarendon pronounces their proceedings to have been ill judged. -But an excuse has been offered, on the ground that the conduct of the -Bishops if not constitutional was chivalrous. It has been said, "To go -out in smoke and smother is but a mean way of coming to nothing." -"To creep and crawl to a misfortune is to suffer like an insect." "A -man ought to fall with dignity and honour, and keep his mind erect, -though his fortune happens to be crushed."[257] Without staying to ask -whether there be not concealed under this plea a spirit out of harmony -with the religion professed by the prelates, we may remark that no one -could have blamed them for courageously defending what they deemed -the rights of their order. They might justly have protested against -the tumultuous conduct of the people, and have sought protection in -attending the House; but to protest against what was done in the -Legislature during their absence was quite another thing, and appears -to have been as unconstitutional as any violence employed in order -to hinder their discharge of Parliamentary duties. An accusation of -treason, however, brought against them for their strange proceedings, -appears extravagant; although sufficient grounds existed for censure, -and the imposition perhaps of some kind of penalty: but the lawyers -were spared all trouble with reference to this subject by the abolition -of the Episcopal bench, and the political insignificance to which the -order had been reduced by their extreme unpopularity. The protesting -Bishops remained in confinement until the 5th of May following, when -they were dismissed on bail.[258] - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER IX. - - -The bill of October for removing Bishops from the House of Peers had -hung fire. On its reaching the Upper House it had been once read, -and then laid aside. The conduct of the bishops, which led to their -impeachment, also induced the Commons to urge upon the Lords the -passing of this measure. After some hesitation, they read the bill -a third time, on the 5th of February; and the Commons, now become -impatient, expressed their sorrow, three days afterwards, that the -royal assent had not been immediately given. The King's reluctance was -at the same time expressed at a conference on the 8th of February, -by the Earl of Monmouth, who said, "that it was a matter of weight -which his Majesty would take into consideration, and send an answer in -convenient time."[259] On the 14th of February came the tardy "Le Roy -le veult." No prelate now remaining to read prayers, the Peers ordered -that the Lord Chancellor's or the Lord Keeper's chaplain should "say -prayers before the Lords in Parliament," and in his absence, the Lord -Chancellor or Lord Keeper should appoint some other person for that -service. The vacant benches, staring their lordships in the face, -appeared unsightly; in consequence of which they named a committee to -consider "how the peers should sit in the House, now that the Bishops' -seats were empty."[260] - -[Sidenote: 1642, February.] - -Thus fell, after threatening assaults for fourteen months, the temporal -power of the prelates. Their exclusion from the Upper House is opposed -to the ancient laws and customs of the realm, and it does violence -to those ideas of the English Constitution which are based upon the -history of the middle ages. Then Church and State were bound in the -closest ties, and Churchmen, from their presumed superior intelligence, -were esteemed amongst the fittest men to make laws and to direct public -affairs. But matters had undergone a vast change by the middle of the -seventeenth century, and many persons of enlarged minds had come to -perceive, that there was no more necessity for seeking senators than -seeking chancellors from the clerical ranks; that neither the liberties -of the subject, nor the prerogatives of the crown, appeared to be in -danger from the change; and that the removal of the bench of Bishops -would not destroy the integrity and completeness of the Upper House, -or put out of working gear the machinery of the Constitution. On -political grounds they saw no valid objection to the measure, whilst in -a religious point of view they deemed it highly desirable. - -The Act which deprived Bishops of their legislative functions did not -touch their revenues; but there followed, within a little more than two -months, an ordinance which absolutely deprived some amongst them of -their estates, personal as well as real, and placed the possessions of -all the rest in jeopardy; so that from affluence they were reduced to -poverty, or to the imminent hazard of losing whatever they had. - -Those who lived beyond the year 1650 will be noticed hereafter. Those -who died before that time are recorded now. - -[Sidenote: _Bishops._] - -Robert Wright, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, one of the protesters, -remained in the Tower eighteen weeks; and when set at liberty, retired -to his episcopal castle of Eccleshall, in Staffordshire, which -he--like a military Churchman of the middle ages--defended against the -Parliament. He died during a siege in the summer of 1643. - -Dr. Accepted Frewen, nominated by the King as successor to Wright, -derived but little from his see before the Restoration.[261] - -Thomas Westfield, bishop of Bristol, who died in 1644, won the good -opinion of all parties; so that the Puritan committee, appointed by -the ordinance for sequestering delinquents' estates, on being informed -that his tenants refused to pay their rents, ordered them to yield to -him the revenues of his bishopric, and gave him and his family a safe -conduct to Bristol. It is said of him, that "he made not that wearisome -which should be welcome; never keeping his glass (the hour glass in the -pulpit), except upon extraordinary occasions, more than a quarter of an -hour: he made not that common which should be precious, either by the -coarseness or cursoriness of his manner. He never, though almost fifty -years a preacher, went up into the pulpit but he trembled; and never -preached before the King but once, and then he fainted."[262] - -[Sidenote: 1641-1650.] - -His immediate successor in the see, Thomas Howell, consecrated at -Oxford during the siege of that city, is reported to have been -treated at first by the people of Bristol with great indignity and -violence--his palace being turned into a malt-house and a mill--but -the mildness of his disposition overcame all enemies, and though he -found few well-affected on his appointment to the diocese, he left few -ill-affected towards him at his death. He died in 1646, and was buried -in his own cathedral. - -George Coke, bishop of Hereford, forfeited his estate, like the other -protesters. Colonel Birch, a Parliamentary officer, took possession of -his palace on the surrender of the episcopal city in 1645. His wife and -children had an exhibition granted for one year out of his sequestered -estate at Eardsley, on condition that neither she nor her husband -should assist the malignants. He died in 1646. - -Morgan Owen, bishop of Llandaff--said to be under the influence of -Laud, and connected with him by the Puritans, in a story respecting -some popish image of the virgin at Oxford--was a protester, and -imprisoned accordingly. His death occurred towards the end of 1644. - -Walter Curle, bishop of Winchester, resided in that city when the -Parliamentary forces besieged it. Upon its surrender, he retired -to Subberton, in Hampshire, where he died in 1647, after suffering -the sequestration of his own proper estate for refusing to take the -covenant. - -John Towers, bishop of Peterborough, having been confined for his -connection with the protest, subsequently repaired to the King, at -Oxford, and remained there till its surrender to the Parliament, when -he returned to Peterborough, and there found himself, as a delinquent, -stripped of his revenues. He died in 1649.[263] - -[Sidenote: _Bishops._] - -John Prideaux, a man of eminent learning, promoted to the bishopric -of Worcester amidst the troubles of 1641, excommunicated all in his -diocese who took up arms on the Parliament's behalf. By such conduct -of course he subjected himself to penalties; and it is related, that -he turned his books and everything else into bread for himself and his -family, so that, when he was saluted in the usual way, "How doth your -lordship do?" he facetiously replied, "Never better in my life, only -I have too great a stomach, for I have eaten that little plate which -the sequestrators left me; I have eaten a great library of excellent -books; I have eaten a great deal of linen, much of my brass, some of -my pewter, and now I am come to eat iron, and what will come next I -know not."[264] This humorous prelate died in 1650, leaving to his -children--"no legacy but pious poverty, God's blessing, and a father's -prayers." - -John Williams, archbishop of York, who has appeared prominently in -this volume, after the imprisonment and sequestration which he brought -upon himself by the conduct which we have already described, took, by -royal command, the charge of Conway Castle and the government of North -Wales, in which country he was born; and, at last--either in accordance -with his established character for trimming his sails according to the -wind, or to gratify a personal grudge against the Royalist captain, by -whom he had been violently displaced--he joined a Parliamentary troop -in order to recover his old fortress; after which military transaction -he ended his strange and chequered career, in 1650, at Glodded, in the -house of his kinswoman, Lady Mostyn. It is related of him, that during -the last year of his life, he rose out of bed regularly at midnight -for one quarter of an hour, when he knelt on his bare knees, and prayed -earnestly, "Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly, and put an end to these -days of sin and misery."[265] - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -On returning to the complicated web of religious interests and -excitements at the close of the year 1641, some dark threads remain to -be unravelled. - -The following letter was written in London on the 4th of November, -1641, and indicates the alarm excited by intelligence just received -from Ireland:--[266] - -[Sidenote: _Irish Rebellion._] - -"This week hath brought forth strange discoveries of horrible treasons -hatched by the Papists in Ireland, and that upon the 23rd of October -past, they should have been put in execution throughout the north of -that kingdom upon all the Protestants at one instant, who were then -designed to have their throats cut by them; but, God be thanked, the -night before, being the 22nd October, one Owen Connellie, a servant -of Sir John Clotworthy, a member of the House of Commons, being then -newly made acquainted with the wickedness of the plot, by a friend of -his, that the next day should have been an actor in it, went (though -with much ado) to the Lords the Justices in Dublin, and revealed it: -whereupon the gates were instantly commanded to be shut, and a matter -of thirty-eight that were in town of the conspirators taken, whereof -the Lord Marquis and Mac Mahon are the chief, and have since confessed, -that by the next morning they expected to come to their aid twenty well -armed Papists, out of every county in Ireland, that they might all, -upon a sudden, have surprised the castle with the ammunition, and so -commanded the city and the lives of all the inhabitants. The treason -being thus discovered did spread apace throughout the north of Ireland, -where the rebellion first began, and in several places in several -bodies are of the Papists up in arms above 10,000 men, which doth much -perplex the poor Protestants, and [there is] great fear whether they -shall be able to suppress or resist them. Whereupon our Parliament -hath ordered my Lord of Leicester, Lord Lieutenant, and all other -commanders here, speedily to repair thither, and do furnish £50,000 to -carry along with them, which the City of London advances for providing -of men and arms to secure that kingdom. Some blood the villains have -shed, and committed great outrages, and taken some castles and places -of strength; but if they had taken Dublin, upon the rack divers have -confessed, in a short time they would not have left a Protestant alive -in the whole kingdom; but God, in His mercy, hath prevented that -slaughter, and hath turned part of it upon themselves. The traitors -give out the late tyranny of the Lord of Strafford upon them moved them -to it; and that, by the example of the Scots, they hoped to purchase -such privileges, by this means, in their religion, as otherwise they -never expected to have granted to them. You see the distempers of the -three kingdoms--God forgive them that have been the cause of it, and -then to be despatched into the other world, that they may trouble us no -more in this again."[267] - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -[Sidenote: _Irish Rebellion._] - -It is difficult for us--now that the reformation has become a remote -event, and Protestantism holds undisputed supremacy; now that the -principles of liberty are well understood, and the asperities and -virulence of old controversies, except in a few cases, have, been -softened down--to enter into the anti-papal feelings which moved our -stout-hearted fathers more than two centuries ago. At that period, the -Reformation, under Elizabeth, had lasted little more than eighty years. -The parents of some who were now living had witnessed the cruelties -of the Marian persecution; the men and women under Charles the First, -had, as boys and girls, in ingle-nook at Christmas-tide, felt their -blood run cold whilst listening to stories of the Smithfield fires -from eye-witnesses. A few, then in London, had actually beheld with -their own eyes a scene which stirs our hearts when only represented -by the pencil--Elizabeth haranguing her troops at Tilbury Fort. More -had heard, with their own ears, the current contemporary talk about -the Spanish Armada, as it sailed up the channel, and had caught the -first tidings of the proud armament being scattered to the winds--just -after the subsiding of the storm which sunk the accursed ships--and -they could never forget how the nation drew breath after a gasp of -most awful suspense in 1588. These last events were about as near to -the times we are describing, as the Battle of Waterloo is to our -own. The gunpowder plot was an incident of no very distant occurrence; -only as far back in the memory of members of the Long Parliament, as -the Bristol riots, and the Swing rick burning in our own. Numbers of -the gentlemen in high-crowned hats and short cloaks, who walked into -the House of Commons in 1641, filled with alarm respecting Popery, -had participated in the sensation produced by that discovery, which -is celebrated now only by a few boys on the 5th of November. Besides -all this, the sufferings of French Huguenots were fresh in everybody's -mind. Refugees who had escaped the galleys were still in London. The -massacre at Paris, commemorated by the Pope's medal, hardly fell -beyond the recollections of existing persons, whilst new religious -conflicts in France, and the siege of Rochelle, had occurred but a -few years before. The thirty years' war in Germany was not concluded; -and the battle of Prague, the execution of the Protestant patriots in -front of the Rathhaus, the expulsion of the disciples of Huss, and -the barbarities of the Papists throughout Bohemia, were in everyone's -memory. - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -With so many alarming events recently connected with Popery, and -while the question of the Reformation in Europe appeared unsettled, -and Jesuits were intriguing, and catholic tendencies had reached -such a height in the Church of England, it is no wonder that staunch -Protestants at home, who made common cause with staunch Protestants -abroad, had such an intense dread of their old enemy. It was then with -the Puritans of England, as it has ever been, and still is, with the -Protestants of France. The latter have never forgotten the massacre -of St. Bartholomew, and the revocation of the Edict of Nantes. They -have cherished, more than we have, the traditions of a suffering -Church, a Church struggling to keep its ground against neighbours -as powerful as they are antagonistic. Catholic tendencies do not -appear amongst the descendants of the Huguenots; the line is distinct -between the two Churches, and the trumpet of defiance, in the case -of French Protestantism, gives no uncertain sound. A like relative -position to papal Europe was maintained by the Puritans of 1641, with -animosities even more intense, inasmuch as the tragedies remembered -were more recent, and the danger apprehended seemed just at hand: and -it explains how the outburst of a neighbouring rebellion on the part of -the spiritual subjects of the Pope, struck terror in all Protestants -throughout this kingdom, from the Orkneys to the Land's End. - -[Sidenote: _Irish Rebellion._] - -The Protestant Church never flourished in Ireland. Bedell, Bishop -of Kilmore, and Bramhall, then Bishop of Derry, laboured to produce -reform. Bedell, seeing that the native Irish were little regarded -by the Protestant clergy and were left almost entirely in the hands -of the Popish priests, aimed at instructing them in the truths of -Christianity; a wise method, which however did not meet the views of -Strafford, whose policy was "to enforce religious unity by Church -discipline, and to invigorate Church discipline with the secular -arm."[268] Bramhall, in 1633, gave a deplorable account of the Irish -Church to Archbishop Laud. It was hard to say whether the fabrics -were more ruinous, or the people more irreverent. One parochial -church, in Dublin, had been turned into a stable, a second into a -dwelling, and a third into a tennis court, the vicar acting as keeper. -The vaults of Christchurch, from one end to another, were used as -tippling rooms, and were frequented for that purpose at the time -of Divine service. The very altar had become a seat for maids and -apprentices. The bishop also doubted the orthodoxy of his clergy. The -inferior sort of ministers (he said) were below contempt in respect -of poverty and ignorance, and the boundless heaping together of -benefices by _commendams_ and _dispensations_ was but too apparent. -Rarely ten pounds a year fell to the incumbent, and yet one prelate -held three-and-twenty benefices.[269] Such a state of things, not -described by an enemy but by a friend, speaks volumes. Bramhall, in -meditating reform, followed too much Laud's method, first looking at -the external condition of the Church, striving to improve edifices, to -preserve and rightly administer emoluments, to regulate worship and -secure uniformity--doubtless with far higher ultimate aims--instead of -going at once to the root of the evil, and promoting the spread of the -Gospel of Christ, and the revival of spiritual religion. Some outward -improvement followed the Churchman's endeavours, but very little of -that pure vital piety, and that Christian love, without which a Church, -no less than an individual, is but as "sounding brass and a tinkling -cymbal." Protestantism, even with the best endeavours of its advocates, -had not laid hold on the Irish heart; and Papists, who were immensely -in the majority, looked with bitter feeling on the chronic disease of -Ireland--the absorption of ecclesiastical emoluments by a sect in the -minority. Puritanism too was active. People complained of "the unblest -way of the prelacy," of fines, fees, and imprisonments, of silencing -and banishing "learned and conscionable ministers," and of the prelates -favouring popery.[270] Moreover, political heart-burnings mingled with -all this ecclesiastical strife. - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -The Popish rebellion broke out in October. On the 1st of November, -Mr. Pym rose in the House of Commons, and stated that a noble lord, a -Privy Councillor, with other noble lords, stood at the door, waiting -to deliver important intelligence. Chairs were ordered to be placed -for these distinguished visitors, who entered uncovered--the serjeant -carrying the mace before them. The Commons doffed their hats till -the strangers were seated; when, having covered their heads again, -each, in breathless silence, with eager inquisitive eye, perhaps with -pressed ear, listened to the Lord Keeper, as he proceeded to tell them -the purpose for which he had come. The alarm increased as the Earl of -Leicester, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, one of the deputation from the -Lords, took off his hat, and said: That letters and papers had been -sent from Ireland by the Lord Justices, communicating information of -the shedding of much blood; that all Protestants were to be cut off; -that no British man, woman, or child was to be left alive; that the -horrid deed had been fixed for Saturday, the 23rd of October, being the -feast of St. Ignatius; that the King's forts were to be seized, and -the Justices and Privy Council slain. A timely supply of men and money -therefore was needed to save the country. - -[Sidenote: _Irish Rebellion._] - -These vague tidings ran through England like wildfire, and then there -followed details of unparalleled barbarities. It was reported, that in -the county of Armagh alone, a thousand Protestants were forced over -the Bridge of Portadown, and drowned in the River Bann. A wife was -compelled to hang her own husband. Two-and-twenty people were put into -a thatched house, and burned alive. Women, great with child, had their -bellies ripped up, and were then drowned. Three hundred Protestants -were stripped naked, and crowded into the Church of Loghill, a hundred -of whom were murdered, one being quartered alive, whose quarters -were flung in the face of the unhappy father. A hundred men, women, -and children were driven like hogs for six miles to a river, into -which they were pitched headlong with pikes and swords.[271] These -instances are only a few taken from the reports: page after page in -Rushworth, and other collections, is filled with the like enormities. -The computation was that between one and two hundred thousand persons -perished in these massacres. Common sense, knowledge of human nature, -and the recollection of rumours in our own time respecting Indian -massacres and Jamaica atrocities, must lead us to suspect the accuracy -of these reports. - -Allowance should be made for exaggeration at a time of maddening -terror, and in the case of an excitable and imaginative people like -the Irish. It should also be remembered that our poor sister island -had endured wrongs from a Protestant Government; that the Puritans had -alarmed the Papists; that the Papists had exasperated the Puritans; -and that mutual intolerance increased mutual hatred. But, after all -fair abatements, that Irish Rebellion must be regarded as one of the -blackest crimes recorded in history, as an outburst of demoniacal fury, -which nothing could excuse, and which the utmost provocation could but -slenderly palliate.[272] If, as supposed by some, it was a desperate -stroke for Popish ascendancy in Ireland, encouraged by the example -of the Scots, who by rising in arms had asserted their right to a -Presbyterian Government, it must be admitted by all to have been, as -Carlyle says, "a most wretched imitation." - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -It is not our business to investigate the sources of the Irish -rebellion, or to weigh evidence as to its horrors. Enough is admitted -by historians of every school to shew that it was a very great -calamity, and all to be done here is to indicate the impression it made -in England, and how it further complicated the already intricate causes -which conspired to complete the great ecclesiastical revolution of the -age. - -Puritans in England were terror-stricken. Fasts were held, and young -people were worn out by abstinence and prayer. Amidst a crowded -congregation, near Bradford, where all were groaning and weeping, there -came a man, who cried, "Friends, we are all as good as dead men, for -the Irish rebels are coming; they are come as far as Rochdale, and -Littleborough, and the Batings, and will be at Halifax and Bradford -shortly."[273] Upon hearing this, the congregation fell into utter -confusion, and began to run for their lives,--screaming about the -bloody Papists, and expecting every moment to meet the cut-throats. -Not only were ignorant multitudes thus panic-stricken, but Richard -Baxter believed that the Irish had threatened to come over, and, he -remarks, that such threats, "with the name of 200,000 murdered, and -the recital of the monstrous cruelties of those cannibals, made many -thousands in England think that nothing could be more necessary than -for the Parliament to put the country into an armed posture for their -own defence."[274] - -[Sidenote: _Irish Rebellion._] - -Not only did aversion to Popery proper increase through what had -happened in Ireland, but that aversion regarded much which bore but a -very partial resemblance to Popery. It was not easy then, with cool -discrimination, to distinguish between things which differed; and some -things, it must be remembered, were more alike then than they are at -present. What would be folly in one age may be something like wisdom in -another; what would be groundless fear now might be caution then; that -which all would pronounce insanity in a Protestant of the nineteenth -century was probably only a reasonable apprehension in a Puritan of the -seventeenth. At that time there not only rose a stronger determination -to resist the power of Rome, but also a stronger determination to put -an end to the power at Lambeth. The tiara became more hateful than -ever, and not less so the mitre: images of the Virgin were pronounced -intolerable, so were all superstitious ornaments in churches. The -Popish rebellion helped on the measure for removing Bishops from -amongst the rulers of the country, and imparted a fresh impulse to the -desire for abolishing Episcopacy. - -[Sidenote: 1641, October.] - -The actual plot in Ireland gave countenance to the belief of imaginary -plots in England. One day in November, John Hampden went up to the -Lords to let them know that a man had come to the door of the House -of Commons, and sent in word how he had matters of a high nature to -reveal concerning certain noble Peers and honourable Commons. They had -therefore sent the man to their Lordships' House, for examination. -Upon this, one Thomas Beal, a tailor of Whitecross Street, appeared, -who told a long rambling story to the effect, that on that very day, -at twelve o'clock, as he went into the fields near the Pest House, and -was walking on a private bank, he heard some people talking warily. -Going nearer, he heard somebody say, "it was a wicked thing that the -last plot did not take," but that one now was going on which would be -the making of them all. A hundred and eight conspirators were to kill -one hundred and eight members of Parliament--all Puritans--and the -sacrament was to be administered to the murderers. Beal was commanded -to withdraw, and an order followed to arrest certain Jesuits on -suspicion. This conspiracy, as might be expected from the man's story, -turned out to be mere smoke.[275] Yet we relate the circumstance as an -illustration of the excitement of the period; and to exemplify how men, -like the inhabitants of the Hartz mountains looking at the clouds, saw -their own fears reflected in gigantic shadows, which they mistook for -most awful and threatening realities. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER X. - - -The cause of English Episcopacy sank into a hopeless condition. -Whatever streaks of light had just before been flickering on its -horizon had now totally vanished; not that the removal of the prelates' -bench from the House of Peers sealed its fate, for, apart from -legislative authority and political position, Episcopal office and -influence might have been retained. But the policy of Laud and Montague -had been such as to estrange from the Order the affections of the -Puritans, then the most active and influential part of the religious -population of the country. The complicity of Church rulers in the -unpopular proceedings of the High Commission and Star Chamber Courts, -and their sympathy in Strafford's scheme of arbitrary rule, had torn -away from them the last ties of attachment on the part of the middle -classes, which, in modern England, form the only trustworthy stays -of power in Church or State. The effect of the protest of Archbishop -Williams and his associates had confirmed the mean opinion in which -all the bishops were held, and had now rendered a case before very -doubtful, wholly desperate. Charles, who from the beginning had been -ready to stake the crown in his struggle for the Episcopal Church, -had by his arrest of the five members exasperated to the utmost the -supporters of the Constitution, and placed himself in a false position -towards the House of Commons; so that, while imperilling his own -prerogatives, he also injured the Church, with which he identified the -interests of his throne. - -[Sidenote: 1641-2.] - -Even the secession of certain conspicuous advocates from the ranks of -ecclesiastical reform to the opposite side served to weaken, not to -help, the cause of ecclesiastical conservatism. - -Sir Edward Dering's course has been described. We have seen him to be -one of those men, who, after looking at both sides of a question, and -endeavouring to keep the mean between extremes, at length come to look -at one side so much more than the other, that they unconsciously swerve -in a direction divergent from their original career, and then, with -exquisite simplicity, wonder that they are charged with vacillation. -Such persons are also apt to be impetuous, and to speak unguardedly -in the heat of debate; and, while honestly hating the character of -turn-coats, they expose themselves to that odious accusation. Sir -Edward had looked at Anglicanism and at Nonconformity, trying to -steer a middle course; but circumstances of late having brought -before him most prominently the dangers of schism, he now inveighed -against it with the same zeal, which, in the spring and summer of -1641, had inflamed his anti-prelatical orations. It is very easy to -make good against this honest but shallow politician the charge of -self-contradiction. It is curious to see in his "Defence" how one who -courted popularity winced under the accusation of being an apostate, -and how he parried the charge of going over to the enemy's camp. At an -hour when parties were plunging into a mortal struggle, a much wiser -man, counselling moderation, would have had little chance of making -himself heard; and certainly Dering's laboured distinction between -ruin and reform did as little toward preventing the first as promoting -the second; and it could only produce a grim smile in the iron face of -a Puritan, when the recent church reformer cautioned his friends, in -classic phrase, against "breaking asunder that well ordered chain of -government, which from the chair of Jupiter reacheth down by several -golden even links to the protection of the poorest creature that now -lives among us."[276] - -[Sidenote: _Secessions from the Popular Party._] - -[Sidenote: 1641-2.] - -Another seceder was Lord Falkland, who though a far different man from -Dering, yet possessed an amount of impetuosity which at times mastered -his wisdom; for instance, when on one occasion the Speaker desired the -Members of the House to concur in a vote of thanks by a movement of -the hat, Falkland, with a sort of childish irritability, "clasped his -hands together upon the crown of his hat, and held it close down to his -head."[277] It is somewhat singular that such a man should be held up -as an example of moderation--that one so impulsive and demonstrative -should have won renown for calmness and caution. The truth is, that he -had looked even more closely than Dering had done at the two sides of -the great controversy, and by dwelling exclusively first on the one -and then on the other, had incurred, like his parliamentary friend, -the charge of tergiversation. He saw more strongly the objections to -a question than the grounds of its support. "The present evil always -seemed to him the worst--he was always going backward and forward; -but it should be remembered to his honour, that it was always from -the stronger to the weaker side that he deserted: while Charles was -oppressing the people, Falkland was a resolute champion of liberty. -He attacked Strafford, he even concurred in strong measures against -Episcopacy; but the violence of his party annoyed him and drove him -to the other party, to be equally annoyed there."[278] Falkland -deserted his former friends in October, on the reintroduction of the -Bill for taking away the bishops' votes; on the ground, that, though -at first he thought it might prove an effectual compromise, and might -save Episcopacy by sacrificing its political power, yet he afterwards -entertained the opinion that it would have no such effect. The charge -of dishonesty never can be brought against him; his character in this -respect, like polished armour, could not be dimmed for more than a -moment by the breath of scandal. A perfect Bayard in his chivalrous -career, _sans peur et sans reproche_, however he might diverge from -his previous path, he can never be justly regarded as a renegade. -The persuasion of his friend Hyde, his sympathies as a tasteful and -accomplished gentleman with the cavalier party, and beyond all, perhaps -a sort of religious reverence for royalty, had more than anything to do -with his change of policy in October, and his acceptance of office in -the King's councils in January. And it does not appear, that, though -he dreaded extreme measures against the Church, he had any more zeal -for prelates after than before his separation from his old friends. -It was for the crown rather than the mitre that he threw his weight -into the royal scale. He approved of moderate Episcopacy, but for that -he did not make his great sacrifice. He could not say with Sir Edward -Verney, "I have eaten the King's bread, and served him near thirty -years;" but he could adopt the veteran's declaration, "I will not do -so base a thing as to forsake him." He was not prepared to exclaim, "I -chose rather to lose my life, which I am sure I shall do, to preserve -and defend those things which are against my conscience;" but he -might have adopted the words of the same brave soldier, "I will deal -freely with you, I have no reverence for Bishops for whom this quarrel -subsists."[279] The heart of many a Royalist went more with King than -Church.[280] - -[Sidenote: _Secessions from the Popular Party._] - -These changes left the staunch opponents of Episcopacy more unfettered -in action, and served to consolidate party elements which, for a -long time, had been held in a state of solution. Though it would be -inaccurate to speak of two distinct and compact parties before the end -of 1641, such parties are to be recognized after the beginning of 1642. -Men were then forced to take a side, to assume a definite position. -A grand issue was joined. Half measures were no longer possible. -Questions became distinct. The device and cognizance on each of the -opposite banners might be as unmistakably understood as they were -plainly emblazoned--on the one side, "Church and King," on the other, -"Constitutional Reform in Church and State." There may be quibbles -about the accuracy of such watchwords, but those now mentioned are -as applicable to the two parties of the seventeenth century, as any -familiar ones now are to the political distinctions of the nineteenth. - -[Sidenote: 1642, January.] - -Politicians who remained staunch in the defence of Parliamentary -power against Kingly despotism were much more agreed in reference to -the State than in reference to the Church. On the negative side of -ecclesiastical revolution they pretty well understood each other. What -should be put down they knew; but not precisely what should be set -up. That prelacy of the Stuart type should be expelled was a foregone -conclusion in 1642; but what sort of rule should take its place, -whether very moderate Episcopacy, or thorough Presbyterianism like -that of Scotland, the leaders of the movement had not determined. It -is, however, quite evident that great modifications in the direction -of Presbyterianism were under contemplation: for Presbyterians were -numerous in London; their leaders were active amongst the citizens; -and the Scotch, through their commissioners, were earnestly doing -all they could to promote the cause which was dear to their hearts. -But the sectaries, who were hated equally by the Presbyterian and -Prelatist, were also on the increase. So numerous indeed had they -become that Bishop Hall, in his last speech in the House of Lords, -declared with spleen unworthy of so good a man, that there were eighty -congregations of them in London, "instructed by guides fit for them, -cobblers, tailors, felt-makers, and such like trash, which all were -taught to spit in the face of their mother, the Church of England, -and to defy and revile her government."[281] Letters of the Royalists -at that period abound in complaints respecting the increased activity -and boldness of people who were condemned as schismatics. Those so -designated had views of ecclesiastical polity very different from -Presbyterian opinions, and were destined to check the progress of the -latter much more effectually than to contribute to the downfall of -Episcopacy. Some of them even (but only some) went so far as to cry, -"Away with the thought of a national Church. It is impossible for a -national Church to be the true Church of Christ. Let us have no Church -but Congregations, and let them be without superintendency." To this -we may add that the separatists in general objected to the distinction -between clergy and laity, and maintained that the Church is a body, all -the members of which are kings and priests.[282] - -[Sidenote: _Royal Flight._] - -Charles and his Queen left London on the triumphant return of the five -members to Westminster. So hasty was the royal flight, that befitting -accommodation for their Majesties could not be provided. They first -journeyed to Hampton Court, but their subsequent movements were so -secret, that even courtiers did not know whither the royal pair were -bending their steps.[283] - -Under Secretary Bere, writing to Admiral Sir John Pennington, on the -13th of January, thus speaks of the startling events then taking -place:-- - -[Sidenote 1642, January.] - -"Sir--The last week I told you but the beginning of those bad ensuing -news we must now daily expect, unless it please God to give a strange -if not miraculous change whereby to settle the distraction of affairs. -The committees, sitting all last week in the city, returned again to -Parliament on Tuesday, and the persons accused with them; for whom -both City and county have shewn so much affection, that they came -accompanied with such multitudes, as had as much of the triumph as -guard: and by water the seamen made a kind of fleet of boats, all armed -with muskets and murdering pieces, which gave volleys all the way they -went. The King and Queen took the day before a resolution to leave -this town, which was also so sudden, that they could not have that -accommodation befitting their Majesties. They went to Hampton Court -that night, next day to Windsor; whence it is conceived they will also -depart as this day, but whither is uncertain. The Prince and Prince -Elector is with them; but few Lords, Essex and Holland being here, who -offered up both their places before his going, but his Majesty would -not accept the surrender. Mr. Secretary Nicholas is likewise gone, and -hath left me to attend such services as shall occur, which, if the King -shall persist in his resolution to retire, will not be much. However, -I will expect the issue, and, if I be not sent for, think myself not -unhappy in my stay, to be freed of an expenseful and troublesome -journey. My Lady Nicholas is much afflicted, and, I believe, as well -as he, would for a good round sum he had never had the seals. My -Lord-Keeper, refusing to put the great seal to the King's proclamation -against the persons accused, did also make tender of his charge, but -howsoever remains still with it; and thus, Sir, you see to what height -of distempers things are come. The public voice runs much against -Bristol and his son, as great instruments of these misunderstandings. -In the meantime they are united in the Houses, and the accord between -the Upper House and Commons grows daily more easy; so that it is hoped -some good and moderate resolutions will be taken for the procuring his -Majesty's return with his contentment (which I pray God may be), for -otherwise there can be expected nothing but confusion. - - * * * * * - -"I understand even now that the King is remained this day at Windsor, -and it is hoped will not go further; the French Ambassador having been -there, and offering to interpose for an accommodation between his -Majesty and the Parliament, in the King his master's name, whence it is -hoped may ensue some good effect. This day divers Lords are going to -Court with a message from the Houses. I had almost forgotten to tell -you of a new Secretary of State made last Saturday, to wit, the Lord -Falkland, and he hath the Diet."[284] - -From Windsor, Charles went to York, which now became a focus of -political and ecclesiastical activity and intrigue. Declarations, -manifestoes, and commands were issued by royal authority from the -North to be contradicted and disobeyed by such members of the two -Houses as continued at their posts in the South.[285] The Puritan -patriots flocked to St. Stephen's with petitions complaining of Popish -malignants, Irish rebels, and other hindrances to reform; while -Royalist Churchmen as eagerly besieged the King's presence chamber in -the ancient archiepiscopal city with addresses lamenting the disorders -of the times, and praying for the support of old-fashioned loyalty, -with Prayer Book, Cathedrals, and Bishops. - -[Sidenote: _Attempts at Mediation._] - -Attempts to mediate between the two contending powers were made -in vain: for no mediator existed possessing such a character for -impartiality as was needful to reconcile, or even mitigate the -quarrel. Louis XIII. of France offered his services, but his -relationship to Henrietta Maria, and his being a Popish and absolute -monarch, disqualified him for the office of peace-maker. - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -The Scotch, with the best intentions, but with even more -unfitness--having taken up arms against Episcopacy, having been in -the pay of Parliament, and having fostered a Presbyterian spirit in -England--proffered their help. The Commissioners, who had just returned -to London, and had taken umbrage at the treatment which they had -received from the Royalist and High Church Lord Mayor--complaining that -he had assigned to them lodgings in a plague-stricken house[286]--made -their appearance at Windsor Castle, in the month of January, to tell -his Majesty, that the liberties of England and Scotland must stand and -fall together, and to ascribe the existing disorders of the country to -the plots of Papists and prelates, who aimed at subverting the purity -and truth of religion.[287] Yet, while thus manifestly taking the -Parliament side in the controversy, the Scotch coolly offered their -services to compose the difference between the King and his subjects. -Nothing could come of this, nor of a renewal of the offer in May sent -from the Council in Edinburgh to Charles, at York, through the hands -of their Chancellor. Even the most impartial advice and the wisest -diplomacy now must have been too late, for the dispute had gone beyond -any healing power, since both parties laid their hands on the scabbards -of their swords, and, in fact, the blade was already half drawn by each. - -[Sidenote: _Manifestoes._] - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -It is not our province to enter upon the question between King and -Parliament, touching the militia. It is sufficient to observe that, -when such a question arose, war could not be far off. Nor does it -become us to notice the simply political aspects of those voluminous -papers belonging to the Civil War which have been collected by -Rushworth,[288] containing the manifestoes of the two belligerents, -who--like all belligerents down to the Prussians and Austrians this -very summer--writing what they know would be read by the whole world, -sought to throw the whole blame of the quarrel on each other; and -while both were buckling on their armour, neither liked to be seen -striking the first blow. It must be confessed, that in these patiently -prepared, and able, though tedious documents, the thrusts at the enemy -are more effective than the counter-thrusts. Both King and Parliament -wished to be thoroughly constitutional in the form of everything which -they said and did; and on the side where justice lay it was far more -easy for them to be so, when assailing their antagonists than when -they were defending themselves. In other words, it was easy for the -Parliament to prove that the King had violated the Constitution; but -it was not so easy to prove that, when taking all power into their own -hands--especially when taking up arms--they kept within the formal -lines of the English Constitution. The legal fiction of arming in the -King's name against the King's person; the separation of Charles Stuart -and the Sovereign of England into two entities; the defence of the -abstract rule by violence against the concrete ruler, are refinements, -which, however sound they may be in political metaphysics, do not -carry conviction to plain English understandings.[289] Besides, the -reasonings of the great Parliamentary lawyers,--which were learned, -profound, and subtle in the extreme,--require much more of erudition -and perspicacity, that they may be followed and appreciated, than -people commonly, either in that age or this, could be supposed to -possess.[290] But putting legal technicalities aside; looking at the -matter on broad grounds of justice; viewing the government of England -at that period as already unconstitutionalized, by the King's aiming to -rule without Parliaments; considering also that a regal revolution had -in fact been going on for twenty years, the vindication of the popular -party is triumphant. To save what was free in the Constitution, there -was a necessity perforce for breaking down, at all hazards, whatever -of arbitrary power had crept into the working of affairs. The King had -been striving to destroy Parliamentary action, and nothing which he had -conceded could remove the suspicion that he remained the same despot -in spirit which he had ever been, and that now he only waited for a -convenient season, when he might withdraw his concessions, lock up -the doors at Westminster, and, with the key in his pocket, entrench -himself at Whitehall, as absolute a tyrant as his brother of France. -Parliament then was compelled, if it would save the liberties of the -country, to work by itself for the repair of mischief already done. The -State had reached a revolutionary crisis; and only by revolutionary -means could it be brought back to a constitutional and normal -condition. What Quin said to Warburton of the execution of Charles, may -be more fitly applied to the taking up arms against him. When asked by -what law he would justify the deed? The witty actor rejoined, "By all -the laws he had left them." "It is the sum of the whole controversy," -says Walpole, "couched in eight monosyllables."[291] - -[Sidenote: _Manifestoes._] - -With the religious points of the declarations we have alone to do. On -the 9th of April, the Lords and Commons declared that they intended a -reformation of the Church; and that, for the better effecting thereof, -they wished speedily to have consultation with godly and learned -divines; and because this would never of itself attain all the end -sought therein, they would use their utmost endeavours to establish -learned and preaching ministers with a good and sufficient maintenance -throughout the whole kingdom; wherein many dark corners were miserably -destitute of the means of salvation, and many poor ministers wanted -necessary provision.[292] - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -On the 3rd of June, the King stated that he was resolved to defend the -true Protestant religion established in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, -to govern by law for the future; and that he had no intention to -make war with his Parliament, except it were in the way of defence. In -June the Parliament presented to the King certain propositions. Those -relating to religion were:--That the laws against priests and Popish -recusants be strictly put in execution, and a more effectual course -be taken to disable them from making any disturbance; that the Popish -lords in the House of Peers be deprived of their votes, and a Bill be -drawn for the education of the children of Papists in the Protestant -religion; that his Majesty do consent to such a Reformation of the -Church as Parliament shall devise, and be pleased to give consent -to the laws for removing innovations, pluralities, and scandalous -ministers.[293] The King replied, that as to the Popish peers he was -content that they should give their votes by proxy through Protestant -lords; as to the education of Papists by Protestants, it was the very -thing he wished: but, touching the Reformation to be made of the Church -Government and Liturgy, he told them he hoped that what he had formerly -declared had been sufficiently understood. He had said, in his answer -to the petition presented at Hampton Court, that, for any illegal -innovations which might have crept in, he should willingly concur -in their removal, and that if Parliament should advise the calling -a national synod he should take it into consideration: but he was -persuaded that no Church upon the earth could be found with more purity -of doctrine than the Church of England, that nowhere did government and -discipline exist more free from superstition; and that he would with -constancy maintain them in their purity and glory, not only against -all invasions of Popery, but also from the irreverence of schismatics -and separatists, for the suppression of whom he required their timely -assistance.[294] Much of the royal reply had a specious look, and, if -honestly meant, might have served as a ground for reconciliation; but -to the Parliament, with their deep conviction of the King's insincerity -founded on the experience of years, all his honied phraseology only -seemed to cover hidden stings: and to persons bent on securing -toleration for the sects--a daily increasing party--there was nothing -in the King's words but what shewed the hopelessness of their cause if -left to him. - -[Sidenote: _Manifestoes._] - -All these documents considered in reference to what they professed, -were so much waste paper. Ostensibly they spoke of peace--virtually -they meant war. - -Indications of a coming conflict were visible. The people divided into -two parties, and gave signs by hoisting colours. Tawny ribbons were -mounted in the hats of the Royalists,[295] the Parliamentarians wore -orange. Cavaliers insulted roundheads, and roundheads retaliated on -cavaliers. The latter, it was reported, put the former to the test by -requiring them to swear "a round oath." Pamphlets were published in -vindication of taking up arms. In one of these publications, bearing -the title of "Powers to be Resisted," it is declared, that if it be -lawful in any case to contend with the sword it is in this; and, in -reply to the objection, "No, not with the sword, but with prayer," -comes the curious _reductio ad absurdum_, "contend against swine -and dogs with prayer! I never heard the like since I was born; a -vain thing, it is sure, to pray the swine not to trample the pearl -under foot, to pray the dogs not to rend you."[296] Disturbance and -insecurity appeared already. The quaint little newspapers of the day -make complaints of assaults and pillage. The Kent waggoners, for -example, were stopped on the road to London, and the well-laden wains -robbed by cavalier banditti. - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -Fearful times had already come, and times still more fearful were -at hand. The people of England trembled at the idea of a civil war; -the insurrection of Wyat, and Kett's rebellion, had left grave -recollections in London and Norfolk; but the blood shed in the wars of -the Roses--a more terrible memory--now rose before peaceful households -in crimson colour. Mental agitation increased at the sight of natural -phenomena, which that agitation interpreted as supernatural portents; -omens were detected in slightly unusual incidents, with a feeling akin -to ancient Greek and Roman hope or terror under the augur's divination. -Signs blazed in heaven--noises burst through the air--people talked -of "a celestial beating of drums," and "discharging of muskets and -ordnance for the space of an hour and more." Not satisfied with a -recognition in the skies of the excitements on the earth, each of -the two parties claimed the Divine Being on their own side, and had -wonders to tell of judgments smiting opponents. Royalist churchmen -related a story of a certain Puritan churchwarden who had taken down -a painted glass window, and within two days his wife was exceedingly -tormented in her limbs, raging and crying most fearfully. Parliamentary -Puritans, with equal extravagance, declared how some wicked Royalist -had stuck on the top of a pole a man in a tub to be shot at, and soon -afterwards the Royalist was seized with convulsions. One who drank to -the confusion of Roundheads, on beginning to dance, broke his leg. -The divine indignation on account of setting up May-poles was equally -apparent.[297] - -[Sidenote: _The Coming Struggle._] - -In connection with all this, hostile preparations were made on both -sides. Members of the House of Commons contributed horses, money, -and plate for the service of Parliament,[298] whilst clergymen and -their families sent spoons, cups, and beakers of silver, to be turned -into money for the payment of the forces.[299] On the other hand, the -friends of the King manifested their loyalty and devotion; but they did -not make sacrifices with the same ardour, and to the same extent, as -their fellow-countrymen who embraced the cause of the opposite party. -Clarendon bitterly complains of the lukewarmness of the Royalists, and -observes, that if they had lent their master a fifth part of what they -afterwards lost, he would have been able to preserve his crown, and -they would have retained their property. - -[Sidenote 1642.] - -The enlistment of soldiers was still more important than filling the -military chests; and here again the advantage was on the side of the -Parliament; the militia increased more rapidly than the forces -gathered by the King's commission of array.[300] Hampden, as the wheat -ripened in the Chiltern Hundreds, was engaged in raising volunteers; -Cromwell made himself useful in Cambridge and the Fen Country after -a similar fashion; Lord Brooke, too, rode up and down amongst the -fields and orchards of Worcestershire on the same business; and soon -England bristled all over with officers beating up recruits. As -cavalier nobles and squires assembled their tenantry under the royal -standard, there were other landed proprietors who espoused the popular -cause, and who were still more successful in securing followers. At -the same time, town halls and market-places echoed with appeals to -citizens and burgesses to fight for the liberties of their country; -whilst in various places ammunition and stores were collected with -corresponding activity and zeal. Castles and manor-houses were stripped -of armour which had hung for years upon the time-stained walls; and -parish churches yielded up from the tombs of ancient knights rusty -helmets and hauberks. Old bills and bows, matchlocks and pistols, -pikes and lances, and even staves and clubs, were piled up as part of -the extemporised equipment. After a little while, military matters -took something of artistic form, and regiments well accoutred might -be seen marching under the flags of their respective colonels. -Redcoats, following Denzil Holles, tramped along the streets of -London; purple rank and file drew up at Lord Brooke's command under -the tower of Warwick Castle; Hampden saw with pride his green coats -winding through the vales of Buckinghamshire; and Lord Say and Sele -appeared at the head of a regiment in jackets of blue. Haselrig led -on his troops of "lobsters"--so called from the cuirasses worn by -his horsemen; and last, but not least, Cromwell rode at the head -of cavalry, who, from the completeness of their armour, as well as -the invincibleness of their courage, have always been known as his -"Ironsides."[301] The Parliamentary officers tied an orange scarf over -their accoutrements, and the standard of each regiment bore on one side -the colonel's device, and on the other the Parliament's watchword, -"God with us." Presbyterian divines became Parliamentary chaplains, in -which capacity Dr. Spurstow was attached to John Hampden, and Simeon -Ash--"good old Ash," as afterwards he used to be called--followed -Lord Brooke. Marshall and Burgess attended upon the Earl of Essex, -commander-in-chief. - -[Sidenote: _Character of the Army._] - -The character of the Parliamentary army was not at first what it -afterwards became. When the war commenced, as Cromwell subsequently -remarked, "there were numbered among the soldiery, old, decayed -serving men and tapsters," who dishonoured the cause; Papists, -too, were reported to be in the ranks, strange as that report may -appear. Charles, after the battle of Edgehill, flung the reproach in -the face of his enemies, and declared that all men knew the great -number of Papists who fought under their banner.[302] The Parliament -indignantly repelled the accusation, as utterly inconsistent with -their avowed opinions and designs. So undoubtedly it was, and if any -adherents of the popish religion actually existed in the patriot camp, -they could be there only as Jesuits in disguise, in order to corrupt -the good affection of their comrades; still, it would appear that such -a charge could never have been hazarded but for the miscellaneous -character of the troops at the commencement of the outbreak. Religious -instruction and discipline, however, were speedily instituted; the men -were furnished with copies of the Scriptures;[303] the preaching of -the Gospel prevailed in every place where the forces were quartered; -and various means were employed to improve the moral and spiritual -condition of the soldiers. - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -Turning to look for a moment at the Royalists, we observe that there -were sound-hearted Protestants and truly religious men amongst them, -but there were also considerable numbers of Roman Catholics;[304] -others--we fear they were the majority--cared very little, if at -all, for religion, either in substance or form. Some scoffed at sacred -things, and made a boast of their profanity and licentiousness. If -Puritans quoted Scripture, sometimes with more reverence than wisdom, -Royalists could use it with a blasphemous kind of vulgar wit which -it is shocking to record. For example, on an ensign captured in -Dorsetshire, a cannon was painted, with this motto: "O Lord, open thou -my lips, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise." - -[Sidenote: _Nature of the Struggle._] - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -The ecclesiastical aspects of the civil war may be seen in the State -Papers issued at the time. For the present, it suffices to observe -that the English and the Scotch differed in their views respecting the -relation in which the religious and political questions of the day -stood to each other. The Scotch entered the field under the banner -of Church, Crown, and Covenant, to carry on a contest, if not purely -religious, yet one which was so in the main. Political considerations -were subordinate: the flag was unfurled, and the sword drawn for -Presbyterianism against Popery and against Prelacy. The rights of -synods, and the interests of pure and undefiled religion, more than the -privileges of Parliament, constituted the precious national treasure, -to secure which the veteran General Leslie encamped with that great -host, which Baillie so graphically describes. In the case of the -Parliamentary army of England, it was otherwise. In the beginning, -indeed, the Lancashire Puritans, when taking up arms, proceeded -entirely on religious grounds, and emulated their more northern -neighbours in that respect. They dreaded the Papists living amongst -them; and it was against those Papists, not against the King, as they -expressly declared, that they threw themselves into the civil war. -During the siege of Manchester, the inhabitants, in their answer to the -Royalist Lord Strange, identified his proceedings with the cause of -the Roman Catholics, many of whom were marching under his flag.[305] -And in connection with this prominence, in one part of the country -at least, given to the religious phase of the conflict, it should be -remembered that English Puritans never counted religion in any of its -relations as less than supreme; that they always professed obedience to -Christianity as the supreme law of life; and that they were thoroughly -religious, as to motive and spirit, in all their military service. -So completely was this the case, that no Crusader could be more -devout, as he buckled on his sword to fight for the rescue of the Holy -Sepulchre, than the Roundhead was, when he buttoned his 'souldier's -pocket bible' in his waistcoat, and shouldered his musket to fight -against Rome and the devil--as well as against political despotism. -But still, this latter object appears most conspicuous in our civil -war. Pym and his associates were emphatically Parliament men: they -engaged in a Parliament struggle, to save the English Constitution from -the absorbing encroachments of the King's prerogative. Ecclesiastical -questions necessarily connected themselves with such as were political, -but the former were kept subordinate; and, when appearing in State -documents, they occupy a far less space, and are treated with much less -minuteness and fulness than the latter. The previous history of our -country had given this shape to the controversy. As prior circumstances -in Scotland had made the war for the Scotch principally one on behalf -of the rights of the Church, prior circumstances in England made it for -the English principally a war on behalf of civil liberty. Through a -victory achieved for the Church, the Scotch intended to establish the -political well-being of their country; through a victory obtained for -the Parliament, the English meant to promote the spiritual interests of -the Church. The relation between the two aspects of the conflict, in -each case, came to be regulated accordingly. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XI. - - -To employ an apt but homely figure used by Mrs. Hutchinson, the -smoke ascended from the tops of the chimneys before the flame broke -out. As early as April, the King appeared at the gates of Hull, -where he was denied entrance by Sir John Hotham. In the middle of -June, the Commission of Array at Leicester came into collision with -the Parliamentary militia. In August, the brave Lord Brooke set out -from Warwick Castle with three hundred musketeers and two hundred -horse, gathering round him recruits to the number of three thousand; -the country sending "six loads of harrows to keep off horses, and a -cart-load of bread and cheese, and great store of beer."[306] Reluctant -to shed blood, the Puritan commander charged his soldiers, for the -kingdom's sake, not to fire a single pistol except in self-defence. -Happily, there arose no occasion for firing at all, as the Royalists, -under the Earl of Northampton, threw down their arms, and ran away. -The King, in revenge of Brooke's conduct, bestowed that nobleman's -castle as an escheat on the Lord of Compton-Winyates, after which the -patriot, in defiance of this injustice and insult, planted ordnance at -the gate and keep of his feudal fortress, and on the top of Cæsar's -tower. Lord Compton, forcibly claiming the royal grant, assailed the -stronghold left under the charge of Sir Edward Peto, and planted cannon -on the church to bombard the castle. Dislodged by shots, the besieger -endeavoured to starve out the garrison; but Sir Edward, with grim -Puritan resolution, hoisted a flag displaying the figures of a Bible -and a winding sheet, which presented very significant symbols of the -objects and spirit of the rising war.[307] - -[Sidenote: _Outbreak of War._] - -On the afternoon of Monday, the 22nd of August, there occurred the -world-famous act of setting up the King's standard at Nottingham. After -dinner, he with his company rode into the town from Leicester Abbey. -The standard was taken out of the castle and carried into a field -behind the castle wall. It resembled one of the city streamers used -at the Lord Mayor's show; it had about twenty supporters; on its top -hung a flag with the royal arms quartered, and a hand pointing to the -crown, with the motto, "Give Cæsar his due." It was conducted to the -field in great state by the King, Prince Rupert, and divers Lords. A -proclamation respecting the war had been prepared, which his Majesty -read over, and, seeming to dislike some expressions, called for pen and -ink, and with his own hand crossed out or altered them; after which, -when the paper was read, the multitude threw up their hats and cried, -"God save the King." It was now late in the month of August, the days -were closing in, and the evening shadows fell on the King and his -staff as they engaged in this act which finally plunged England into a -civil war. A violent storm of wind arose and blew down the standard, -almost as soon as it was unfurled.[308] As the cavaliers, in the dim -twilight, wheeled off from the spot, did not their hearts beat with a -sense of something very awful done that night? - -[Sidenote: 1642, August.] - -As from one end of England to the other rumours of war were current, -pious men betook themselves to the exercises of devotion; and the two -Houses of Parliament, on hearing that the standard had been set up at -Nottingham, published an ordinance for observing, with more than usual -humiliation, the monthly fast, the services of which were to last from -_nine in the morning till four in the afternoon_. At the same period, -a religious service in London, known as "the Morning Exercise," was -commenced, in connection with which special intercessions were offered -up on behalf of the Parliamentary forces.[309] - -But whilst peaceable Puritans were praying, their armed brethren were -marching through the country. In the State Paper Office there are -letters, probably intercepted ones, written by a Roundhead soldier -named Wharton, reporting to a friend the adventures of the regiment to -which he belonged. They are so curious and interesting, and throw such -light on the feelings of a religious nature which existed in the hearts -of the Parliament soldiers, that we cannot forbear making use of them -largely in this part of our narrative. - -[Sidenote: _Troops on the March._] - -He informs us, that in the month of August, 1642, he and his comrades -marched to Acton, and were belated. Many were constrained to lodge in -beds "whose feathers were above a yard long." They sallied out into -the town, and coming to the house of one Penruddock, a Papist, they -were "basely affronted by him and his dog;" whereupon they entered -and pillaged the dwelling; and then proceeded to the church, where -they "defaced the ancient and sacred glazed pictures, and burned the -holy rails;" the soldiers brought more holy rails to be burnt, and -abstained from pillaging Lord Portland's house, together with another -inhabited by Dr. Ducke, only in consequence of a prohibition from their -commanders. Mention is made of converting the surplice at Hillingdon -into handkerchiefs, of burning the rails and also a service book at -Uxbridge, and of similar outrages, perpetrated in other places; as well -as of soldiers visiting Papists by stealth, and forcing them to give -loaves and cheeses, which the captors triumphantly carried away on the -points of their swords. Colonel Hampden, accompanied by many gentlemen -well-horsed, welcomed these detachments to Aylesbury with great joy; -after which they marched out with 400 musqueteers and a hundred horse, -to Watlington, in Oxfordshire. At Great Missenden they had noble -entertainment from the whole town, and especially from Sir Bryan -Ireson, and the minister. On Sunday, a pulpit was built in the market -place of Aylesbury, where they heard "two worthy sermons." Grievous -complaints are made of their Lieutenant-Colonel, who is described in no -measured terms, as one whom they all desired that the Parliament would -depose or God convert, or "the devil fetch away quick."[310] - -[Sidenote: 1642, September.] - -From Northampton the same correspondent writes informing his friend -that on Wednesday a fast was kept at Coventry--which is described as -a city, having four steeples, three churches, and two parishes, and -not long since, but one priest--where they heard two sermons, but -before the third was ended an "alarum" came for them to march. By -ten o'clock they got their regiments together, and about two in the -morning proceeded towards Northampton.[311] The military pillaged the -parson of Barby, and brought him away prisoner with his surplice and -other relics. At Long Buckby the soldiers had hard quarters, insomuch -that they were glad to "dispossess the very swine, and as many as -could quartered in the church." Some stragglers sallied into the -neighbourhood of the town, and returned "in state, clothed in surplice, -hood, and cap, representing the Bishop of Canterbury." On Friday -morning, Mr. Obediah Sedgwick "gave a worthy sermon," and Wharton's -company marched rank and file to hear him. Mr. John Sedgwick had been -appointed to preach in the afternoon, but news having arrived that -Prince Rupert had plundered Harborough, and fired some adjacent towns, -this circumstance spoiled the service. On Sabbath morning Mr. Marshall, -"that worthy champion of Christ," preached, and in the afternoon Mr. -Ash officiated. These by their sermons "subdued and satisfied more -malignant spirits than 1,000 armed men could have done, so that we have -great hopes of a blessed union." - -[Sidenote: _Troops on the March._] - -Writing from Worcester (September 26th), Wharton complains of the -barbarity practised by the cavaliers--relating how they stripped, -stabbed, and slashed the dead, and then states that on Sabbath morning, -his fellow-soldiers entered a vault of the college where his Excellency -was to hear a sermon, and found secreted there eleven barrels of -gunpowder and a pot of bullets. It is added that his Excellency -prohibited any soldier to plunder churches or private houses under pain -of death. In another communication, (dated September 30th), after an -interesting account of the situation, buildings, and curiosities of the -city, he paints its moral and spiritual condition, in most frightful -colours, as so vile, and the country so base, so papistical, so -atheistical, and abominable that it resembled Sodom, and was the very -emblem of Gomorrah, and doubtless worse than either Algiers or Malta, -a very den of thieves, and a refuge for all the hell-hounds in the -country. Though the citizens cried _peccavi_ their practical motto was -_iterum faciam_; but they only did as they were taught by Dr. Prideaux, -lately made bishop, and by other popish priests, who had all run away. - -[Sidenote: 1642, October.] - -Respecting Hereford, he remarks, October the 7th, "On Sabbath day, -about the time of morning prayer, we went to the minster, where the -pipes played and the puppets sang so sweetly, that some of our soldiers -could not forbear dancing in the holy quire, whereat the _Baalists_ -were sore displeased. The anthem ended, they fell to prayer, and -prayed devoutly for the King and the bishops, and one of our soldiers -with a loud voice said, 'What! never a bit for the Parliament,' which -offended them much more. Not satisfied with this human service we went -to divine, and, passing by, found shops open and men at work, to whom -we gave some plain dehortations, and went to hear Mr. Sedgwick, who -gave us two famous sermons, which much affected the poor inhabitants, -who wondering, said they never heard the like before, and I believe -them. The Lord move your hearts to commiserate their distress, and to -send them some faithful and painful minister, for the revenues of the -college will maintain many of them. I have sent you the gods of the -cavaliers enclosed, they are pillage taken from Sir William Russel, of -which I never yet got the worth of one farthing." - -The writer of these letters was a stern Puritan, with an almost equal -hatred of Prelacy and Popery, and also a fierce Iconoclast, with -not an atom of regard for what is æsthetical in worship--tearing up -surplices as the rags of the mother of harlots, and looking with -grim satisfaction on altar rails crackling in the fire as so much -superstitious refuse and defilement swept out of the Church of God, and -meet only to be destroyed. - -Contemporary with these epistles is one from a minister at Berwick, -which presents to us another illustration of what happened in those -times, by revealing to us his secret troubles--thus indicating the -violence of feeling prevalent amongst the Roman Catholics of the wild -Border Country, towards zealous apostles of Puritanism: "Never had -I more need of your prayers than at present: the Papists are very -insolent, use me most basely by railing on me, &c. But especially the -Scottish fugitives, Mr. Sideserfe and his adherents, are so exasperated -against me for my fidelity, that there is no small fear of my life -and safety. One in his cups said yesterday, that they would not be -satisfied until they had my life; but I say with the apostle, my life -is not dear unto me, that I may finish my course with joy and fulfil -the ministry which I have received of the Lord Jesus. They rail upon -the Parliament, and threaten to send for a troop of horse to fetch me -from Berwick, but my times are in the Lord's hands. I have one hundred -pounds in London: I would the Parliament had it for and towards the -defence of the kingdom, if it would be accepted. The Lord maintain His -own cause, go out with His armies, and make a good end for us, for I -know your prayers will not be wanting."[312] - -As the Parliamentary soldiers were marching up and down the country, -after the fashion described in Nehemiah Wharton's letters, Royalists -were working out their will in another kind of lawless way. They had no -psalm-singing or prayer, they built no pulpits in market-places, and -if they did not retaliate upon conventicles the puritan treatment of -parish churches, it was simply because conventicles did not exist, or -were not within their reach. Royalist excesses were of another order. -Whitelocke, describing the plunder of his own house, tells us that -the enemy consumed whatever they could find, lighted their pipes with -his MSS., carried away his title deeds, littered their horses with -his wheat sheaves, broke down his park pales, killed his deer, broke -open his trunks and chests, cut his beds and let out the feathers, -and seized his coach and horses. In a word, they committed "all the -mischief and spoil that malice and enmity could provoke barbarous -mercenaries to commit."[313] - -[Sidenote: _Battle of Edgehill._] - -[Sidenote: 1642, October.] - -The first serious conflict between the two armies happened at Edgehill, -on Sunday, October the 23rd. The Puritan forces were marching to -worship at Keynton church, when news reached them of the enemy being -only two miles distant. Upon hearing this, they proceeded that -morning--as the autumnal tints dyed the landscape--to a broad field at -the hill foot, called the Vale of the Red Horse, where, as they took -up their position, the Royalists came down and arranged their forces -in front of them. Amongst the cavaliers rode Sir Jacob Astley, whose -prayer and charge were so characteristic of the bluff piety of the -best of that class, "O Lord, Thou knowest how busy I must be this day. -If I forget Thee do not forget me. March on, boys!" Then began the -rush of pikes, the crack of musketry, and the roar of cannon, which -lasted till dark. Richard Baxter was preaching that day at Alcester, -and heard the tumult of the distant fight. Some fugitives ran into the -town, startling and alarming the inhabitants with the news, that the -Parliament had been defeated; but early next morning other messengers -relieved the panic-stricken inhabitants by the assurance that while -Prince Rupert's men were plundering the waggons of Lord Essex's routed -wing, the main body with the right wing had prevailed and won the -day. The preacher walked over to the spot next morning, and found the -Parliamentary General in possession of the field.[314] - -The battle decided nothing, but it nourished the hopes of Parliament. -A few days afterwards, the House of Lords ordered the Lord Mayor of -London to summon a Common Hall at five o'clock, when a committee of -peers and commons met the citizens, and amidst the gathering shadows of -the afternoon, told the eagerly-listening crowd the story of the fight; -Lord Say and Sele closing his speech with the exhortation, "Up and be -doing, and the Lord be with you."[315] - -On the 8th of November, the citizens again assembled. Charles was -moving up to London, Rupert was scouring the suburbs, and within the -walls there was general alarm. Lord Brooke, who attended the meeting, -after giving a confused report of what had been done at Edgehill, urged -his audience to stand up for liberty and religion. "When you shall hear -the drums beat," he exclaimed, "say not, I beseech you, I am not of the -train band, nor this, nor that, nor the other--but doubt not to go out -to the work, and fight courageously, and this shall be the day of your -deliverance." - -[Sidenote: _Church Politics in London._] - -A few days later the Royalist forces were at Brentford. The City -volunteers now rallied round old General Skippon, whose homely words -went to their hearts: "Come, my boys, my brave boys, let us pray -heartily and fight heartily. I will run the same fortunes and hazards -with you. Remember the cause is for God, and for the defence of -yourselves, your wives, and children." The train bands marched out on -Sunday, the citizens, after sermon, carrying them provisions.[316] -At the time when the cavaliers were spurring their horses toward the -metropolis, a declaration of the two Houses appeared in answer to one -by his Majesty. In the course of a general argument which the document -contained, there occurred a disavowal of any intention to reject the -Book of Common Prayer. It was intended, they said, only to take out -of it what was evil and justly offensive, and what was considered -unnecessary and burdensome. They also protested against Brownists and -Anabaptists, entirely disavowing any sympathy with such persons; though -they said they agreed with many who were falsely designated by such -opprobrious appellations. These references were made to the Separatists -because the King and the Anglicans were always reviling them, sometimes -in strong terms; for example, the Earl of Newcastle declared that they -were worse than Papists, and deserted a heavier punishment.[317] Such -abuse really was pointed at the Commons themselves, who were not only -suspected but often broadly accused of schismatical predilections. His -Majesty's wrath also boiled over, and in one of his many declarations -he told his "loving subjects" of seditious members, who being joined -with the Anabaptists and Brownists of London, first changed the -government of the city, and then by their pride and power would fain -undo the whole kingdom. Pennington, who now occupied the mayoralty, was -described as guilty of treason, and also as reviling the Prayer Book; -and as robbing and imprisoning whomsoever he thought fit, and with the -rabble who composed his faction giving law to Parliament. - -[Sidenote: 1642, November.] - -The quarrel between the King and the City now became still darker -and deeper. A letter from the Hague, directed to Secretary Nicholas, -and brought to London in a Gravesend boat--which was stopped at -the moment of shooting London Bridge--contained evidence of the -King's negotiations for bringing over foreign troops: this letter -consequently was soon printed and circulated through the city. The -two Houses ordered the clergy to read it in their churches; and the -devoted Lord Mayor requested them to make it a ground of appeal to the -parishioners respecting a sum of £30,000 which was about to be raised -for Parliament. Churchwardens were to hold meetings after service in -the afternoon on the 27th of November, to raise "a proportionable -fund,"[318] which we may well imagine that we see accomplished by dim -candle-light in churches, vestries, and other places, on that wintry -Sunday night. - -[Sidenote: _Church Politics in London._] - -The City and the Parliament were thoroughly united this midwinter; and -therefore the City and the Sovereign continued in violent opposition. -At a Common Hall, held on the 13th of January--when all the companies -came in their city habits, and there were present the Committee of both -Houses, the Lord Mayor and Aldermen, and such a confluence of liverymen -as had not been seen in the memory of the oldest man--a petition to the -King was read, and then the royal answer, in which his Majesty asked -his petitioners whether they believed that the indignities done to the -Prayer Book, the violent treatment of Episcopal clergymen, and the -cherishing and countenancing of all manner of sectaries, were likely -to defend and maintain the Protestant religion. Mr. Pym, being present -at the meeting, delivered a speech, in which he denied his Majesty's -allegations, maintaining that the magistrates did not give countenance -to the sectaries; adding this home-thrust, which Charles so often had -to meet, that if they did, his Majesty could not consistently object, -inasmuch as, having sworn to support the Protestant religion, he, in -the meantime, raised an army of Papists.[319] - -[Sidenote: 1643, January.] - -Another City meeting followed on the 17th, when Alderman Garroway -appeared as an advocate of the Episcopal Church; and it will be -instructive to notice his speech, as shewing the line of remark which -at the time was adopted on that side of the controversy. "Mr. Pym told -us," said the Alderman, "there was no proof that my Lord Mayor and the -other persons named were countenancers of Brownists, Anabaptists, and -other sectaries. Where should this proof be made? Do we not all know -this to be true? Are they not all so much countenanced, as there is no -countenance left for anybody else? Did not my Lord Mayor first enter -upon his office with a speech against the Book of Common Prayer? Hath -the Common Prayer ever been read before him? Hath not Captain Venn said -that his wife could make prayers worth three of any in that book? Oh, -masters, there have been times that he that should speak against the -Book of Common Prayer in this city, should not have been put to the -patience of a legal trial. We were wont to look upon it as the greatest -treasure and jewel of our religion; and he that should have told us he -wished well to our religion, and yet would take away the Book of Common -Prayer, would never have gotten credit. I have been in all the parts -of Christendom, and have conversed with Christians in Turkey. Why, -in all the reformed churches there is not anything of more reverence -than the English liturgy; not our Royal Exchange, or the name of Queen -Elizabeth, so famous. In Geneva itself I have heard it extolled to the -skies. I have been three months together by sea, not a day without -hearing it read twice. The honest mariners then despised all the world -but the King and the Common Prayer Book. He that should have been -suspected to wish ill to either of them would have made an ill voyage. -And let me tell you, they are shrewd youths, those seamen. If they -once discern that the person of the King is in danger, or the true -Protestant professed religion, they will shew themselves mad bodies -before you are aware of it."[320] - -Whilst the Alderman was speaking, there arose, according to the -reporter, much interruption. Citizens hissed, and cried, "No more, no -more!" It was an hour after he rose to speak ere the uproar ceased. He -was not to be put down, however, but patiently continued repeating -the same sentence till people were quiet. At last the Court broke up, -and every man departed--"so great a company going before and following -after Alderman Garroway to his house, that the streets were as full -as at my Lord Mayor's show." Some one recommended them to act with -discretion. "Discretion!" exclaimed a butcher, "we shall be undone -with it. Let us proceed as these people have taught. When we asked -them what we should have in the place of bishops, they told us bishops -were naught we all knew, and, when they were gone, we should think of -somewhat that is better in their room. Let us now take away what we -know is naught, and we shall do well enough after. I owe them a good -turn for the honour they have done my trade." - -[Sidenote: _Popular Preachers in London._] - -Whatever truth there might be in the charge that the sectaries were -encouraged by Pennington and others, certainly Presbyterianism -received the support of by far the majority of the London citizens. -Two Presbyterian clergymen at this time enjoyed great popularity in -the metropolis--Stephen Marshall and Edmund Calamy. Marshall held the -lectureship of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster. His pulpit talents -were of a superior order, and were employed in the exhibition of truths -dear to Puritan affections; but, like others of his age and creed, -he introduced into his sermons the absorbing questions of the day. -Knowing that they filled the minds of his hearers, and deeming them of -vital interest to his country and the Church, he judged that by such -preaching he really walked in the footsteps of old Hebrew prophets. -We find Calamy, the historian, admitting that Marshall encouraged the -taking up arms for securing the Constitution, when it appeared, not -only to him and his brethren, but to a number of as worthy gentlemen -as ever sat in St. Stephen's chapel, to be in no small danger.[321] -Men, in those troublous times, must not be judged by such standards of -propriety as are upheld amidst the comfortable respectability of our -own peaceful era; and the same allowance must be made for both sides. -If we do not wonder at the stern animosity of the Royalist churchman, -neither should we be surprised at the martial zeal of Parliamentary -presbyters. - -[Sidenote: 1643, January.] - -The lectureship at St. Margaret's brought Marshall into close -connection with the Commons, which naturally, under the circumstances, -imparted a political tinge to his oratory. But Calamy,[322] being -perpetual curate of Aldermanbury, had to do with parishioners whose -spiritual wants came immediately under his notice; and he delighted -in that experimental strain of discourse which ever touches the -hearts of men. What made him acceptable to the citizens in his own -neighbourhood, made him acceptable to the citizens generally. No church -was so thronged as his. Admired by the Puritan, he was lampooned by -the Royalist. "Well, who's for Aldermanbury?" asked the latter, in -one of the scurrilous party tracts, of which some are reprinted in -well-known collections, and many more are preserved in the British -Museum. "You would think a phœnix preached there. A foot-ball in -cold weather is as much followed as Calamy by all his rampant dog-day -zealots." Reporters, not for the press, but for private edification, -waited on the divine, as we learn from the pamphleteer, who proceeds to -exclaim, "Instead of a dumb shew, enter the sermon daubers. Oh! what a -gracious sight is a silver ink-horn. How blessed a gift is it to write -short-hand! What necessary implements for a saint are cotton wool -and blotting-paper. These dabblers turn the Church into a scrivener's -shop. A country fellow, last term, mistook it for the six clerks' -office."[323] This vulgar ridicule at once testifies to the popularity -of Calamy, illustrates the manners and customs of the time in places of -worship, and shews that, whatever might be the religious extravagances -of some Presbyterians, they were more than matched by the godless -ridicule of people who claimed to be exceedingly zealous for Episcopacy. - -[Sidenote: _Popular Preachers in London._] - -Coincident with the increasing popularity of these preachers, the -actual outbreak of the Civil Wars, and the excitement in London -respecting ecclesiastical affairs, were certain measures adopted by -Parliament for abolishing Episcopacy. The Scotch did not fail to -press this subject most earnestly upon their English brethren. They -looked at it in the lurid light which their own annals had thrown on -the institution, and in their view it had become identified with the -arrogance and intolerance of Popery and Anglicanism. Unable to rest -till England was saved from what they considered to be the secret of -its weakness, and the precursor of its ruin, the General Assembly of -Scotland sent a letter to Parliament, urging a thorough reformation, -with a view to "one confession of faith, one directory of worship, one -public catechism, and one form of Church government."[324] - -The answer of the English Parliament was both cautious and promising. -No assurance was returned that organic unity with the Scotch should be -attempted, but a hope was expressed of more free communion in worship, -of security against Papists and "other sectaries," and of the gathering -together in England of an Assembly of learned Divines. The fate of -prelacy, however, was sealed by the following important declaration, -which was embodied in the answer:-- - -"That this Government by Archbishops, Bishops, their Chancellors and -Commissaries, Deans and Chapters, Archdeacons, and other ecclesiastical -officers depending upon the hierarchy, is evil, and justly offensive -and burdensome to the kingdom, a great impediment to reformation and -growth of religion, very prejudicial to the State and Government of -this kingdom; and that we are resolved that the same shall be taken -away."[325] - -[Sidenote: 1643, January.] - -On the 30th of the following December, a Bill for the utter abolition -of Episcopacy was read a first time;[326] and on the 26th of January -following, 1643, the Bill was reported in the House of Lords as having -been approved by the committee and read the third time. What had been -threatened for nearly two years was done at last in a few hours. The -emergency of the moment, and the critical state of the war, caused now -the hasty passing of the measure, for which a long train of events had -opened the way. - -Other acts of a like complexion gather around this central one. On the -23rd of December, an order was given to secure the library, writings, -and goods in Lambeth House, belonging to the see of Canterbury, and to -take the keys of the palace, which was now to be used as a prison. On -the 3rd and 5th of January, a similar disposal was made of Ely House -and the palace of the Bishop of London, near St. Paul's. On the 30th -of December, the Lords and Commons, ignoring altogether the laws and -customs of the Episcopal Church, ordered a clergyman to be instituted -to the vicarage of Chard, in Somersetshire; and on January the 7th, a -Bill against pluralities and non-residence received a third reading by -the Lords.[327] - -[Sidenote: _Negotiations at Oxford._] - -Be it remembered, that all these Bills, after passing both Houses, -remained without Royal assent; and therefore could not be regarded -as Acts of Parliament according to the principles of the English -Constitution: a circumstance which, of course, the Sovereign and the -Royalist party took care to urge against them. - -The Scotch Presbyterians, after having failed in their attempts at -the beginning of the year 1642 to mediate between the King and the -Parliament, continued anxiously to watch the progress of affairs in -England, with a view to the accomplishment of that union between the -two countries upon which they had already set their hearts. Willing, -and even anxious, to take a part in the war, they waited until such -applications for aid should be made by either of the belligerents as -might seem most likely to terminate the strife in favour of their -own Church schemes. Doubtless they would have helped the King, if, -on the one hand, he would have renounced Episcopacy and embraced -Presbyterianism, or if, on the other hand, Parliament had opposed -Presbyterianism and maintained Episcopacy. But Charles despaired of -their assistance, knowing well the religious antipathies existing -between himself and them; and Parliament at first forbore to solicit -their military help, not then feeling their very great need of it. - -Even when a turn in affairs made it appear valuable, Parliament did -not ask for it with as much earnestness as the northern brethren -would have wished. It is plain, from Baillie's letters, that he and -his friends were readier to draw the sword for the true Kirk on this -side the Tweed than the English at present were to enter on a military -alliance with Scotland for ecclesiastical objects. After a diplomatic -lull--in which for a long time, says the worthy man, we "lay verie -calm and secure,"[328] and when intrigues amongst the Scotch Royalists -filled the Presbyterian magnates with alarm--they turned their thoughts -towards Oxford, and sent Commissioners to treat with the King. - -[Sidenote: 1643, January.] - -The Earl of Loudon, now Chancellor of Scotland, came to Oxford as the -principal lay commissioner, and Alexander Henderson accompanied him -as an ecclesiastical one. The latter bore a petition from the General -Assembly, prepared by himself. This petition dwelt upon the insolence -and presumption of Roman Catholics, and entreated that there might -be an established uniformity in religion. It was urged that, since -prelatical government had been taken away, a government by assemblies, -as in other reformed kirks, should follow.[329] - -[Sidenote: _Negotiations at Oxford._] - -Another embassy, with somewhat different designs, reached the same -place soon afterwards. It included the Earl of Northumberland, with -other noblemen and gentlemen, Bulstrode Whitelocke, who relates -particulars of the visit, being one of them.[330] They were sent by -the Parliament to confer with the King for an ultimate peace with an -immediate cessation of arms, upon terms which were strictly prescribed -in their commission. These ambassadors were not plenipotentiaries, -but they were selected for their known moderation, as persons likely, -on that account, to be acceptable to the monarch. They travelled with -the King's safe conduct in a style which was no doubt very superior to -that of the emissaries from the North. They had "six gallant horses in -every coach," and the whole party was attended by a number of servants -on horseback. This imposing procession, however, failed to awe the -"rascality of the town;" for they, and even "some of better rank but -like quality," reviled the distinguished visitors as so many rebels -and traitors. However, Charles received them all in the gardens of -Christ Church very graciously, and held out his hand for each to kiss. -Immediately they proceeded to business, and the Earl of Northumberland, -"with a sober and stout carriage," read to the King the propositions -of the two Houses. The Monarch began to interrupt. The Earl smartly -replied, "Your Majesty will give me leave to proceed." Charles -stuttered out, "I--I," and then paused, allowing the bold nobleman to -have his way. - -[Sidenote: 1643, February.] - -The ecclesiastical proposals were as follows:--[331] - -(1) "That your Majesty will be pleased to give your royal assent unto -the Bill for taking away superstitious innovations; - -(2) "To the Bill for the utter abolishing and taking away of all -archbishops, bishops, their chancellors and commissaries, deans, -sub-deans, deans and chapters, archdeacons, canons and prebendaries, -and all chanters, chancellors, treasurers, sub-treasurers, succentors -and sacrists, and all vicars choral and choristers, old vicars, and -new vicars of any cathedral or collegiate church, and all other their -under officers out of the Church of England; - -(3) "To the Bill against scandalous ministers; - -(4) "To the Bill against pluralities; and - -(5) "To the Bill of consultation to be had with godly, religious, and -learned Divines. That your Majesty will be pleased to promise to pass -such other good Bills for settling of Church government, as, upon -consultation with the Assembly of the said Divines, shall be resolved -on by both Houses of Parliament, and by them be presented to your -Majesty." - -To these five propositions no explicit reply was given by the King; -but, in reference to religion generally, he said that, as he would -"readily consent (having done so heretofore) to the execution of all -laws already made, and to any good Acts to be made for the suppressing -of Popery, and for the firm settling of the Protestant religion, now -established by law; so he desired that a good Bill might be framed for -the better preserving of the Book of Common Prayer from the scorn and -violence of Brownists, Anabaptists, and other sectaries, with such -clauses for the ease of tender consciences as his Majesty hath formerly -offered." - -Such an answer virtually negatived what the Parliament proposed. It -does not seem that any debate arose on the ecclesiastical points -between the King and the Commissioners. Their diplomacy entirely -referred to the question of a cessation of arms, which, after all, -could not be effected; and the embassage returned to Westminster -without accomplishing any part of their object. - -The Scotch were not more successful; but in the King's council their -petition created much discussion, the main question being, "What answer -shall be given to these gentlemen from the North?" - -[Sidenote: _Answer to the Scottish Petition._] - -"Many of the Lords," says Clarendon, "were of opinion that a short -answer would be best, that should contain nothing but a rejection of -the proposition, without giving any reason; no man seeming to concur -with his Majesty, with which he was not satisfied, and replied with -some sharpness upon what had been said. Upon which the Lord Falkland -replied, having been before of that mind, desiring that no reasons -might be given; and upon that occasion answered many of those reasons -the King had urged, as not valid to support the subject, with a little -quickness of wit (as his notions were always sharp, and expressed -with notable vivacity), which made the King warmer than he used to -be; reproaching all who were of that mind with want of affection for -the Church; and declaring that he would have the substance of what he -had said, or of the like nature, digested into his answer; with which -reprehension all sat very silent, having never undergone the like -before. Whereupon, the King, recollecting himself, and observing that -the Chancellor of the Exchequer had not yet spoken, called upon him to -deliver his opinion, adding, that he was sure he was of his Majesty's -mind with reference to religion and the Church."[332] - -[Sidenote: 1643, February.] - -From Clarendon's narrative we discover, that with all Falkland's -vivacity, he shewed lukewarmness in the cause of Episcopacy, and that -the zeal of the King on its behalf went beyond that of his advisers. -The historian reports his own speech, in which he recommended that -reasons should be given, but not in the way his royal master wished. -The result may be seen in a paper in the King's name, probably drawn -up by the Chancellor.[333] No concessions, it was stated, could be -made until propositions in a digested form should be submitted to the -free debate of both Houses. The King would not be unwilling to call a -synod of godly and learned Divines, regularly chosen according to the -laws and constitutions of the kingdom, to which representatives from -Scotland might be admitted--an Assembly which, in fact, would be a -Convocation, whose spirit and proceedings were very well known. He gave -no opinion on any Bills offered to him, but only expressed his wonder -that the royal judgment should be prejudged, and that the Divine anger -should be threatened for his non-consent. A sentence occurred towards -the end which, though by no means agreeable to those for whom it was -intended, certainly contained a large amount of truth. "Nor are you a -little mistaken, if either you believe the generality of this nation to -desire a change of Church government, or that most of those who desire -it, desire by it to introduce that which you only esteem a reformation, -but are as unwilling to what you call the yoke of Christ and obedience -to the Gospel, as those whom you call profane and worldly men, and so -equally averse both to Episcopacy and Presbytery; for if they should -prevail in this particular, the abolition of the one would be no let -to the other, nor would your hearts be less grieved, your expectations -less frustrated, your hopes less ashamed, or your reformation more -secured." - -[Sidenote: _Treatment of the Scotch._] - -The Scotch mission ended in disappointment. Much hope had been built -upon the King's friendliness towards Mr. Henderson during the royal -visit to Edinburgh. All remembered the minister's standing next the -royal chair in sermon time, and the loving cup which passed round -at the banquet. People fancied "Mr. Henderson would do wonders with -the King;" and perhaps the King thought he could do wonders with Mr. -Henderson, for he strove to persuade him of the justice and necessity -of taking up arms against the Parliament. But as that gentleman did -not find the King so pliable as he wished; neither did the King find -that gentleman so "credulous as he expected." Charles "did at once -change his countenance," we are informed, when he discovered that his -Scotch chaplain had written the petition which he had received, and -that the document had been already circulated throughout the kingdom. -Reports also had reached the royal ears of certain violent sermons -and prayers uttered in Edinburgh, which tended to make the visitors -at Oxford "verie unsavourie." Their life in the University city--so -they complained--was uncomfortably spent. They were wearied out with -delays; they had no private nor familiar conference, but all was done -"in public, in a very harsh way;" letters sent to them by their friends -were opened; and, in addition to this great insult, they were abused by -all sorts of people, and they even feared that they should be poisoned -or stabbed. "This policy," adds Baillie, "was like the rest of our -unhappy malcontents' wisdom extremely foolish; for it was very much for -the King's ends to have given to our Commissioners far better words and -a more pleasant countenance."[334] - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XII. - - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Assembly._] - -Some desire for a conference of Divines manifested itself immediately -after the opening of the Long Parliament. Baillie had scarcely reached -London, on his first mission, in 1640, when he began to speak of an -Assembly in England, which was to be called together to perfect the -work of reform; though, with characteristic wariness, the Scotch -Commissioner said that such an Assembly "at this time would spoil -all," because the clergy were so "very corrupt."[335] Dering, in the -debates of October, 1641, as we have seen, recommended a synod of grave -Divines; and the same measure was sanctioned by the grand Remonstrance -in the winter of the same year. The Puritan clergy also, in a petition -presented on the 20th of December, intreated that the consideration of -ecclesiastical matters might be entrusted to a free synod, differing -in constitution from the Convocation of the clergy.[336] Other proofs -of the prevailing wish might be adduced. At length, on the 15th of -October, 1642, a Bill was introduced into Parliament for the purpose -so much desired; and on its passing through a committee of the Commons -two significant resolutions were adopted; first, that the vote -against Bishops should be appended to the Bill; and secondly, that the -Parliament did not intend wholly to abrogate the Prayer Book. These -additions indicated the existence of an anti-episcopal spirit, together -with a lingering love for the ancient liturgy. Revolutionary ideas were -still kept in check by conservative instincts, and whilst the tide of -change was at the flood, sweeping the Church forward to a new position, -the legislators were not prepared to let it drift away entirely from -its ancient moorings. For want of the royal assent, this Bill for -an assembly, after having passed both Houses, was, constitutionally -considered, a dead letter. So, to remedy as far as possible the -defect--the country having reached the crisis of a revolution, and the -King's concurrence in the measure being hopeless--Parliament, convinced -of its urgent importance, boldly issued an ordinance, bearing date -the 12th of June, 1643, commanding that an Assembly of Divines should -be convened at Westminster on the 1st of July following. The document -recognized the Church of England as still undestroyed, by alluding -to "many things in its liturgy, discipline, and government requiring -further and more perfect reformation." The theory of proceeding was not -to overturn and ruin one establishment first and then to create and -fashion another, but only to alter that which continued in existence; -yet the resolution to abolish prelatical government as soon as -possible, being cited in the ordinance, that instrument, though it did -not in itself go so far as formally to extinguish episcopal rule, left -no doubt of a foregone conclusion in the mind of the legislators that -an end must be put to the ancient hierarchy. Ecclesiastical government -was to be settled so as to be most agreeable to God's Word, and most -adapted to procure and preserve the peace of the Church at home, as -well as to promote nearer agreement with the Church in Scotland, and -other reformed communions abroad. This document, without mentioning -Presbyterianism, plainly pointed to it. - -[Sidenote: 1643, July.] - -Thirty lay assessors were named first, and the priority of their -enumeration indicates that the lay element occupied no subordinate -place.[337] - -Some of the persons selected were so eminent that it was impossible -they should not occupy a very influential position in the conference to -which they were called. John Selden, Bulstrode Whitelocke, Oliver St. -John, Sir Benjamin Rudyard, John Pym, and Sir Harry Vane were of the -number. Selden and Whitelocke frequently attended, and took a leading -part in some of the debates. - -[Sidenote: _Constitution of the Assembly._] - -Lay names were followed by those of one hundred and twenty one Divines. -Episcopalians were not excluded. Ussher, of world-wide celebrity, -Archbishop of Armagh and Bishop of Carlisle; Brownrigg, Bishop of -Exeter; Westfield, of Bristol; and Prideaux, of Worcester, are to be -found on the roll, with five more persons included, who afterwards -became Bishops.[338] These appointments would fall in with the views of -such Members of Parliament as still wished for a modified Episcopacy. -But names of this order, whilst they saved appearances and gave -additional weight to the convention, were too few to tell in divisions; -nor could any Episcopalians, identified with a sinking cause, and -unbacked by any strong party amongst the Commons, expect to have much -influence in the proposed deliberations. A small band of persons, -called _Independents_, of whom we shall have to speak at large, were -also amongst the theologians summoned: but what they lacked in numbers -and in position was compensated for by force of character and vigour of -intellect, and by what availed even more--the enjoyment of friendship -with those who were destined ere long to guide the entire affairs of -the kingdom. Indeed, according to Calamy--a safe authority for the -statement--one of the Independent brethren, Philip Nye, had "a great -concern in choosing the members of the Assembly of Divines who were -summoned from all parts."[339] - -The decided, nay, the overwhelming majority of those summoned to -Westminster were Presbyterians. For that party in England had by this -time been greatly multiplied, and it had also much power in Parliament, -and derived advantage from the favour naturally manifested towards it -by the Scotch. - -[Sidenote: 1643, July.] - -The Assembly of Divines was appointed by secular authority: in this -respect, however, it only resembled other ecclesiastical conventions. -Œcumenical synods, as they are ostentatiously called, have in -point of fact been "Imperial gatherings."[340] That they owed their -existence to the civil power was a necessity arising from the union -between Church and State; and the necessity is recognized in the -twenty-first Article of the Church of England, where it is said that -"General councils may not be gathered together, but by the commandment -and will of princes." Convocations of clergy according to this -Article, and according to the fundamental principles of the English -constitution, are entirely dependent upon the Crown. Parliament, -therefore, by constituting the Westminster Assembly, so as to make it -rest on a political basis, did not invade the ecclesiastical rights -of the Establishment, it only usurped the ecclesiastical power of -the Crown. And it may be worth observing that the same authority, -in selecting the place and time of meeting, in making provision for -those whom it called together, and in paying their expenses,[341] -did but adopt the policy of Constantine at the Council of Nicæa. But -the Parliament went still further in the appointment and control of -the Westminster Assembly than emperors and kings had ever done in -reference to Œcumenical councils and national convocations.[342] It -first nominated the individuals who were to be members, and then it -took the direction of affairs entirely into its own hands, without -relaxing its hold for a moment: the carefully-worded warrant allowing -no liberty beyond this--that the Divines should consult and advise -on matters and things _proposed to them_ by both or either of the -Houses, and give their advice and counsel as often as required; and -in all cases of difficulty refer to the authority which had called -them together. A clause is inserted forbidding the assumption of any -ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or any power whatever, except that which -the ordinance carefully defined. And also--in this respect, exceeding -the regal control over Convocation--Parliament chose the Prolocutor of -the Assembly, and filled up vacancies when they occurred. Nor should it -be forgotten that the State exercised in reference to ecclesiastical -matters all the functions which we have described, not because there -remained no Episcopal clergy to elect members of Convocation, nor -because there existed no Presbyteries to delegate members to a General -Assembly, but simply because a perfect horror of ecclesiastical -despotism had taken possession of the minds of those who had now become -the civil rulers of the realm. - -[Sidenote: _Meeting of the Assembly._] - -On the day appointed (Saturday, July 1, 1643), many of the Assembly, -together with a large congregation of other persons, gathered within -the walls of the grand national abbey of Westminster, "both Houses -of Parliament being present."[343] The Prolocutor, Dr. Twiss--of -whom it was said that the school, not the pulpit, was his proper -element--preached from John xiv. 18, "I will not leave you -comfortless, I will come to you;" from which text he exhorted his -hearers faithfully to discharge their high calling to the glory of God -and the honour of His Church; and, whilst lamenting that the royal -assent was wanting to give them comfort and encouragement, the preacher -hoped through the efficacy of their prayers that the sanction of his -Majesty might in due time be obtained, and that a happy union might be -accomplished between King and Parliament. After the conclusion of the -discourse, the Divines and other members ascended the broad flight of -steps leading to Henry the Seventh's chapel, where, upon the roll being -called over, sixty-nine persons answered to their names. - -[Sidenote: 1643, July.] - -[Sidenote: _Meeting of the Assembly._] - -The vaulted roof springing from the clustered pillars in the -walls--like branches of lofty trees interlaced together, forming -a rich canopy of leaves, while the bossed pendants resemble -stalactites--though appearing to most persons now, even those who -feel strong Puritan sympathies, a monument of exquisite taste and -consummate skill--would be regarded by those who on this occasion -assembled beneath its shadow, as mainly, if not exclusively, a symbol -of that "petrifaction of Christianity" which to their great grief had -over-arched mediæval Christendom. Dressed in black cloaks, and wearing -bands, and skull caps, as they walked over pavements heretofore trodden -by prelates and priests in mitres and copes, they would be reminded -of what they deemed superstitious and idolatrous worship; and as -they now met in assembly where Convocations had before been wont to -gather,[344] they would think of obnoxious canons, and of Archbishop -Laud, with feelings of pain--if not of bitterness--such as the charms -of Gothic architecture had no power to subdue. Their principles, -and the principles of the Church before the Reformation, were in -mutual opposition. And, as we watch the Divines entering within those -gates--well described by one who himself came from the land of the -Pilgrim Fathers, as "richly and delicately wrought, and turning heavily -upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the feet of common -mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchers"[345]--we may fancy that -the gates, if they had sympathy with those who caused them to be hung -there, would open that morning more reluctantly than they had ever done -before. Altogether, the scene and the purpose for which the Assembly -met marked a new era, not only in the history of the Abbey but in the -annals of the Church and the nation. - -[Sidenote: 1643, July.] - -Westfield, Bishop of Bristol, and some few other Episcopalians out -of the number summoned, were present at this first meeting; and, as -Fuller says, they "seemed the only Nonconformists amongst them for -their conformity, whose gowns and canonical habits differed from -all the rest."[346] The majority of the Episcopal Divines, however, -declined to attend, because the Assembly had been prohibited by royal -proclamation; and because, not being chosen by the clergy, it had no -proper representative character. They objected to it also on account of -its containing a mixture of the laity; whilst all its members, whether -divines or laymen, were of the Puritan stamp, and were, according to -the terms of the ordinance which gave it existence, virtually pledged -to the demolition of the hierarchy. The reply which was afterwards -given by the Parliament to the objection that the Assembly had not been -ecclesiastically elected, instead of mending the matter in the eyes of -a High Churchman, would only make it appear all the worse; for the -Parliament plainly declared the Assembly to be no national synod or -representative body at all, but only a committee of advice;--adding -that the civil power had a right to choose its own counsel, and ought -not to be dependent for that upon the nomination of clergymen.[347] For -the reasons just indicated, the few Episcopalians who at first appeared -in the Assembly speedily dropped off. Brownrigg, Bishop of Exeter, -sent a letter on the 12th of July, excusing absence in consequence of -"the tie of the Vice-Chancellorship in the University that lay upon -him:" probably there were other ties which hindered his Lordship's -attendance, but what they were he did not care to specify. - -[Sidenote: _Parliamentary Directions._] - -On Thursday, July the 6th, the Divines and lay assessors assembled -again, when they received further directions from Parliament of a -very precise description. The directions were, that two assessors or -vice-chairmen should be associated with the Prolocutor to supply his -place in case of absence; that scribes or secretaries should keep a -record of the proceedings; and that these officers should be Henry -Roborough and Adoniram Byfield, Divines not members of the Assembly; -that every member, on his entrance, should make a solemn protestation -not to maintain any thing but what he believed to be truth; that -no question should be resolved on the day it was propounded; that -whatever any one undertook to prove to be necessary, he should make -good from Scripture; that no one should continue to speak after the -Prolocutor had silenced him, unless the Assembly desired him to -proceed; that the members should have liberty to record their dissent -from the conclusions adopted by the majority; and that all things -agreed upon and prepared for the Parliament should be openly read and -allowed.[348] The bye-laws which were to regulate their proceedings -were thus so minutely prescribed, that very little indeed was left -for the Divines to perform in the way of preliminary arrangement. All -which they actually did in this respect was to nominate Mr. White[349] -and Dr. Burgess as assessors, and to resolve that the sittings should -be opened with prayer; that afterwards the names of members should -be called over; that the hour of meeting in the morning should be -ten o'clock, the afternoon being reserved for committees; and that -three of the Divines should officiate weekly as chaplains--one to the -House of Lords, another to the House of Commons, and a third to the -Committee of both kingdoms. Still further, to illustrate how, with this -modicum of liberty in relation to the management of its own business, -the Westminster Assembly found itself under the authority of its -neighbouring masters, especially those in St. Stephen's Chapel--we may -observe that on the 27th of July an order from both Houses was read, -requiring a letter to be written to the United Provinces in behalf of -Ireland. On the 28th of July an ordinance from the Commons followed, -for appointing a committee to examine plundered ministers, with a -view to their admission into sequestrated livings; and on the 14th of -August there came a command to send divers metropolitan divines up and -down the country, to stir up the zeal of the people in the cause of -patriotism, and to vindicate the justice of Parliament in taking up -arms for the defence of its liberties.[350] - -[Sidenote: 1643, October.] - -The first subject of a strictly theological kind submitted to -the Assembly was the revision of the Thirty-nine Articles of the -Church of England. A sub-committee spent ten weeks in debating upon -the first fifteen; and the result appeared in a draft of proposed -alterations.[351] In the middle of October, we discover the Divines, -through the dim light thrown on their proceedings by Lightfoot's -Journal, "busy upon the sixteenth Article," and upon "that clause of it -which mentioneth departing from grace," when an order came from both -Houses of Parliament, commanding them speedily to take in hand the -discipline and liturgy of the Church. - -The circumstances of the country shaped the proceedings of the Divines -no less than those of the Legislators. It may be said of the new system -they were engaged to construct that--"the street" of the city was -built again, and "the wall, even in troublous times." War had begun to -kindle its fires far and wide; and it is necessary for us to turn our -attention to military affairs and the fortunes of the battle-field, in -order that we may understand what followed in the Westminster Assembly. - -A heavy blow had befallen the Parliament in the month of March, 1643, -when Lord Brooke had been killed at the siege of Lichfield. He had -prepared for an assault on the Royalist troops, who were in possession -of the cathedral; and just as he was standing under the porch of -a house, and directing a battery against the Close gate--the spot -is still pointed out to the visitor in that quiet little city--the -Puritan commander was shot by a musket ball. His death created a great -sensation, and was differently interpreted by contemporaries, according -to their political and ecclesiastical opinions. Laud pronounced it a -Divine judgment for Brooke's sins. Parliamentarians celebrated it as a -glorious sacrifice offered up in the cause of patriotism and religion. - -[Sidenote: _John Hampden._] - -[Sidenote: 1643, June.] - -Another loss had to be sustained in the month of June. Early one -Sunday morning, Prince Rupert, with a skirmishing party, drew up his -men in order of battle amidst the standing corn of Chalgrove Field. -John Hampden, who had spent the night in the immediate neighbourhood, -adventured, contrary to the wishes of his friends, to throw himself -into this at first apparently unimportant action. With characteristic -bravery, he led an attack, and, on the first charge at the head of his -troops, received in his shoulder two carbine balls. He rode off the -field, "his head bending down, and his hands resting on his horse's -neck." Though fainting with pain, he cleared a brook on the road to -Thame, and on reaching that town had his wounds dressed. Conscious -of danger, he first despatched letters of counsel to Parliament, and -then prepared for his departure from the world. After six days of -severe suffering, and about seven hours before his death, he received -the Lord's supper, declaring that, "though he could not away with -the governance of the Church by bishops, and did utterly abominate -the scandalous lives of some clergymen, he thought its doctrine in -the greater part primitive and conformable to God's word, as in -holy Scripture revealed." Dr. Giles, the rector of Chinnor, and Dr. -Spurstow, the chaplain of his regiment, attended him in his last -moments. He died in prayer, uttering, "O Lord, God of Hosts! great is -Thy mercy, just and holy are Thy dealings unto us sinful men. Save -me, O Lord, if it be Thy good will, from the jaws of death; pardon my -manifold transgressions. O Lord, save my bleeding country. Have these -realms in Thy special keeping. Confound and level in the dust those -who would rob the people of their liberty and lawful prerogative. Let -the King see his error, and turn the hearts of his wicked counsellors -from the malice and wickedness of their designs. Lord Jesus, receive -my soul! O Lord, save my country! O Lord, be merciful to...." As he -uttered these words, his speech failed, and then, falling backwards, he -expired. His remains were conveyed to the churchyard of Great Hampden, -close beside the old family mansion, where the patriot had spent so -much of his life in the studies and the sports of a country gentleman. -Through lanes under the beech-covered chalk hills of the Chilterns, -a detachment of his favourite troops, bare-headed, carried him to -his last resting-place--their arms reversed, their drums and ensigns -muffled--mournfully chanting, as they slowly marched along, the dirge -from the Book of Psalms: "Lord, thou hast been our dwelling-place in -all generations;--thou turnest man to destruction;--thou carriest them -away as with a flood;--they are as a sleep; in the morning they are -like grass which groweth up, in the morning it flourisheth and groweth -up, in the evening it is cut down and withereth." When the funeral -was over, the soldiers, returning from the village church to their -quarters, made the green woods and the white hills that summer day -resound to the beautiful prayer and the cheerful song, so appropriate -to their present circumstances: "Judge me, O God, and plead my cause -against an ungodly nation. O, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust -man! For thou art the God of my strength, why dost thou cast me off? -Why go I mourning because of the oppression of the enemy? O send out -thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let me bring them unto thy -holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. Then will I go unto the altar of -God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, -O God, my God. Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou -disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is -the health of my countenance and my God."[352] - -[Sidenote: _John Hampden._] - -The death of Hampden was bewailed even more than that of Brooke. "The -memory of this deceased Colonel," said the _Weekly Intelligencer_, "is -such that in no age to come but it will more and more be had in honour -and esteem; a man so religious, and of that prudence, judgment, temper, -valour, and integrity, that he hath left few his like behind him." The -old newspaper was right in its prediction of Hampden's growing fame. - -Other calamities overtook the Parliament cause. From the spring of the -year, success had followed the King's banners. Royalists occupied Devon -and Dorset; and the Earl of Wilmot had beaten Waller at Lansdowne and -at Devizes. Summer saw the defeat of Lord Fairfax in Yorkshire. But -Charles' victories at that period culminated in the taking of Bradford, -after the battle of Atherton Moor, and in the capture of Bristol just -before the siege of Gloucester. - -Bradford and Gloucester were Puritan towns, beleaguered by what they -looked upon as prelatical armies; and the incidents connected with -the siege of each serve at once to bring out some curious features -in the memorable strife, and to shew the declining condition of the -Parliament, at the time when the Westminster Assembly held its first -sittings. Bradford had suffered assault so early as December, 1642. -The Royalists, who were encamped at Bowling Hill, had selected Sunday -morning, as the Puritans were attending church, to plant their guns -against the steeple; but a snowfall, the bursting of a cannon, and -other misadventures on the part of the besiegers, for a time saved -the besieged. The following midsummer, the church, which was still -the prize in dispute, endured "many a shake," whilst the people hung -up wool-packs by the side of the building, only to see, however, -almost immediately afterwards, the ropes cut down by the shots of the -enemy.[353] - -On Lord's-day morning, the Royalists beat drums for a parley, and spent -all the day in removing their guns "into the mouth of the town," the -inhabitants being so reduced that they had little ammunition, and for -their matches were compelled to use "untwisted cords dipped in oil." -About sunset the parley ended, when a shot killed three men who were -sitting on a bench; and during all night the valley shone with the -flash of artillery. When resistance became useless, the vanquished -thought that the Earl of Newcastle, who commanded the King's troops, -would shew them no mercy; but he gave them quarter, on the ground, as -was superstitiously rumoured, that an apparition on a Sunday night had -pulled the clothes from off his bed several times, crying in tones -of lamentation, "Pity poor Bradford." "A young Puritan gentleman," -reported as having attempted to break through the enemy's lines, became -famous in after days as David Clarkson, the Nonconformist divine.[354] - -[Sidenote: 1643, August.] - -[Sidenote: _Siege of Gloucester._] - -The siege of Gloucester was commenced on August the 10th, 1643. The -Parliamentary committee, believing that the metropolis would not be -safe if Gloucester were taken, sent a strong force for its relief, -under the Earl of Essex, for the better furtherance of the service, -and required all persons "dwelling within the lines of communication" -immediately to shut up their shops, and to keep them closed till -the beleaguered should be delivered. The King, sitting down about a -quarter of a mile distant from the old cathedral city, despatched two -heralds to demand surrender. They returned to the royal camp with two -men, lean and pale, of "bald visages," and in such strange garb and -carriage--according to Clarendon[355]--that the merriest were made sad, -and yet even the grave were provoked to laughter. These poor Puritan -envoys, whom the Royalist historian saw with jaundiced eyes, manifested -not a little bravery and firmness, when they delivered a message from -their fellow-townsmen in these memorable words--"We do keep this city -according to our oath and allegiance, to and for the use of his Majesty -and his royal posterity; and do accordingly conceive ourselves wholly -bound to obey the commands of his Majesty, signified by both Houses -of Parliament; and are resolved, by God's help, to keep this city -accordingly."[356] - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -The Gloucester men, made of this sturdy mettle, forthwith set to -work and raised entrenchments; and the Gloucester women seem to have -caught the spirit of their husbands and fathers, for matrons and -maids wrought all the afternoon in the little mead, fetching in turf -to repair the works, whilst the soldiers, on the other side, cut off -the pipes which supplied the city conduits, and diverted the waters -which drove the mills. On Sunday, which seems to have been with the -Royalists a favourite day for such work, the engineers planted pieces -of ordnance on a battery at Gawdy Green, and thence plied their shots; -but breaches were no sooner made in the fortifications than they were -mended, through the untiring energy and courage of the inhabitants, who -employed wool-sacks in repairing the damage done. From day to day for -three whole weeks, some incident occurred to alarm or encourage the -people, till, on Sunday, September the 3rd, when they were at church, -news came that the besiegers had planted a store of cannon-baskets at -the east gate, and that it was supposed they intended there to spring -a mine. The Puritan preacher hearing this, dismissed his audience -without any sermon, when the men, equally prepared to pray or fight, -immediately began to line the houses over the east gate, and to make a -strong breastwork across the street. - -The renowned William Chillingworth, we may observe in passing, "was -in Charles's camp, engaged in bringing his classical knowledge to -bear upon the contrivance of engines ("after the manner of the -Roman _testudines cum pluteis_.") They ran upon cart wheels, we are -told, with a musket-proof covering to conceal the assailants, who -shot through holes; and these machines--which were odd things for -a clergyman to make--were also furnished with a protection to rest -on the breastworks, and so to form a complete bridge over the ditch -into the city. The employment of a divine in military matters was -then by no means a peculiar circumstance; for it is a little curious -that his antagonist, Francis Cheynell, Fellow of Merton College, -Oxford, accompanied the Earl of Essex into Cornwall, where he shewed a -soldierly courage, and where it was said his commands were as readily -obeyed as the general's own.[357] - -After much suffering by the citizens of Gloucester, the siege was -raised by the Earl of Essex, on the 5th of September. - -[Sidenote: _Effect of War on the Assembly._] - -These military events at the very beginning powerfully influenced the -Westminster Assembly. As the members mourned the loss of illustrious -captains, reports of disastrous turns in the fate of war would be -brought to London from Yorkshire, by the letter-carriers, who rode -along the dusty roads in those long summer days; and the Divines, -amidst their theological discussions, would anxiously listen to tidings -respecting the army. The success of their cause, if not their personal -safety, depended upon the acquisition of some military advantages -at that critical juncture, and therefore--whilst feeling that only -God could help them--they presented, on the 19th of July, to the two -Houses, a petition, in which--after expressing their fear of the -Divine wrath, manifested by the sad and unexpected defeats in the -north and west--they implored, as watchmen set on the walls of the -Church and the kingdom, that a day of solemn fasting and humiliation -might be fixed for universal observance throughout the cities of -London and Westminster: and with a further view of removing Divine -displeasure, they entreated, that Parliament would speedily set up -Christ more gloriously in all His ordinances within the kingdom, and -remove throughout the land all things which were amiss. Then followed -a painful enumeration of national evils, including brutish ignorance, -pollution of the Lord's Supper, corruption of doctrine, profanation of -the Sabbath, blind guides and scandalous ministers, and finally, the -prevalence of vice, idolatry, and superstition.[358] - -[Sidenote: 1643, August.] - -The fall of Bristol on the 26th of July, preparing as it did for the -siege of Gloucester, further alarmed the Assembly, who would not fail -also to watch with trembling anxiety the progress of the assaults on -the latter city. In the month of August, all London too was in a state -of excitement, as disastrous news from the west reached it day by day. -Some of the citizens were in favour of propositions of peace voted -in the House of Lords; others--the majority--influenced by Alderman -Pennington and by Pym, who eventually prevailed on the Commons to -reject the Peers' propositions, were for resisting the royal army to -the utmost, though the waves of war should surge up to the very walls. -In the strife the pulpits had a share; and on the Sunday after the -propositions were submitted to the Commons, the Divines of the popular -party eloquently appealed to their disheartened hearers in favour of -opposing the overtures of the Upper House, at a moment when the Monarch -was successful in the field, and persisted in his proclamations against -the freedom of the Parliament.[359] - -In the midst of these untoward events, help from Scotland had become -more than ever necessary, and the eyes of Statesmen, Divines, and -Citizens were turned in that direction. Yet some even of the staunch -Presbyterians of England were reluctant in this extremity to rely -upon their neighbours; and Calamy, in a speech at Guildhall, when the -question was mooted, pronounced it a great shame that Englishmen should -stand in need of others to aid them in the preservation of their own -lives and liberties.[360] Repeated references to the unwillingness -of the nation to ask and receive assistance from the north occur in -Baillie's letters.[361] - -[Sidenote: _Commissioners sent to Scotland._] - -But Parliament, being compelled by circumstances, resolved, as early as -July, to send Commissioners to negotiate a treaty of assistance with -their brethren of the north. Sir Harry Vane was one of the number.[362] -With this embassy the Westminster Assembly determined to unite an -ecclesiastical deputation, and chose for the purpose Stephen Marshall, -the Presbyterian, and Philip Nye, the Independent. Letters were sent -through their hands both to the Convention of States, and to the -General Assembly, seeking succour for the war and the addition of some -Scotch Divines to the meeting at Westminster. The letter to the General -Assembly of Scotland set forth the deplorable condition of England, as -on the edge of a precipice, ready to plunge into the jaws of Satan; and -the perils of the Church, as threatening the safety of Protestantism -at large. Prayers and advice were implored with a view to promote the -kingdom's peace with God, and to strengthen the people in standing up -against Antichrist. - -On Monday, the 7th of August, the English Commissioners landed at -Leith; and Baillie reports that the Lords went down to welcome them at -the harbour, and then conveyed them up to Edinburgh in a coach. - -[Sidenote: 1643, August.] - -The General Assembly shewed how impressed it was with the idea that -the visit now paid was no ordinary one. "We were exhorted," says our -informant, in all these minute matters "to be more grave than ordinary; -and so, indeed, all was carried to the end with much more awe and -gravity than usual." With a punctilious formality, borrowed, it was -said, from the like usage in the reception of their own Commissioners -by the English Parliament, the Scotch arranged that the access of the -delegates to the Assembly should be at first only that of private -spectators; "for which end a place commodious above in a loft, was -appointed for them." Then followed an interview between them and a -deputation from the General Assembly, to whom were presented the -documents brought from London. One paper, subscribed by above seventy -English Divines, supplicating help "in a most deplorable style," as -soon as it was read drew tears from many eyes. The loss of Bristol -was reported, and fear was expressed lest his Majesty might march to -London. Cautiously did the Scotch consult sundry times with the prime -nobles, in the Moderator's chamber, before taking any decided step. One -night all present were bent on peaceful mediation, proposing to act -as friends between the belligerents, and not to espouse exclusively -the side of either. Lord Warristone "alone did shew the vanity of that -motion and the impossibility of it." Words now would come too late, and -the Scotch must arm or do nothing; they must cross the Tweed with pike -and gun, or leave English Puritans to their hard fate. The Assembly -at length decided on recommending military aid on these grounds:--the -war was a religious one; the Protestant faith was in danger; gratitude -for former assistance required a suitable return; both Churches were -embarked on the same bottom; the prospects of uniformity between the -two kingdoms would strengthen the Protestant cause all over Europe; -and, finally, the English Parliament stood in friendly relation to the -Scotch, who felt that they could never trust King Charles.[363] - -[Sidenote: _Commissioners in Scotland._] - -Terms of union now became the absorbing question, and hard debates -ensued. The English Commissioners preferred a civil league, and the -Scotch were earnest for a religious covenant. The former wished for -a bond of reciprocal aid between nation and nation to maintain the -interests of civil liberty; the latter longed for a holy confederation -between church and church, for the maintenance of Protestant truth and -worship, against papal and prelatic superstitions. As Vane and Nye -belonged to a party in England which advocated religious toleration, -and as the latter avowed himself an Independent, they would both -be averse to the establishment of such uniformity as was advocated -by Presbyterians, and would be anxious to keep a door open for the -admission of congregational liberty. "Against this," Baillie states, -"we were peremptory." What was to be done? Succour from the Scotch -was indispensable, but the Scotch had determined not to grant it save -on their own conditions. The English Commissioners therefore felt -compelled to enter into a compromise; and stipulating that it should be -a _League_ to meet their own views of it as a civil compact, they yet -allowed it to be a _Covenant_ for the satisfaction of those who chiefly -valued its religious character and bearings. Without impugning the -motives of either party, we must say, now that the lapse of more than -two centuries has hushed to silence the tempestuous controversy, that -this modification of the compact seems very much like playing at a game -of words, and that, after all this hair-splitting, the two contracting -powers became equally bound to the whole agreement, however they -might choose to interpret the phraseology. The English Commissioners, -by accepting the Covenant, pledged themselves to the cause of which -the Scotch Presbyterians regarded it as the symbol; and looking at -the ecclesiastical opinions of Vane and Nye, we cannot defend their -conduct on this occasion against the charge of inconsistency. The -Commissioners believed they had accomplished an important object by -what they had done; and when the Solemn League and Covenant came before -the General Assembly, a hearty affection toward England was "expressed -in tears of pity and joy by very many grave, wise, and old men," as -the moderator, Mr. Henderson, after making an oration, read over the -document twice amidst loud applause. - -[Sidenote: 1643, August.] - -Three Scotch Commissioners, with Philip Nye, set sail on the thirtieth -of August; but eight days before they started, the English had -despatched a ketch, with a duplicate copy of the famous instrument, and -on the first of September it reached the Westminster Assembly. - -Some of the members, especially the Scotch Divines, were prepared -to receive it exactly as it was, cordially sympathizing in all its -sentiments, but others, particularly Dr. Twiss, the Prolocutor, Dr. -Burgess, and Mr. Gataker, stumbled at the condemnation of _prelacy_. -They were averse "to the English diocesan frame," and if that was -meant by the word prelacy they could agree in the condemnation of it; -nevertheless they were advocates for the ancient and moderate form -of Episcopacy, with some admixture of Presbyterian rule, and could -not agree to the use of any expression which, with regard to that -rule, might seem to convey any censure. To meet this difficulty, a -parenthesis was introduced describing the exact nature of the prelacy -opposed viz., "Church government by Archbishops, Bishops, Deans and -Chapters, Archdeacons, and all other ecclesiastical offices depending -on that hierarchy."[364] - -[Sidenote: _The Covenant._] - -Covenants were, of old, favourites with the nation of Scotland, -and they present in their spirit, though not their form, a strong -resemblance to that very noble Hebrew one, in the days of Asa, the king -of Judah, when "the people entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God -of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul"--"and -they sware unto the Lord with a loud voice"--"and all Judah rejoiced at -the oath."[365] - -The first Scotch Covenant was taken in 1557, "to establish the most -blessed word of God and His congregation," and to "forsake and renounce -the congregation of Satan;" by which, of course, we are to understand -the apostate Church of Rome. Another succeeded in 1581, protesting -against Popish doctrines and rites, as being full of superstition and -idolatry. In 1638, a third is found, including a transcript of the -confession of 1581, a summary of Parliamentary acts condemnatory of -the Papal religion, and a new declaration drawn up by Henderson; the -subscribers to which swore they would continue in their Protestant -profession, defend it against errors and corruptions, and stand by the -King in support of the religion, laws, and liberties of the realm.[366] - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -The New League and Covenant of 1643, the origin of which we have just -described, differed from former ones by the addition of an express -resolve to extirpate _prelacy_ as well as popery. It consisted of six -articles, pledging subscribers to preserve the established religion -of Scotland, to endeavour to bring the Church of God in the three -kingdoms to the nearest possible uniformity and conjunction, to -aim at the extirpation of popery and prelacy, superstition, heresy, -schism, profaneness, and whatsoever is contrary to sound doctrine and -the power of godliness, to preserve the privileges of Parliament and -the liberties of the kingdom, to search out malignants, and promote -peace, and to defend every one belonging to the brotherhood of the -Covenant.[367] - -With intense ardour was the engagement entered into by the Scotch, -who venerated and loved these symbols of confederation. The Covenant -passed from city to city, from town to town, from village to village, -gathering together the men of the plain and the men of the mountain, -like the fiery cross, which summoned the clan round their chieftain's -banner. - - "O'er hill and dale the summons flew, - Nor rest nor pause the herald knew, - Not faster o'er thy feathery braes, - Balquidder speeds the midnight blaze, - Rushing in conflagration strong, - The deep ravines, and dells along. - Each valley, each sequester'd glen, - Mustered its little horde of men - That met, as torrents from the height, - In highland dales, when streams unite, - Still gathering as they pour along, - A voice more loud, a tide more strong." - -[Sidenote: _Taking of the Covenant._] - -The Scotch wished to see the Covenant embraced with the same love -and zeal in the cities, towns, and villages of England, but in this -they were disappointed. The adoption of the Covenant, however, at -Westminster, was a very solemn ceremony. The Assembly met on Monday, -September the 25th, 1643, in St. Margaret's Church--an edifice almost -lost in the shadow of the neighbouring Abbey, but deeply interesting -as the place of worship still used on special occasions by the Houses -of Parliament. The building then was somewhat different from what -it is now, for it did not possess at that time the antique centre -window of stained glass; but the graves of Sir Walter Raleigh, and of -Caxton, the printer, existed beneath the pavement, and their names -were symbolical of the art and the enterprise which had contributed -largely to the great revolution betokened by this notable gathering. -Besides the Divines, and the rest of the Assembly, the House of -Commons, and the Commissioners from Scotland attended the service. -White of Dorchester commenced the service by offering prayer to the -Almighty. Then Philip Nye read and explained the terms of the Covenant, -commending it as a defence against popery and prelacy, and a stimulus -to further reformation.[368] Dr. Gouge presented a second prayer.[369] -Mr. Henderson, the Scotch Commissioner, described the deliverance of -his countrymen from prelatical domination, declared the purity of their -intentions in what they had done, and gratefully acknowledged the -blessings of heaven upon their work and service. After the Covenant -had been read, the Assembly rose, and with that solemnity which marked -the Puritan mode of performing such acts, they lifted up their right -hands to heaven, worshipping the great name of God; by their gesture -reminding us of another oath, less spiritual but not less solemn, sworn -by the Swiss patriots, under the shadow of the Seelisberg, on the rich -green slope by the shore of the lake of Uri. After this ceremony, -the Commons and the Divines adjourned to the chancel, and there -wrote their names on the parchment rolls, containing the words of the -Covenant. - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -On the 20th of September, being the Wednesday before the Monday on -which the Covenant was sworn, a battle was fought at Newbury; and the -particulars of this action must have reached the Assembly before they -held up their hands to heaven; perchance some held them up all the -more firmly in consequence of what they had just been told respecting -the persistent valour of the army. For all along the valley, more than -half a mile in length, Essex's men, wearing fern and broom in their -hats, had fought from four o'clock in the morning until ten at night. -After a struggle, hand to hand, in the darkness, the King's forces -stood in order on the further side of the Green, and Essex expected -a fresh engagement next day; but the enemy retreated in the night, -and consequently the Parliament claimed the victory. One fell in that -engagement, whose death, with its never to be forgotten touches of -sadness, deeply affected some who faced him in battle, after sitting -beside him in council. Lord Falkland, on rising that morning, had -put on a clean shirt, saying he would not be found in foul linen -amongst the slain; and when his friends attempted to dissuade him from -fighting, replied, "I am weary of the times, and foresee much misery to -my country, and believe I shall be out of it before night." And so he -was.[370] - -[Sidenote: _Treaty with the Scotch._] - -[Sidenote: 1643, November.] - -The Covenant prepared in Scotland having been adopted in England, the -two countries entered into a treaty on the 29th of November, 1643. -The first of the Articles declared, that the Covenant now to be sworn -throughout both kingdoms was "a most noble near tie and conjunction -between them against the papist and prelatical faction, and for -pursuance of the ends expressed in the said Covenant." The Scotch -agreed to levy and send an army of 18,000 foot, 2,000 horse, and 1,000 -dragoons, to be ready at some general rendezvous near the borders of -England; and the English promised that the charges so incurred should -be refunded when peace was settled, with Scotch consent. The money -was to be raised out of the forfeited estates of papists, prelatists, -malignants, and their adherents; and £100,000 was to be paid at -Leith or Edinburgh with all convenient speed, half of the sum being -conveyed at once by the bearers of the treaty.[371] English solicitude -respecting this compact oozes out in the quaint old diurnals of that -day. "The Covenant," say they, "will doubtless give more life to the -preparations of their brethren, if they be not already on their march -into this kingdom, which we have good grounds to surmise they be; but -no letters as yet come to confirm the same." A communication from the -north is joyfully quoted, to the effect that the artillery, ammunition, -arms, and men were all in readiness; and it is added, "upon the first -notice of your agreement in the Covenant and propositions, they will be -setting forward without doubt."[372] On the 6th of September we read of -a consultation about the Scotch Covenant, and the advance of moneys, -and of letters sent to hasten forward their preparations. The northern -rulers stipulated that the war should be carried on for the sake of -the Covenant; and bleeding England, accepting help on such terms, and -agreeing to pay expenses, the journalists waited eagerly for tidings -of the advancing troops. Baillie, in his manse at Kilwinnin, writing a -news-letter which would make some columns in the _Times_, informed his -reverend dear cousin, Mr. William Spang, about a fortnight after the -newspaper had circulated rumours of Scotch preparations, that so soon -as the Covenant was signed by any considerable number in England, and a -certain amount of money remitted to Scotland, he and his friends would -turn to God by fasting and prayer, and promote the levy of 32,000 foot -and 4,000 horse. This number far exceeded what had been stipulated for -in the treaty; but no doubt the exaggeration was simply owing to the -heated zeal of the honest news-writer. In the same quaint and lively -pages, which, while they reflect passing events, also indicate what -the Scotch thought of their own proceedings and of the condition of -the English, we find Baillie saying, "Surely it was a great act of -faith in God, and huge courage and unheard-of compassion, that moved -our nation to hazard their own peace and venture their lives and all, -for to save a people so irrecoverably ruined both in their own and in -all the world's eyes." In December, writing from Worcester House, in -the Strand--a mansion which had been fitted up by Parliament for the -Commissioners with furniture taken out of the King's wardrobe--the same -writer alludes to the undecisive conduct of the English war, adding, -"they may tig tag on this way this twelvemonth. Yet if God send not in -our army quickly, and give it not some notable success, this people -are likely to faint; but it is the hope of all the godly, it is the -confidence and public prayers of all the good ministers here, that God -will honour the Scots to be their saviours." "All things are expected -from God and the Scots."[373] - -[Sidenote: _Treaty with the Scotch._] - -[Sidenote: 1643, November.] - -The articles of the treaty, together with these waifs and strays sifted -out of early newspapers and old letters, enable us to comprehend how -matters stood in relation to the Covenant. The Scotch contingents were -to march across the border for ends set forth in that document: and -the adoption of it in England was demanded before a single pikeman -would cross the Tweed. The feeling of our neighbours, in short, had -culminated to this point, that England resembled the man fallen among -thieves, and that they themselves were playing the part of the good -Samaritan. And so much of truth lay at the bottom of this assumption, -that it must be admitted our fathers did most surely need the military -assistance of their brethren; and that not without a sufficient -consideration--partly religious and partly pecuniary, for the whole of -which a careful stipulation was made--could the assistance be secured. -Without charging the North with a huckstering policy, or representing -the South as over-driven in the bargain; we must regard the taking -of the Covenant, and the affording of the required supplies, as so -much payment rendered for so much help. Nor does it seem at all less -plain, that the army marched under the banner of the Covenant for -the establishment of uniformity. The Assembly in Edinburgh, and the -Parliament under its control, shewed as strong a zeal for a single -form of religion as English Kings and English Bishops had ever done. -The contrast between the duplicity of Charles and the honesty of -Henderson--between the ritualism of Laud and the simple worship of -Baillie--certainly ought to be recognized; but then, also, it must -be admitted that all these persons had their hearts fixed on the -establishment of one Church, one creed, and one service, without the -toleration of a second; in other words, the enjoyment of full liberty -for their own consciences, but not the bestowment of a shred for the -conscience of any one besides. The Church of the Covenant is not -specified by name, it is simply described as meant to be "according -to the Word of God and the example of the best reformed churches;" -but as we know the persons who drew up the instrument, what but -Presbyterianism can be understood as the ecclesiastical system intended -by these expressions? - - - - - [Illustration.] - - CHAPTER XIII. - - -In the month of December, 1643, just after the Scotch treaty had been -ratified, and while the Puritans waited for their allies, a great man -passed away from the scene of strife. A journal reported how some at -Oxford drank "a health to his Majesty, by whom we live and move and -have our being; and to the confusion of Pym, his God, and his Gospel." -Whether the report be an exaggeration of fact, or, as we would hope, -a pure fiction, certainly Pym was an object of intense dislike to the -Royalists, and his death removed a formidable antagonist. Crushed by -toil and anxiety, his health had rapidly failed; and, while his body -suffered from disease, and his mind from anxiety, he had to endure -the fury of a populace which now sought to dash in pieces the god of -its former idolatry. As the patriot lay on his death-bed, men, in -women's clothes, instigated by those who wished to thwart the rigorous -prosecution of the war, besieged the House of Commons, madly crying -out, "Give us the traitor, that we may tear him to pieces, give us the -dog Pym!"[374] The brutality of the mob had its match in the malignity -of the Royalists, who, if rumour be true, kept horses idle in the -stables, waiting to carry down to Oxford tidings of the wished-for -stroke.[375] Report further spoke of knighthood as promised to the -first who should bring the news. It was also stated that the night -after Pym's decease, bonfires were blazing in the University streets to -celebrate the event.[376] - -[Sidenote: 1643, December.] - -[Sidenote: _Burial of Pym._] - -Westminster Abbey has witnessed many noble funerals. The pavement has -but just closed over the remains of a renowned parliamentary chief, -and we have a fresh remembrance of the long procession and the solemn -service, the crowds of spectators and the general mourning at the -burial of Lord Palmerston. The obsequies of John Pym were perhaps still -more imposing. Preceded by servants and friends, by numerous persons of -distinction according to their rank, and by the Westminster Assembly -of Divines, attended also by some little pomp of heraldry, the remains -of that illustrious statesman were borne on the shoulders of certain -of his fellow-commoners up the nave of the cathedral, followed by his -family, and by the members of both Houses of Parliament.[377] They -crowded the vast building, whilst Stephen Marshall preached a sermon -describing the virtues of the deceased. "He maintained," said the -minister, "the same evenness of spirit which he had in the time of his -health, professing to myself, that it was to him a most indifferent -thing to live or die; if he lived, he would do what service he could, -if he died, he should go to that God whom he had served, and who would -carry on his work by some others. To others he said that if his life -and death were put into a balance he would not willingly cast in one -drachm to turn the balance either way. This was his temper all the time -of his sickness." "Such of his family or friends who endeavoured to be -near him (lest he should faint away in his weakness) have overheard him -importunately pray for the King's Majesty and his posterity, for the -Parliament and the public cause, for himself begging nothing. And a -little before his end, _having recovered out of a swound_, seeing his -friends weeping around him, he cheerfully told them he had looked death -in the face, and knew, and therefore feared not the worst it could -do, assuring them that his heart was filled with more comfort and joy -which he felt from God, than his tongue was able to utter, and (whilst -a reverend minister was at prayer with him) he quietly slept with his -God."[378] - -[Sidenote: 1643, December.] - -This incident--in an early stage of our Civil Wars--of Pym carried to -the grave by his fellow patriots, forcibly reminds us of the interment -of Mirabeau with similar honours, at the beginning of the French -Revolution. Unlike as to moral and religious character, these two -eminent men, as to ability for guiding public affairs, and swaying a -nation's destinies, had much in common: and whilst we speculate on -the probable consequences of the lengthened life of the brilliant -Frenchman in curbing party excesses and preventing terrible scenes, we -may also conjecture that happy consequences would have followed, had -the illustrious Englishman been longer spared. The loss of John Hampden -is often deplored, as of one whose wise counsel and force of character -might have saved his country a series of mistakes and much suffering, -had Divine providence lengthened his days. The loss of John Pym, for -reasons of the same kind, is probably still more to be lamented. - -[Sidenote: _Court Intrigues._] - -At this period, plots were of frequent occurrence.[379] Basil Brooke, -a noted Royalist and Roman Catholic, planned a scheme for detaching -the City of London from the cause of the Covenant, and from the Scotch -alliance. By means of defeating Presbyterian schemes, he aimed at -procuring peace favourable to the King. Propositions from his Majesty, -and signed by his hand, were to be presented to the Lord Mayor, so -that the latter should be obliged to convene a meeting to petition -Parliament to treat with the monarch: upon which, should Parliament -refuse, "a party in both Houses would appear with the City, and so -either carry all to the King, or put all in confusion." The utterly -idle conception of achieving a desired result by means in themselves -impracticable, or, if even carried out, not such as to ensure the -effect contemplated, only led to exposure and defeat. Keen-witted men -in Parliament and in the City discovered the plot, and turned it to an -account the very opposite of that which the plotters intended. - -[Sidenote: 1643, December.] - -The court party at the same time endeavoured to intrigue with the -Independents, whose want of sympathy in Presbyterian projects had -become obvious to all. Flattering offers were made to them if they -would break with the Scotch, abandon the Covenant, join the Royalists, -and agree to the establishment of a moderate Episcopacy. Toleration -was promised upon these conditions, and it was said: "Mr. Nye should be -one of the King's chaplains, and several other Independents should be -highly preferred and rewarded."[380] With these larger intrigues were -mixed up certain minor ones for the purpose of inducing officers of -the garrison at Windsor Castle and Aylesbury to betray those places -into the King's hands. The person who appears most prominently among -the Royalist agents in these schemes was one Serjeant-major Ogle, who -had been taken prisoner by the Parliament, and who was lodged in -Winchester House. References to him, as a notorious plotter in the -service of his Majesty, occur in the publications of that day, and -he also figures in that capacity upon the pages of the Parliamentary -journals.[381] His own version of the part he played comes to light in -the following letter found in the State Paper Office. Giving an account -of himself at a later period, he says:-- - -"It pleased his Majesty," that blessed martyr, my ever-blessed master, -to give his express orders unto me (then a prisoner in Winchester -House, only upon his Majesty's interest), to proceed with Mr. Nye, -Goodwin, Homstead, Grafton, Moseley, Devenish, and some other of the -Independent faction, according to a letter of mine unto the Earl of -Bristol, intimating their desires to his Majesty, on their own and all -the rests' behalf, in order to their plenary satisfaction and freedom -from pressure of conscience in point of worship, which they judged -might more easily and safely be obtained, and by them more honestly -and honourably accepted from the King than the Covenant then in its -triumphant career in London, they having failed of their expectation -from the address they made to his Majesty by Sir Basil Brooke. Upon -receipt of which warrant from his Majesty, I did conclude upon certain -articles, or rather propositions, in order to a treaty upon their -coming to Oxford, for which purpose I received a safe conduct from his -Majesty, with a blank for such names as I thought fit to insert, and -a hundred pounds out of his Majesty's county, towards relief of my -necessities. - -[Sidenote: _Court Intrigues._] - -"The general, upon which all particulars were founded, was, that if -his Majesty pleased to give them assurance of liberty of conscience, -upon their submission to the temporal authority, they would employ -their whole interest in opposition to the Scotch Covenant, to serve his -Majesty against the two Houses, and submit to a moderate Episcopacy, -which they judged to be far more tolerable than the other, and, indeed, -the only way to settle the nation: and from this general one particular -was, that they would deliver to the King Aylesbury and Windsor -garrisons as pledges for performance of their future assistance upon -his Majesty's command, after their coming to Oxford, and satisfaction -received."[382] - -It is to be observed that Ogle's letter plainly implicates the King as -a prime mover in these wished-for intrigues with the Independents. - -[Sidenote: 1644, January.] - -In the midst of these contrivances, and immediately after the detection -of that in which Sir Basil Brooke was the chief actor, the corporation -of London, (according to civic custom on occasions of great public -interest), invited the Houses of Parliament to a grand banquet, as a -proof of union in one common cause, and as a celebration of recent -victory over common enemies. The invitation was formally accepted, and -entered in the journals, and the Commons added to their acceptance -of the invitation a request that, on the morning of the festive day, -there should be in such place as the City might think fit, and by such -a minister as the City might choose, a sermon for the commemoration -of the recent deliverance. The Assembly of Divines also received an -invitation to the festival; and further, the sheriff and aldermen, in -chains and gowns, called on Baillie and his colleagues at Worcester -House to join the other notabilities who were to be present at the -municipal entertainment. On Thursday, the 18th of January, the -Parliament, the Assembly, and the Scotch Commissioners met between nine -and ten o'clock in the morning at Christ Church in the City, to hear -Stephen Marshall, the preacher selected by the corporation to deliver a -sermon at the request of the Commons. - -The exordium to his discourse was ingenious. - -[Sidenote: _Stephen Marshall's Discourse._] - -"Right honourable and well-beloved in our Lord, - -"This day is a day purposely set apart for feasting, and it is like one -of the Lord's feasts, where you have a feast and an holy convocation, -and you are first met here to feast your souls with the fat things of -God's house, with a feast of fat things, full of marrow; and wine on -the lees well refined; and afterwards to feast your bodies with the -fat things of the land and sea, both plenty and dainty. But if you -please you may first feast your eyes. Do but behold the face of the -assembly. I dare say it is one of the excellentest feasts that ever -your eyes were feasted with. Here in this assembly you may first see -the two Houses of Parliament--the honourable Lords and Commons, who -after thus many years wrestling with extreme difficulties, in their -endeavouring to preserve an undone kingdom, and to purge and reform a -backsliding and a polluted Church, you may behold them still not only -preserved from so many treacherous designs, and open violences, but -as resolved as ever to go on with this great work which God hath put -into their hands. Here you may also see his excellency my most honoured -lord, and near him that other noble lord the commander of our forces -by sea, as the other is by land; and with them abundance of lords and -resolute commanders; all of them with their faces like lions, who after -so many terrible battles, and abundance of difficulties, and charging -in the faces of so many deaths, are yet all of them preserved, and not -a hair of their head fallen to the ground. Here also you may behold the -representative body of the City of London, the Lord Mayor, the Court -of Aldermen, the Common Council, the militia, and in them the face and -affection of this glorious city; this city which, under God, hath had -the honour of being the greatest means of the salvation of the whole -kingdom, and after the expense of millions of treasure, and thousands -of their lives, still as courageous and resolute to live and die in the -cause of God as ever heretofore. Here you may likewise see a reverend -assembly of grave and learned divines, who daily wait upon the angel in -the mount, to receive from him the lively oracles and the pattern of -God's house to present unto you. All these of our own nation, and with -them you may see the honourable, reverend, and learned commissioners of -the Church of Scotland, and in them behold the wisdom and the affection -of their whole nation, willing to live and die with us; all these may -you behold in one view. And not only so, but you may behold them all of -one mind, after so many plots and conspiracies to divide them one from -another. And, which is yet more, you may see them all met together this -day on purpose both to praise God for this union, and to hold it out -to the whole world, and thereby to testify that as one man they will -live and die together in this cause of God. Oh, beloved, how beautiful -is the face of this assembly! Verily, I may say of it, as it was said -of Solomon's throne, that the like was never to be seen in any other -nation. I question whether the like assembly was ever to be seen this -thousand years upon the face of the earth. Methinks I may call this -assembly the host of God; I may call this place Mahanaim, and I believe -there are many in this assembly that would say as old Jacob did when he -had seen his son Joseph's face, 'Let me now die, seeing my son Joseph -is yet alive.' And for mine own part, I am almost like the Queen of -Sheba, when she had seen the court of Solomon, it is said that she had -no spirit in her; and I could send you away and say that you had no -cause to weep to-day or to-morrow, but to eat the fat and drink the -sweet, and send portions one unto another; and I should send you away -presently, but that I have first some banqueting stuff for your souls, -such as the hand of God hath set before you for your inward refreshing; -the ground whereof you shall find in the twelfth chapter of the first -book of Chronicles, and three last verses:--'All these men of war, that -could keep rank, came with a perfect heart to Hebron, to make David -king over all Israel: and all the rest also of Israel were of one heart -to make David king. And there they were with David three days, eating -and drinking; for their brethren had prepared for them. Moreover, they -that were nigh them even unto Issachar, and Zebulun and Naphtali, -brought bread on asses, and on camels, and on mules, and on oxen, and -meat, meal, cakes of figs, and bunches of raisins, and wine, and oil, -and oxen, and sheep abundantly: for there was joy in Israel.'"[383] - -[Sidenote: 1644, January.] - -After the preacher had delivered a pertinent discourse from this text, -which was felicitously chosen, the guests who had attended the church -marched in long and imposing procession to Merchant-Taylors' Hall, -where the banquet was served. - -[Sidenote: _Corporation Banquet._] - -Train bands lined the streets. Common Councilmen in their gowns -walked first. The Mayor and Aldermen, arrayed in scarlet, followed -on horseback. The General and Admiral of the Parliament, with the -rest of the Lords and the Officers of the Army, trudged on foot. Then -came the Commons, with their Speaker and his mace-bearer; and next to -these the Westminster Divines. It had been appointed that the Scotch -Commissioners, clerical and lay, should have a post of honour between -the Commons and the Assembly, but as Lord Maitland went with the other -lords, the modesty of his clerical companions would not let them take -precedence of the English brethren. So Baillie and his colleagues -"stole away to their coach," and when there was no room for coaches -along the thronged streets, they went on foot, "with great difficulty -through huge crowdings of people." Passing through Cheapside they -saw,--where the Cross used to stand,--a great bonfire kindled, "many -fine pictures of Christ and the saints, of relics, beads, and such -trinkets," being piled up for the special entertainment of the reverend -gentlemen, and kindled into a blaze just as they marched by. The feast -cost £4,000, though, in the spirit of Puritan moderation, it included -neither dessert, nor music, only "drums and trumpets." The Mayor sat -on the dais. Two long tables supplied the Divines; Dr. Twiss the -Prolocutor, sitting at the head. The Speaker of the Commons proposed -the health of the Lords. The Lords stood up, every one with his glass, -and drank to the Commons. The Mayor toasted both in the name of the -citizens. The sword-bearer, wearing his cap of maintenance, carried the -loving cup from the chief magistrate to the Commissioners. The whole -ceremony was to them a "fair demonstration" of union between those -whom the Oxford plotters endeavoured to divide. The feast ended with -the singing of the 67th Psalm, "whereof Dr. Burgess read the line." -"A religious precedent," says Vicars, in his Chronicle, "worthy to -be imitated by all godly Christians in their both public and private -feastings and meetings."[384] - -[Sidenote: 1644, January.] - -[Sidenote: _Iconoclastic Crusades._] - -The Cheapside bonfire of papistical trinkets illuminated the spot where -once stood the famous cross. That cross, also the one at Charing, -and even the venerable building of a like description in St. Paul's -Churchyard--although so rich in memories of the Reformation--had -been destroyed by the axes of puritanical zeal. In his honest hatred -of superstition, the Puritan did not perceive that objects once -devoted to its service, if intrinsically beautiful, might yet deserve -preservation, and that monuments of antiquity, though they may not -advance the cultivation of taste, may render valuable aids to the -study of history. But the use and appreciation of ancient art is of -modern growth, and the Puritan must not be blamed for being, in this -respect, only on a level with the reformers of an earlier age, and -with many of his own contemporaries of a different creed.[385] The -House of Commons had early taken in hand the destruction of what were -deemed relics of idolatry, although, being unsupported by the Lords, -they accomplished little. But in the spring of 1643, by order of the -two Houses, Sir Robert Harlow executed the iconoclastic crusade just -noticed, which proved the beginning of a wholesale destruction which -continued throughout the following winter. Acting under the advice of -the Assembly, as well as in accordance with their own impulses, the -Commons, in the month of August, issued an ordinance for demolishing -altars, for removing tapers, candlesticks, and basins, and for defacing -crosses, images, and pictures of the persons of the Trinity, and of -the Virgin Mary.[386] Monuments of the dead, not commonly reputed -for saints, were to be spared. Accordingly, in December, images in -Canterbury Cathedral were dashed down, and stained windows broken -in pieces. Something of the same wilful destruction followed a few -days afterwards in Westminster Abbey; copes and surplices, it may be -observed, having been taken away in the previous October, up to which -time they had been in use even there.[387] St. Paul's Cathedral[388] -shared a like fate, and sacred articles of silver belonging to it -were sold for the replenishment of the war treasury.[389] As to the -defacement of churches, the Puritans have been blamed for things in -which they had no concern. What was really owing to the violence of -reformers, the depredations of Royalists, and the neglect and folly -of churchwardens has been put to their account. Yet when all this is -allowed for, enough remains to sustain serious indictments against the -accused, and little mercy would they find at the hands of a tribunal of -antiquaries. - -[Sidenote: 1644, January.] - -[Sidenote: _Iconoclastic Crusades._] - -In the city of Norwich, (January, 1644) the Puritan corporation -appointed a committee to repair several churches, and take notices of -scandalous pictures, crucifixes, and images:[390] whereupon they went -to work, breaking windows, filing bells, tearing down carved work, -stripping brasses off monuments, and pulling down the pulpit with -its leaden cross in the green yard. Popish paintings, taken from the -cathedral and other churches, were burnt in the old market-place, "a -lewd wretch" (according to Bishop Hall) walking before the train -with his cope trailing in the dust, and a service book in his hand, -"imitating in an impious scorn the tune, and usurping the words of the -litany."[391] There is further evidence of remorseless destruction -in the journal of William Downings, of Stratford, a parliamentary -visitor, appointed under a warrant from the Earl of Manchester, for -demolishing superstitious pictures and ornaments within the county of -Suffolk, in the years 1643 and 1644. But in some places the populace -opposed the execution of the Parliamentary decree. At Kidderminster the -Puritan churchwarden set up a ladder, which was too short to enable -him to reach the crucifix on the top of the town cross; and, while -he was fetching another, a mob assembled to defend what many admired -only for the reason that their neighbours disliked it.[392] Baxter, -then minister in the town, calls these defenders of crucifixes and -images "a drunken crew," and declares that they beat and bruised two -neighbours who had come to look after him and the churchwardens, and -would have belaboured both in the same way, could they but have caught -them.[393] If sometimes the iconoclasts were defeated, at other times -they overcame their adversaries. A church near Colonel Hutchinson's -house at Owthorpe, in Nottinghamshire, had a painted window with a -crucifixion, the Virgin Mary and the Evangelist John. The clergyman -took down the heads of the figures, and laid them by carefully in his -closet, and tried to persuade his churchwardens to certify that the -Parliamentary order was executed; but they took care to call on the -Colonel and bring him to see the church and the minister, who was at -last compelled to blot out all the paintings and break all the glass -which was tainted with superstition.[394] - -[Sidenote: 1644, January.] - -[Sidenote: _Iconoclastic Crusades._] - -[Sidenote: 1644, January.] - -The amount of damage done in different parts of the country would -depend on circumstances, on the disposition of the magistrates, and -especially on the conduct of the military. It is certain that the -havoc of Downings' iconoclasm is not a specimen of what generally took -place. The state of numerous churches throughout the kingdom shews -that Puritanism in many places touched them lightly, if at all. We -know more about the cathedrals. These suffered severely. Peterborough, -perhaps, was treated worse than any, the choir being stripped of its -carved fittings and coloured glass, the cloisters being completely -pulled down.[395] Part of the nave at Carlisle was destroyed, in order -that guard houses and batteries might be constructed. The chapter house -of Hereford was ruined, and 170 crosses torn up.[396] At Chichester, -ornaments, monuments, and windows were destroyed. Sawpits were dug in -the nave of Rochester. The lady chapel of Ely was cruelly shattered. -Norwich Cathedral sustained much injury; and so did Lichfield, -which the cavaliers turned into a citadel. Monuments were smashed -at Gloucester and Lincoln. But, in Winchester, though Waynflete's -chantry was defaced, the cathedral is said to have suffered less than -it otherwise would have done, from the circumstance of the captain of -the troop stationed there being an old Wykehamist. Though stalls were -pulled down at Worcester, numerous monuments and effigies still remain -within that edifice. Only painted windows were taken down at Exeter -and Oxford; some of the latter being preserved after their removal. -Notwithstanding what is reported in the _Mercurius Rusticus_, the -ornaments of Westminster Abbey, which at the beginning of the conflict -fell into Puritan hands, so far escaped violence, that it is said "a -history of ecclesiastical sculpture, from the reign of Henry III. to -the present day, might be fairly illustrated from the stores of that -Church alone."[397] Other noble cathedrals were but slightly damaged. -Salisbury was free from "material profanation."[398] There is no -mention of harm done at Bristol, Durham, Chester, and York. Throughout -England, tradition is constant in her story, that the violation of -churches was the work of soldiers. - -The excess to which ceremonial worship had been carried by the -Laudian clergy, and the almost Popish reverence with which images -and pictures had been regarded by some of them, inspired an intense -Protestant indignation in numbers of Englishmen. They prized the -Reformation, and thought they saw in the Anglo-Catholicism of their -day a national defection from the faith of their fathers, like setting -up the calves in Bethel and Dan, or the idolatrous service of Baal -in Samaria. And whilst fearing the return of Romanism, with Romanism -they identified things which have no necessary connection with it. -Their zeal, though religious and disinterested, lacked wisdom, and had -mixed up with it such alloy as commonly adheres to that passion in the -breasts of mortals. It resembled the fierceness and fury of a noted -reformer of Israel, who "brought forth the images out of the house -of Baal and burned them;" nor was it untouched by a spirit of proud -self-complacency like his when he cried: "Come see my zeal for the Lord -of Hosts." Again and again, as we mark Puritan doings in cathedrals and -churches, we are ready to exclaim: "The driving is like the driving of -Jehu the son of Nimshi, for he driveth furiously."[399] - -[Sidenote: _Cromwell at Ely._] - -A broad construction was given to the meaning of orders for suppressing -superstition and idolatry. In the month of January, 1644, when -Oliver Cromwell was Governor of Ely, a Mr. Hitch officiated in the -cathedral in the usual way. No express law, as yet, had been made -against the Prayer Book or choral worship. But, interpreting the -latter as "superstitious," and apprehending that its continuance would -irritate his soldiers, Cromwell wrote to this clergyman and required -him to forbear a service which he styled "unedifying and offensive." -The clergyman persisted. The Governor,--wearing his hat according -to custom,--with his men, entered the church, and found Mr. Hitch -chaunting in the choir. "I am a man under authority," said Oliver, "and -am commanded to dismiss this assembly"--the only authority, in fact, -being the order about superstition, backed by the probability of a -disturbance in case the service was continued. When Hitch determinately -went on, Cromwell's words, "Leave off your fooling and come down, sir," -broke up the cathedral worship, and shewed the sort of man the clergy -had to deal with. - -[Sidenote: 1644, February.] - -While crosses, images, and choral services were put down, the Solemn -League and Covenant was set up. The zeal with which the Parliament -attempted the last, scarcely fell below that with which they -accomplished the first. An exhortation on the subject by the Divines -at Westminster publicly appeared. It contains no threatenings of -penalty in case of refusal, but only an abundance of argument and -rhetorical persuasion. Various objections are answered--one especially, -which, read in connexion with the events of the Restoration, is rather -curious:-- - -"As for those clergymen who pretend that they, above all others, cannot -covenant to extirpate that Government because they have, as they say, -taken a solemn oath to obey the bishops _in licitis et honestis_, they -can tell, if they please, that they that have sworn obedience to the -laws of the land, are not thereby prohibited from endeavouring by all -lawful means the abolition of those laws when they prove inconvenient -or mischievous; and if yet there should any oath be found into which -any ministers or others have entered, not warranted by the laws of God -and the land, in this case they must teach themselves and others that -such oaths call for repentance, not pertinacity in them."[400] - -Though no threats are found in the exhortation, Parliament sent -instructions to commanders-in-chief and governors of towns and -garrisons, that the Covenant should be taken by all soldiers under -their command. The committees of the several counties had to see -that copies were dispersed over the country, its contents read in -the churches, and the oath tendered to ministers, churchwardens, and -constables. Law officers under the Crown were subjected to loss of -office, and lawyers to restraint from practising in the Courts, if -they did not submit to the new test.[401] If a minister refused to -present it to his parishioners, the committee was to appoint another -minister to do so in his place.[402] It was ordered, at an earlier -date, that no one who declined the Solemn League should be elected a -common-councilman of London, or have a vote in such election, or hold -any office of trust in the City.[403] Every congregation was to obtain -a copy of the document fairly printed in large letters, fit to be hung -up in the place of worship.[404] - -[Sidenote: _The Solemn League and Covenant._] - -[Sidenote: 1644, March.] - -Sermons were preached and published, containing numerous scriptural -quotations, pertinent and impertinent, in favour of covenanting. The -Presbyterians regarded it as a symbol of their Church, and made it -a bulwark of their system; and others, who had no sympathy with -them, and who afterwards opposed their proceedings, were, at first, -scarcely less extravagant in extolling its merits.[405] The devices -of the engraver came under contribution, and there may be seen a -curious series of plates executed at that period, one representing -the Divines swearing to the Covenant with uplifted hands; and another -exhibiting Prelatists in gowns and caps coming out of Church, whilst a -Puritan is shutting the door upon them, saying, "Every plant that my -heavenly Father hath not planted shall be plucked up."[406] Copies of -the instrument, with a long array of names appended to it, sometimes -present themselves amongst corporation records and parish archives, -suggestive of scenes once enacted in church-porches and chancels.[407] -Other written vows belong to that covenanting age. At Nottingham, the -governor and garrison took between them a mutual oath to be faithful -to each other, and to hold out until death, without listening to any -parley, or accepting any terms from their enemies. Lucy Hutchinson -describes how women as well as men entered into such pledges;[408] and -an instance of a female adherent to the famous bond is found in a MS. -life of Mrs. Stockton, preserved in Dr. Williams' library. - -[Sidenote: _The Solemn League and Covenant._] - -Parliament imposed the Covenant upon the Irish. The Royalist -authorities did all in their power to resist the imposition. The -Lords-Justices and the Council laid an embargo on its adoption by the -military, and condemned it as seditious. But old Scotch officers, -commanding troops in the sister island, heeded not the mandate, and the -proscribed symbol received a warm welcome in the camp, and also in the -northern cities, where the Protestants rallied around it. With great -solemnity, the soldiers swore to it in the church of Carrickfergus. -Throughout Down and Antrim it became popular. At Coleraine it contended -with opposition, but at Derry, which place abounded in anti-prelatists, -it won a tumultuous victory over the opposite party.[409] - -[Sidenote: 1644, March.] - -As it has been from the beginning in the history of tests,[410] so it -was with the Covenant. It bore the character of a compromise; and, -accordingly, that which was meant at the same time to declare truth and -to accomplish union, received different explanations from different -persons. First, the Presbyterians thought themselves bound by it to -oppose schism as well as prelacy; next, the Independents, it was said, -deeming Presbyterianism superstitious, conceived that the Covenant gave -authority to oppose that system; and, thirdly, the cavaliers, swearing -by it to preserve and defend the King's majesty, concluded they might -lawfully oppose both the other parties. In this way the subject is -represented in a publication of later date, written by one who had no -sympathy whatever with the movement; and there is much truth, no -doubt, in the representation, as well as in the following remark by -the same writer, in reference to the ambiguity of the terms employed -in the symbol: "It must needs own almost anything, especially seeing -the sense of it hath never been plainly demonstrated, but left to men's -own interpretation in several particulars."[411] But whilst each could -discover something in the Covenant of a negative kind, which he could -turn to account in opposing his adversaries, nearly all persons in -England, except the most advanced Presbyterians, saw there were things -in it of a positive kind, which they knew not how to adopt. - -Hence, in spite of its various interpretations, and also in spite of -Parliamentary orders and Presbyterian activity, great numbers refused -or evaded the test.[412] Where zealots were able, they enforced it -rigorously; but in unsettled times the imposition of anything of the -kind is sure to be encumbered by great difficulties. Some even who -held Presbyterian opinions disliked this form of expressing them; and -we find that Richard Baxter prevented his flock at Kidderminster from -submitting to the Covenant, lest, as he said, it should ensnare their -consciences; and also he prevailed on the ministers of Worcestershire -not to offer it to their people. - -[Sidenote: _The Solemn League and Covenant._] - -The truth is, that while the Covenant in Scotland was a reality, -inasmuch as it sprung from the hearts of the people, and expressed a -sentiment to which they were devoted, the case was far otherwise in our -own country. Imported here, it never rallied around it the sympathies -of the nation. Exasperating High Churchmen, it did not please the -Puritans. Many could not go so far as it went and many were anxious -to go much further still. Moderate Episcopalians were reluctant to -adopt it, because they were not prepared for the total abolition of -Episcopacy; and, on the other hand, many Independents disliked it, -because its condemnation of schism, they knew, was regarded in some -quarters as a condemnation of themselves. They were advocates for -a liberty and a toleration to which the spirit of the Covenant was -thoroughly opposed. That the Scotch should insist upon its adoption by -the English, and that the rulers of this country should accept the -condition, and endeavour to enforce it upon all their subjects, was -an unfortunate mistake, destined to be attended in some instances by -failure, in others by mischief, in all by disappointment. - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -The adoption of the Covenant by the Westminster Assembly will be in -the reader's remembrance; and to the subsequent proceedings of that -venerable body his attention is now to be directed. - -The Divines first met in Henry the Seventh's Chapel. That stone -building, pleasantly cool in summer, became too cold for them as autumn -drew on. They then, by order of Parliament, adjourned to the Jerusalem -Chamber.[413] "What place more proper for the building of Zion, as -they propounded it," asks Fuller, "than the Chamber of Jerusalem, the -fairest of the Dean's lodgings where King Henry IV. died?" Romance -and poetry, through the pens of Fabian and Shakespeare, have thrown -their hues over this memorable room; other and higher associations now -belong to it as the birth-place of a confession of faith still dear to -the Church of Scotland, and as the spot where the Puritan advocates of -religious liberty fought one of its early and most earnest battles. - -[Sidenote: _The Westminster Assembly._] - -The Chamber adjoins the Abbey, at the south corner of the west front. -There is a painted window on the north side, and two plain ones give -light on the west. The walls are hung with tapestry, representing -the Circumcision, the Adoration of the Magi, and, apparently, the -Passage through the Wilderness. A portrait of Richard II.--generally -considered the oldest extant picture of an English sovereign--hangs at -the south end of the apartment; and a curiously-carved chimney-piece, -put up by Williams, Dean of Westminster, spans the fire-place. The room -was rather different in appearance at the time of the Assembly. The -situation of the fire-place was the same, and the mantel-piece had but -just been erected. The arras, however, was brought into the Chamber -after the coronation of James II., on which occasion it had been used -in the Abbey; and the portrait of Richard II. did not come there till -1755, when it was removed from the Abbey choir.[414] - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -Baillie paints the place and the Assembly as he saw it. Near the -door, and on both sides, were stages of seats; the Prolocutor's chair -being at the upper end, "on a frame." In chairs before him were the -assessors. Before them, through the length of the room, ran a long -table, at which sat the secretaries, taking notes. The house, says -Baillie, was well hung with tapestry, and a good fire blazed on -the hearth--"which is some dainty at London." Opposite the table, -to the right of the president, on the lowest of the three or four -rows of forms, appeared the Scotch Commissioners, Baillie himself a -conspicuous individual of the group. Behind were Parliament members -of the Assembly. On the left, running from the upper end to the -fire-place, and at the lower end, till they came round to the seats -of the Scotchmen, were forms for the Divines, which they occupied as -they pleased, each, however, commonly retaining the same spot. From the -chimney-piece to the door was an open passage; the Lords who now and -then dropped in, filling chairs round the fire. There must have been -plenty of room in the Chamber for the accommodation of the Assembly, as -ordinarily there were not present above threescore members. Everything -proceeded in perfect order, and each meeting commenced and closed -with prayer. As we read Baillie's description, we can see the Divines -divided into committees, can watch them preparing matters for the -Assembly, and can hear them speak without interruption, as each one -addresses the reverend Prolocutor. The harangues are long and learned, -and are well prepared beforehand with "replies," "duplies," "triplies." -Then comes the cry, "Question--question;" the scribe, Mr. Byfield, -immediately rises, approaches the chair, and places the proposition -in Dr. Twiss's hand, who asks, "As many as are in opinion that the -question is well in the stated proposition, let them say Aye;" "As many -as think otherwise, say No." Perhaps Ayes and Noes "be near equal;" -then the Prolocutor bids each side stand up, and Mr. Byfield counts. -When any one deviates from the point in hand, there are exclamations of -"Speak to order." Nobody is allowed to mention another by name, but he -must refer to him as "the reverend brother who lately or last spoke, on -this hand, on that side, above, or below." These methods of proceeding -deeply interested Robert Baillie, who, by his minute description of -them, greatly interests us. The Prolocutor, far too quiet a man for the -Scotch delegate, is represented by him as "very learned, but merely -bookish, and among the unfittest of all the company for any action; -so after the prayer he sits mute." This, most persons will think, a -chairman ought to do; but Baillie wished to have a President with more -zeal for Presbyterianism, and therefore he preferred Dr. Burgess--in -his estimation "a very active and sharp man," who supplied, so far as -was "decent, the Prolocutor's place."[415] - -[Sidenote: Members of the Assembly.] - -Twiss did not long retain the office which his modesty and infirmities -had made him reluctant to accept. He fell down one day in the -pulpit, and "was carried to his lodgings, where he languished about -a twelvemonth," and then expired, July the 20th, 1646.[416] His -preference of a contemplative to an active life appeared in his -exclamation after the attack which proved his death-stroke: "I shall -have at length leisure to follow my studies to all eternity," and -throughout he seems to have been as loyal as he was religious; for he -often wished the fire of contention might be extinguished, even if it -were in his own blood. A funeral in Westminster Abbey marked the public -opinion of his worth; and there Dr. Robert Harris preached a sermon for -him on Joshua i. 2, "Moses my servant is dead." The Assembly and the -House of Commons followed his remains to the grave. Mr. Charles Herle, -educated at Exeter College, Oxford, succeeded him in the office of -Prolocutor. - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -There was an overwhelming majority of Presbyterians in the Jerusalem -Chamber. Amongst the most eminent were Burgess and Calamy, Marshall and -Ash. In the notes of the Assembly's proceedings taken by Lightfoot, -these names repeatedly occur, together with the less familiar ones of -Herle, Seaman, Cawdry, and others. The Scotch Commissioners, Henderson -and Baillie--with whom were associated George Gillespie, a young man -of rich promise, and Samuel Rutherford, whose "Letters" on religious -subjects are well known--likewise took a prominent part in the debates. -It is proper here also to remember that Presbyterianism, predominant -in the Assembly, was at the time supreme in the Senate. All the -staunch Prelatists, and many moderate Episcopalians, had left the Long -Parliament in St. Stephen's Chapel to join Charles's mock Parliament at -Christ Church, Oxford. Advocates who exposed ecclesiastical abuses with -the view of simply reforming the old establishment had disappeared. Of -those who remained it would be uncandid to deny that some were sincere -converts to the new system; and it would be credulous to believe that -there were not others who, seeing which way the stream flowed, struck -in with the current. At any rate, a Presbyterian policy prevailed in -1644. Holles, Glynne, Maynard, Rudyard, Rouse, and Prynne, together -with Waller, Stapleton, and Massey, were the most distinguished members -of the party; yet, though possessing amongst them considerable ability -and learning, they were none of them men of great intellectual power or -of any political genius. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Assembly._] - -The Erastians, as they are called, must not be overlooked. John -Selden, already noticed, led the van, and his learning and reputation -made him a formidable opponent. To gain any advantage when breaking a -lance with such a person was counted a high distinction in theological -chivalry, and this honour has been duly emblazoned by Scotch heralds -more than once in favour of young George Gillespie, whom we have just -mentioned. The solid and industrious Bulstrode Whitelocke, and St. John, -"the dark-lantern man," helped to form a small body of reserve on the -same side, who, on special occasions, behaved themselves valorously -in the Westminster field. The chief Divine who thoroughly advocated -Erastianism was Thomas Coleman, Vicar of Blyton, in Lincolnshire, of -some considerable note in his own day. But a far greater man--acting, -however, only occasionally in connexion with the party--was the -renowned Dr. Lightfoot, who in rabbinical lore may be regarded as -equal, if not superior, to John Selden.[417] - -But another class, entertaining different views, claim our -attention: the five dissenting brethren--Nye, Goodwin, Bridge, -Burroughs, and Simpson.[418] - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -Philip Nye, a man of ability in some respects, and of bustling habits, -stands out as chief of the five. Zealous in his commendations of the -Covenant, he with equal zeal opposed Presbyterianism: the very thing -which, according to the fairest rules of interpretation, it must be -held to symbolize. He has been charged with disingenuousness; but -experience in the matter of subscription makes charitable people slow -to urge the charge. Those who vindicate subscription in "non-natural -senses" ought to be the last to fling a stone at Philip Nye; and those -who take the opposite side can hardly praise him for consistency of -conduct. How the Covenant could be adopted by any one professing -Independency is a puzzle, and the puzzle in Nye's case is the greater, -because, not content with quietly assenting to it as many others did, -he appears to have been a chief instrument in bringing it over the -border, and in enforcing it upon his companions. - -Thomas Goodwin surpassed Nye in learning and in other respects. -His writings present him to us as an accomplished theologian, and -a many-sided thinker, and shew that scarcely any forms of thought -in metaphysical divinity escaped his notice.[419] The breadth and -excursiveness of his reflective powers are the more remarkable when -viewed in connexion with his rigid Calvinism. He joined Philip Nye -in a preface to "Cotton's Keys," and in it expounded ecclesiastical -opinions, in accordance with those of the New England churches. - -[Sidenote: _Members of the Assembly._] - -William Bridge--once a Norwich clergyman, then a refugee in -Holland--won a reputation for learning as well as piety. His library, -well stocked with fathers, schoolmen, and critics, so attracted him, -that he rose at four o'clock both winter and summer, that he might have -time for reading these favourites. Being a man of broad sympathies, he -accustomed himself to enquiries beyond the range of his profession, and -boldly handled constitutional questions. Adopting the opinion, that -"the people formed the first subject and receptacle of civil power;" -an opinion which was the mainstay of the Parliament's policy, Bridge -shrunk not from declaring, "In case a prince shall neglect his trust, -so as not to preserve his subjects, but to expose them to violence, it -is no usurpation in them to look to themselves, but an exercise of that -power which was always their own."[420] He had suffered under Laud, -and knew what it was to walk in paths of confessorship, so that his -exhortations had no little power to comfort, when he said to his people -in trouble: "Certainly, if God's charge be your charge, your charge -shall be His charge, and being so, you have His bond that they shall -never want their daily bread." - -[Sidenote: 1643, September.] - -Jeremiah Burroughs seems to have possessed singular candour, modesty, -and moderation, and probably was the gentlest of the five; perhaps he -was not always quite consistent,[421] being no lover of controversy, -but a man who felt himself at home in devotional meditations. He died -before the Westminster Assembly broke up,[422] and one of the last -sermons which he preached was entitled "_Irenicum_, or an Attempt to -heal Divisions among Christians." - -Sydrach Simpson bore a character for learning, piety, and moderation -though at one time he was silenced by the Assembly, for differing from -them in matters of discipline. - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -The discussions in which the Independents engaged with their brethren, -turned upon the office of Apostles, the distinction between pastors and -teachers, the character of ruling elders, ordination, the election of -ministers, and the like; but their main controversy hinged on a deeper -question. The Presbyterians were anxious to meet the difficulties -felt by the Independents, so far as the establishment of one uniform -religion would allow; the former were prepared to permit in their large -and carefully ramified scheme of ecclesiastical government some little -liberty of action, provided that on the whole there was obedience to -the established system. Freedom from synodical censure upon certain -points was to be conceded to those who upon others submitted to -Presbyterian authority. The Assembly would build a huge cathedral -for the nation, with small side chapels here and there for the use -of certain crotchety people, who might privately pass in and out if -they would but always enter through the great door, and walk up the -main aisle. This is not what men, calling themselves 'Independent,' -have ever liked. The five dissenting brethren did not object to the -cathedral being built for those who wished it--but for their own parts, -they desired their own places of worship to be quite outside. - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -It will be instructive here to pause a moment, and to compare the -ground taken by the Independents in this controversy with that occupied -by other advocates of toleration of a different class at the same time. -Chillingworth, in his famous work on the "Religion of Protestants," -observes in a passage of singular eloquence, that the imposing of the -senses of men upon the words of God, and the laying of them upon the -conscience under penalty of death and damnation--involving the vain -conceit that we can speak of the things of God better than in the words -of God--is the only fountain of all the schisms of the Church, and -that which makes these schisms immortal. He brands the practice as the -common incendiary of Christendom, and that which tears into pieces, not -merely the coat, but the members of Christ. "Take away," he says, in -burning words, "these walls of separation, and all will quickly be one. -Take away this _persecuting_, _burning_, _cursing_, _damning_ of men, -for not subscribing to the _words of men_ as the words of God; require -of Christians only to believe Christ and to call no man Master but Him -only; let those leave claiming infallibility that have no title to it, -and let them that in their words disclaim it, disclaim it likewise in -their actions; in a word, take away tyranny, which is the devil's -instrument to support errors, and superstitions, and impieties, in the -several parts of the world, which could not otherwise long withstand -the power of truth--I say take away tyranny, and restore Christians -to their just and full liberty of captivating their understanding to -Scripture only; and as rivers, when they have a free passage, run -all to the ocean, so it may well be hoped, by God's blessing, that -universal liberty, thus moderated, may quickly reduce Christendom to -truth and unity."[423] - -John Hales, in his little tract on "Schism," complains that it has -been the common disease of Christians from the beginning, not to -content themselves with that measure of faith which God and Scriptures -have expressly afforded us, but to attempt devising things, of which -we have no light, either from reason or revelation; "neither have -they rested here, but upon pretence of Church authority (which is -none) or tradition (which for the most part is but feigned) they have -peremptorily concluded, and confidently imposed upon others a necessity -of entertaining conclusions of that nature; and, to strengthen -themselves, have broken out into divisions and factions, opposing man -to man, synod to synod, till the peace of the Church vanished, without -all possibility of recall." - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -The object of both these great reasoners was, without violating -conscience, to secure union. They aimed at comprehension, but it was -comprehension such as all Puritans condemned. Chillingworth would have -had "the public service of God conducted so that all who believe the -Scriptures and live accordingly, might without scruple, or honesty, -or protestation against any part, join in it;" and Hales went so -far as to say: He did not see that men of different opinions in -religion might not hold communion in sacred things, and both go to -one church. "Why may I not go," he asks, "if occasion require, to an -Arian Church, so there be no Arianism expressed in their liturgy? And -were liturgies, and public forms of service so framed as that they -admitted not of particular and private fancies, but contained only -such things as in which all Christians do agree, schisms on opinion -were utterly vanished." It is needless to say that this is a species -of latitudinarianism which most religious men would consider to be -inconsistent with a definite doctrinal belief. - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -The most remarkable treatise on the subject of toleration belonging -to that age is Jeremy Taylor's "Liberty of Prophesying." In point of -eloquence no other work of the kind can be compared with it; and though -defective it is still worthy, for the sake of its reasoning as well as -its rhetoric, to be a text book for the student of religious liberty. -The author dwells, in his own matchless way, on the difficulties of -Scripture, the uncertainty of tradition, the insufficiency of councils, -the fallibility of popes and fathers, the incompetency of the Church, -in its "diffusive character," to be judge of controversies, and the -impertinence of any pretence to such a possession of the spirit as -preserves from error. Reason is pronounced the best interpreter, and, -though some causes of error in the exercise of reason are culpable, -many are innocent.[424] - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -To base toleration on the uncertainty of truth is a very insecure -method of proceeding. The alliance of scepticism damages the cause -of freedom. Colour is given to the charge, that religious liberty -springs from religious indifference. It has cost two centuries of -experience and discipline to indoctrinate society with the lesson, -that the decision of religious questions without any imposition of -human authority is a right of conscience; and that the more earnest -we are in the love of truth, the more careful we should be not to -sully its sanctity by the unrighteous enforcement of its principles. -Taylor fought manfully for freedom, but he did not see the highest -vantage ground within his reach. Moreover, in his Essay, comprehension -within the Church often seems confounded with religious liberty in the -State. No clear distinction is maintained between principles which -regulate the one, and principles which vindicate the other. Yet the -reader of the treatise may pick out and sort them, for there they are. -Taylor teaches the doctrine--that the duty of faith is completed in -believing the Articles of the Apostles' Creed; that to multiply tests -of orthodoxy and to require assent to points of doubtful disputation -"is to build a tower on the top of a bulrush;" and "that the further -the effect of such proceedings doth extend, the worse they are." With -an amiable self-delusion, characteristic of his pure and child-like -nature, he dreamed of a church, combining all varieties of belief -consistent with faith in the fundamental verities of the gospel. -Though protesting against persecution, he contended for discipline, -but confined excommunication simply to an act of spiritual severance. -It is difficult to catch exactly what he means by "communicating with -dissenting churches"--yet the tone of his remarks, and his reference -to the Greek Church, prevent us from supposing that he used the -appellation in the way it is commonly employed at present. The division -of kingdoms seems to have been with him the only justification of a -division of churches; and probably his theory of a national church -would not be very different from Dr. Arnold's. He, at the same time, -claims toleration for all _opinions_, not expressed in overt acts -injurious to the State; and though he hampers his principle with -certain qualifications, which threaten the civil rights of some persons -hostile to Christianity, yet his views, if consistently carried out -in his own gentle and charitable spirit, would leave little to be -complained of by any one. On the whole, Jeremy Taylor was fuller and -more satisfactory in his views of comprehension and liberty than was -either Chillingworth or Hales. - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -Dr. Ralph Cudworth and Dr. Henry More, though they did not propound -any theory of toleration, advocated principles and breathed a spirit -in their teaching such as could not fail to promote the interests of -religious liberty. There is a beautiful sermon by the former of these -Divines preached before the House of Commons, in 1647, in which the -following characteristic passage occurs:--"The golden beams of truth -and the silken cords of love, twisted together, will draw men on with -a sweet violence, whether they will or no. Let us take heed we do not -sometimes call that zeal for God and His Gospel, which is nothing else -but our own temptations and stormy passions. True zeal is a sweet, -heavenly, and gentle flame, which makes us active for God, but always -within the sphere of love. It never calls for fire from heaven to -consume those that differ a little from us in their apprehensions. It -is like that kind of lightning (which the philosophers speak of) which -melts the sword within, but singeth not the scabbard. It strives to -save the soul, but hurteth not the body."[425] - -More, who went beyond Cudworth in decided attachment to Episcopacy; -sharing in the spirit of his great contemporary, strongly condemned -rancour and persecution. "He thought," observes his biographer, "that -all persons making conscience of their ways, and that were themselves -peaceable and for granting a liberty unto others, ought not to be -severely used or persecuted, but borne with as befits weak members till -God shall give them greater light."[426] - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -The groundwork of toleration selected by the Independents differed -from that of the Episcopalians. The Independents had ideas of -Christian faith, Christian worship, and Christian discipline far more -definite and fixed than those of Chillingworth or Hales, or even -Taylor; and could not join in any acts or associations inconsistent -with their deeply-formed and devout opinions. Arianism, for example, -might be deemed simply an intellectual error by men like Hales; but -no Athanasian could be stronger in his maintenance of the doctrine -of the Trinity, and the importance attached to it, than were these -dissenting brethren. They were as remote as possible from anything like -latitudinarian theology. Christian dogmas, so called, were held by them -with an intense tenacity. Toleration is sometimes reckoned a daughter -of indifference, but most certainly in their case toleration can be -ascribed to no such parentage. Moreover, the very general kind of -devotion in the house of God which would have satisfied Chillingworth, -would have starved the spiritual cravings of Jeremiah Burroughs and his -companions. - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -Nor did the brethren wish for only one church, as did those eminent -Episcopalians. They could not, for it was their primary principle -that "churches" or "congregations"--with them identical terms--ought -to be many. In the existence of one holy Catholic Church, embracing -all true Christians, they firmly believed; but they held in perfect -consistency with this, that there must be numerous and distinct -organized communities, not only in the world, but in the same realm, -to be united only by common Christian sympathies. On this point they -would be at issue with Jeremy Taylor, as well as with Chillingworth and -Hales. They would object to his notion of national churches, as well as -to his standard of Christian faith. Their ideas of communion were much -more strict, though the extent of their toleration in some respects was -more comprehensive. With Taylor's Catholic predilections they would -have no sympathy, nor could they agree with him in all he said about -Anabaptists. When they came to the same conclusion with the eloquent -Churchman, it was by a different course of reasoning. - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -The fundamental principles of Independency, consistently carried out, -could not but lead to the advocacy of a perfect freedom of profession -and worship. If churches be select communities composed of Christian -believers, standing apart from political powers, and independent of -each other in their organization, then it clearly follows that no -ecclesiastical authority can touch those who are outside the pale of -all particular churches that no temporal penalties can be inflicted -on those who are within any such pale and that full liberty of action -must be allowed to religionists of every class, and to those also who -have no religion at all. Accordingly, Mr. Hallam, an unprejudiced -enquirer into this subject, has declared that "the congregationalist -scheme leads to toleration, as the national church scheme is adverse to -it, for manifold reasons which the reader will discover."[427] A few -Independents at an early period discerned the legitimate consequences -of their principles. A Brownist petition prepared in the year 1640 -prays, "that every man may have freedom of conscience," not excepting -Papists; and in a pamphlet published in 1644 it is asked, "whether if -security be taken for civil subjection, Papists might not be tolerated? -Otherwise," it is added, "if England's government were the government -of the whole world, not only they, but a world of idolaters of all -sorts, yea the whole world, must be driven out of the world."[428] But -the five brethren did not advocate the cause of liberty to that wide -extent; and afterwards, during the civil wars and the Protectorate, -many Independent Divines, including the leaders of the party, carefully -limited their conception of religious freedom.[429] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -But there was one Independent clergyman--John Goodwin--not a member of -the Westminster Assembly--who with pre-eminent perspicuity and force -expounded the doctrine of toleration. Justice has not been often done -to this very able man, owing, perhaps, to the prejudice against him -on account of his Arminianism, and to his bold defence of Charles's -execution. Calvinists and Royalists were likely to look at him with -jaundiced eyes; and it cannot be denied that when assailed, as he often -was, Goodwin could give a Roland for an Oliver; and that in a way such -as severely galled the victims of his criticism.[430] He remained until -1645 vicar of St. Stephen's, Coleman Street, and at the commencement -of the sittings of the Westminster Assembly, though suspected by -some of holding Calvinism very loosely, he had not yet entirely -abandoned that system. Open and earnest in his advocacy of Independent -principles, defending them both from the pulpit and from the press, -he also, whilst remaining vicar and discharging his parochial duties, -gathered in his parish an Independent church; not, however, preaching -separately to that community, but in his more private relationship as -an Independent pastor, praying and holding religious conversation with -them in his own house--whilst the doors were thrown open for any one to -attend the meetings who pleased. - -Goodwin heartily approved of the "Narration," though he had no part in -the composition of that performance, and when it came under the attack -of Presbyterians, he broke a lance on its behalf with the assailants, -in a very chivalrous fashion. We do not remember any other statement of -the doctrine of toleration in the writings of the Independents of that -day so unequivocal as his, expressed in the following words:[431] - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -"The grand pillar of this coercive power in magistrates is this angry -argument: 'What, would you have all religions, sects, and schisms -tolerated in Christian churches? Should Jews, Turks, and Papists be -suffered in their religions, what confusion must this needs breed both -in church and state!' I answer: If, by a toleration, the argument means -either an approbation or such a connivance which takes no knowledge -of, or no ways opposeth such religions, sects, or schisms as are -unwarrantable, they are not to be tolerated; but orthodox and able -ministers ought in a grave, sober, and inoffensive manner, soundly -from the Scriptures to evince the folly, vanity, and falsehood of all -such ways. Others, also, that have an anointing of light and knowledge -from God, are bound to contribute occasionally the best of their -endeavours towards the same end. In case the minister be negligent, -or forgetful of his duty, the magistrate may and ought to admonish -him that he fulfil his ministry. If a person, one or more, being -members of a particular church, be infected with any heretical or -dangerous opinion, and after two or three admonitions, with means of -conviction used to regain him, shall continue obstinate, he ought to -be cast out from amongst them by that church. If it be a whole church -that is so corrupted, the neighbour churches, in case it hath any, -ought to admonish it, and to endeavour the reclaiming of it. If it be -refractory, after competent admonition and means used for the reducing -of it, they may and ought to renounce communion with it, and so set a -mark or brand of heresy upon the forehead of it. - -If, by a toleration, the argument means a non-suppression of such -religions, sects, and schisms by fining, imprisoning, disfranchising, -banishment, death, or the like, my answer is--_That they ought to be -tolerated; only upon this supposition, that the professors of them be -otherwise peaceable in the state, and every way subject to the laws and -lawful power of the magistrate_."[432] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -There is a good deal of controversy as to who was first in the field -of toleration. The honour most likely belongs to Leonard Busher. He -will be noticed hereafter in connection with the early Baptists. But -the controversy is of little importance in relation to the general -interests of mankind, compared with the fact that John Locke, at a -later period, was the apostle to teach the doctrine effectively to the -English nation. He discovers who proves, and the merit of discovery -is due to him who first establishes a principle; but he, who adopting -what was established before, is more successful in his advocacy of -it than his predecessors were, will and ought to be regarded as a -superior benefactor of his race, though he may have attributed to him -more of the merit of originality than he deserves. Locke brought the -doctrine of toleration out of the domain of theology, and placed it on -the basis of political righteousness;[433] he established it by common -sense reasoning adapted to the English understanding; besides, he did -this in the exercise of a peculiar and independent genius; and, what -is a more important consideration, his contemporaries were prepared -for his instructions by preceding struggles and by possessing already -an instalment of legal toleration. Locke is to be distinguished from -Busher, Goodwin, and Owen, and from Chillingworth, Hales, and Taylor. -He comes more in a line with the first than with the second three -names; but he did what they had none of them the power to do--he made -the doctrine popular. A parallel may be drawn in this respect between -the history of the principle of government non-interference with a man -and his conscience, and the principle of government non-interference -with commercial interests and the natural laws of demand and supply. -Long after the discovery and illustration of the latter principle, -a great statesman made plain to the common understanding of his -fellow-countrymen what had been before apprehended by only a few -philosophers. John Locke occupies a position in the history of -toleration like that of Richard Cobden in the history of free trade. - -After all, the Independents must be reckoned the chief and most -influential of the early apostles of toleration, and to their rise and -progress we shall direct attention in the following chapter. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XIV. - - -[Sidenote: _Early Congregational Churches._] - -A Congregational Church existed in London so early as 1568. It -consisted of poor people, numbering about 200, "of more women than -men," who openly separated from the Establishment, and sometimes in -private houses, sometimes in fields, and occasionally even in ships, -held meetings, and administered the sacraments.[434] Some of these -early Independents were sent to Bridewell. In a declaration signed -by Richard Fitz, the pastor, occurs the following brief statement -of principles:--"First and foremost, the glorious Word and Evangel -preached, not in bondage and subjection, but freely and purely; -secondly, to have the sacraments ministered purely only, and altogether -according to the institution and good word of the Lord Jesus, without -any tradition or invention of man; and, last of all, to have, not the -filthy canon law, but discipline only, and altogether agreeable to the -same heavenly and almighty word of our good Lord Jesus Christ."[435] -In these quaint words of Richard Fitz, and his obscure brethren, lie -folded up the great truth that the Christian religion is simply a moral -power, based on a Divine foundation, not asking, because not needing, -support from political governments, or aid from physical force. These -humble men really believed that Jesus Christ established His empire -upon the consent and not the fears of man, "and trusted Himself -defenceless among mankind."[436] Not caring for earthly sanctions, they -threw themselves on the world with only Heaven for their protector. -Through Christian faith they did what at the time they could not -comprehend, being utterly unconscious of the importance of the act -which they performed. - -This Church in London existed before the well-known Robert Browne -appeared as the advocate of advanced Nonconformist views. In 1571 he -was cited on that account before the commissioners at Lambeth; and -ten years later the Bishop of Norwich, in a letter to Lord Burleigh, -referred to him as a person "to be feared, lest if he were at liberty -he would seduce the vulgar sort of the people, who greatly depend on -him." - -[Sidenote: 1581.] - -Burleigh said in reply:--[437] - -"I understand that one Browne, a preacher, is by your lordship and -others of the Ecclesiastical Commission committed to the custody of -the Sheriff of Norfolk, where he remains a prisoner, for some matters -of offence uttered by him by way of preaching; wherein I perceive, -by sight of some letters, written by certain godly preachers in your -lordship's diocese, he hath been dealt with, and by them dissuaded from -that course he hath taken. Forasmuch as he is my kinsman, if he be son -to him whom I take him to be, and that his error seemeth to proceed -of zeal, rather than of malice, I do therefore wish he were charitably -conferred with and reformed; which course I pray your lordship may -be taken with him, either by your lordship, or such as your lordship -shall assign for that purpose. And in case there shall not follow -thereof such success as may be to your liking, that then you would be -content to permit him to repair hither to London, to be further dealt -with, as I shall take order for, upon his coming; for which purpose -I have written a letter to the sheriff, if your lordship shall like -thereof."[438] - -[Sidenote: _Congregationalism--Robert Browne._] - -Sir Robert Jermyn, in a letter to Burleigh (1581), alludes to Browne -as a man who "had many things that were godly and reasonable, and, as -he thought, to be wished and prayed for, but with the same there were -other things strange and unheard." He further begged the Lord Treasurer -to advise Browne to be more careful in his conduct, and to threaten him -with sharp censure as an example to others, since he was but a mere -youth in age and experience. The Bishop of Norwich, also, writing to -the Lord Treasurer about this troublesome clergyman, observed "that -Mr. Browne's late coming into his diocese, and teaching strange and -dangerous doctrine in all disordered manner, had greatly troubled the -whole country, and brought many to great disobedience of all law and -magistrates--that yet, by the good aid and help of the Lord Chief -Justice, and Master Justice Anderson, his associate, the chiefest of -such factions were so bridled, and the rest of their followers so -greatly dismayed, as he verily hoped of much good and quietness to have -thereof ensued, had not the said Browne returned again contrary to his -expectation, and greatly prejudiced those their good proceedings, -and having private meetings in such close and secret manner that he -knew not possibly how to suppress the same."[439] Browne, at length, -through the influence of his illustrious relative, succumbed to the -ecclesiastical authority which before he had daringly resisted, -and became master of St. Olave's Grammar-school, in Southwark. His -subsequent career covered him with disgrace. He had a wife with whom -for many years he never lived, a church in which he never preached, -and the circumstances of his death, like the scenes of his life, were -stormy and turbulent.[440] Whatever sympathy with some of Browne's -principles might be felt by the Independents of the next age, they -repudiated any connection with Browne's name, and held his character -and history in the utmost abhorrence. - -[Sidenote: 1583.] - -Browne's influence told considerably in the Eastern Counties, where -a strong leaven of ultra-Protestantism has existed ever since the -Lollard days. Even Kett's rebellion, often treated as a Roman Catholic -outbreak, looks more like a peasants' war in aid of the Reformation -than anything else. Bury St. Edmunds, where Brownism flourished, -witnessed the death of Copping and Thacker, two Congregational -martyrs, hanged in 1583. In Essex, a movement which looked like -Congregationalism won some measure of sympathy from the upper classes, -and even the wife of Sir Nicholas Bacon, Lord Keeper of the Great -Seal, attended meetings held in Rochford Hall by Mr. Wright, who had -been ordained in the Netherlands. Writing to Lord Burleigh, that lady -observed, "I hear, them in their public exercises, as a chief duty -commanded by God to be done, and also I confess, as one that hath -found mercy, that I have profited more in the inward feeling knowledge -of God his holy will, though but in a small measure, by such sincere -and sound opening of the Scriptures by an ordinary preaching within -these seven or eight year, than I did by hearing odd sermons at Paul's -well nigh twenty year together."[441] - -It is a curious circumstance to find Lord Bacon's mother connected -with a minister who maintained, as Wright did, that every pastor was a -bishop, and that he should be chosen by his own congregation, opinions -which constitute the essence of modern Congregationalism. From these -opinions the ecclesiastical authorities sought to convert him by -imprisonment; and with that forcible argument another was associated, -which is so original that we cannot resist the temptation of quoting -it. Mr. Barwick, a conforming clergyman, commended to Wright the Church -of England as a church most admirable on account of its being free from -the two opposite extremes of Popery and Puritanism. "God delights in -mediocrity," says this logician, and the logic is worth being noted for -its curiosity: "Man was put in the _midst_ of Paradise; a rib was taken -out of the _midst_ of man; the Israelites went through the _midst_ -of the Red Sea, and of Jordan; Samson put firebrands in the _midst_, -between the foxes' tails; David's men had their garments cut off by -the _midst_; Christ was hanged in the _midst_ between two thieves." - -[Sidenote: _Congregationalism--Henry Browne._] - -Perhaps Henry Barrowe,--a lawyer of Gray's Inn, and in his young days -a courtier,--of all men in the reign of Elizabeth, propounded the -clearest views of Congregationalism. He strongly objected to forms -of prayer, especially the Common Prayer Book; to the sacraments, as -administered in the Church of England; to the ecclesiastical laws and -canons; to the idea that the establishment was a true church; to the -extent of the Queen's ecclesiastical supremacy, and to the abolition -of the judicial law of Moses. He denied that it was lawful for any -private person to intermeddle with the prince's office, and to reform -the State without his good liking and licence; but he virtually -admitted the right of private Christians to share in the regulation of -ecclesiastical matters: for he expressly contended that the government -of Christ's Church belongeth not to the profane or unbelieving, neither -could it, he said, without manifest sacrilege, be set over parishes -as they then stood in confusion, no difference being made between the -faithful and unbelieving, all being indifferently received into the -body of the Church; but over every particular congregation of Christ -he concluded that there ought to be an eldership, and that every such -congregation ought to aim at its establishment.[442] - -[Sidenote: 1593.] - -In 1592 a Church was formed in Nicholas Lane. Spies were on the look -out, and a wary doorkeeper admitted the little congregation as they -stealthily dropped in one by one. Mr. Francis Johnson and Mr. Greenwood -were of the number. The first of these rose and prayed for half an -hour, and, opening his Genevan Bible, discoursed to the assembly -on the constitution of primitive brotherhood. The brethren formed -themselves into such a communion, and gave to each other the right hand -of fellowship. Mr. Johnson was chosen pastor, after which he baptized -seven persons. "But they had neither godfathers nor godmothers; and -he took water and washed the faces of them that were baptized." He -afterwards broke the bread, consisting of five white loaves, which, -with a cup of wine, were distributed amongst the members by Mr. Bowman -and Mr. Lee, who had been elected deacons: after which a collection was -made for the poor.[443] - -Not only in Nicholas Lane, but in Aldgate and Smithfield, were -gatherings of this description, and especially in Islington, where -meetings of persecuted Protestants had been held in Mary's reign. As -the dew sparkled on the grass, as the birds twittered on the hedges, -and as the sun bathed the landscape in golden light--the memories of -the congregation in the Islington woods would go back to Roger Holland -and his brother confessors, who on that very greensward, and under the -shadow of those old trees, had studied their Bibles, and then been -burned for doing so. - -[Sidenote: _Barrowe and Browne._] - -Barrowe and Greenwood were indicted at the Old Bailey, in 1593, for -publishing seditious books, but from the examination preserved in the -Egerton papers,[444] it appears that the specific accusations against -them related simply to religious opinions. - -By a refinement of cruelty these poor men were conveyed to -Tyburn in the death-cart--to receive a delusive respite under the -gallows-tree--to be brought back again to Newgate--and when they -had thought that the bitterness of death was past, to be a second -time dragged to the place of execution, to return no more. This -extraordinary proceeding, which at first looks like a piece of -intentional barbarity, receives its explanation from a contemporary -letter in the State Paper Office. - -[Sidenote: 1609.] - -"The Parliament is to end this week. * * * There was a bill preferred -against the Barrowists and Brownists, making it felony to maintain -any opinions against the ecclesiastical government, [which by the -bishops' means did pass the Upper House, but found so captious by the -Nether House, as it was thought it would never have passed in any -sort, for that it was thought all the Puritans would have been drawn -within the compass thereof. Yet by the earnest labouring of those that -sought to satisfy the bishops' humours,] it is passed to this effect: -That whosoever shall be an obstinate recusant, refusing to come to -any church, and do deny the Queen to have any power or authority in -ecclesiastical causes, and do, by writing or otherwise, publish the -same, and be a keeper of conventicles also, being convicted, he shall -abjure the realm within three months, and lose all his goods and -lands; if he return without leave it shall be felony. Thus have they -minced it, as is thought, so as it will not reach to any man that -shall deserve favour in a concurrence of so many faults and actions. -The week before, upon the late conventicle you wrote of last, Barrowe -and Goodman,[445] with some others, were indicted, arraigned, and -condemned upon the statute of writing and publishing seditious books, -and should have been executed, but as they were ready to be trussed -up were reprieved, but the day after, the Court House had shewn -their dislike of this bill, were early in the morning hanged. It is -said 'their reprieval proceeded of [a supplication made to the Lord -Treasurer, complaining that in a land where no Papist was touched for -religion by death, their blood (concurring in opinion touching faith -with that which was professed in the realm) should be first shed. -Desiring, therefore, conference to be removed from their errors by -reason, or else for satisfaction of the world, touching their opinions, -which was communicated by him to the Archbishop of Canterbury, who, -notwithstanding, was very peremptory, so as the Lord Treasurer gave -him and the Bishop of Worcester some round taxing words, and used some -speech to the Queen, but was not seconded by any, which hath made him -more remiss, as is thought. It is plainly said that their execution, -proceeding of malice of the bishops, to spite the Nether House, which -hath procured them much hatred among the common people affected that -way."][446] * * * * - -John Penry, another Congregational martyr--who uttered the following -memorable words:--"If my blood were an ocean sea, and every drop -thereof were a life unto me, I would give them all, by the help of the -Lord, for the maintenance of my confession"--perished on the gallows -for the advocacy of his opinions, as if he had been the worst of -criminals, at a place in Southwark called St. Thomas-a-Watering. Roger -Rippon, of the same religious profession as Penry, died in prison; -and his friends, moved by intense sympathy with the sufferer, and -by indignation against his unmerited fate, paraded before the house -of Justice Young (the magistrate who had committed him) the coffin -containing the sufferer's remains, on the lid of which appeared -the following inscription:--"This is the corpse of Roger Rippon, a -servant of Christ, and her Majesty's faithful subject; who is the -last of sixteen or seventeen, which that great enemy of God, the -Archbishop of Canterbury, with his High Commissioners, have murdered -in Newgate within these four years, manifestly for the testimony of -Jesus Christ. His soul is now with the Lord, and his blood crieth for -speedy vengeance against that great enemy of the saints, and against -Mr. Richard Young, who in this and many the like points hath abused -his power, for the upholding of the Romish Antichrist, prelacy, and -priesthood."[447] - -[Sidenote: _Congregationalism--Jacob._] - -[Sidenote: 1632, May.] - -Henry Jacob is a commanding figure in Congregational annals.[448] -Originally a clergyman in the county of Kent, he had written in -defence of the Church of England, but afterwards, perhaps influenced -by an answer to his book from the pen of Francis Johnson, a zealous -separatist, he warmly espoused the cause of Nonconformity.[449] To him -has been attributed a tract, published in 1609, entitled: "An Humble -Supplication for Toleration and Liberty to enjoy and observe the -Ordinances of Jesus Christ in the Administration of His Churches in -lieu of Human Constitutions." In this publication it is maintained, -that "our Lord Jesus hath given to each particular church or ordinary -congregation this right and privilege, namely, to elect, ordain, and -deprive her own ministers; and to exercise all the other parts of -lawful ecclesiastical jurisdiction under Him." Toleration is sought -in order that "each particular church may put in execution this her -particular privilege;" but, the writer adds: "We do humbly beseech -your Majesty not to think, that by our suit, we make an overture and -way for toleration unto Papists, our suit being of a different nature -from theirs. The inducements thereof, such as cannot conclude aught in -favour of them, whose doctrine is heresy, and a profession directly -contrary to the lawful state and government of free countries and -kingdoms, as your Majesty hath truly and judiciously observed."[450] - -In other tracts which bear Henry Jacob's name,[451] he explained his -views of Independency, and in accordance with them he founded a church -in the year 1616. The ceremony connected with the institution is -described as consisting of fasting and prayer, and the joining together -of the hands of the members as they solemnly covenanted to walk -together in all God's ways and ordinances, according as He had already -revealed them, or should further make them known. Jacob was succeeded -in the pastorship of the Congregational Church by John Lathrop,[452] -who suffered from the tyranny of the High Commission Court. With -reference to the proceedings carried on against him and certain members -of his flock, some fresh information may be gathered from one of the -Rawlinson MSS. As it illustrates both the extent to which private -meetings of the Separatists were carried, and the interruption which -they experienced, we will here introduce a few passages from that -curious document. - -[Sidenote: _Persecution of Congregationalists._] - -On the 2nd of May, 1632, certain conventiclers, as they are called, -were taken at the house of Barnett, a brewer's clerk, residing at -Blackfriars.[453] At first John Lathrop, who is described as their -minister, did not appear, "but kept himself out of the way awhile; -therefore the man of the house wherein they were taken, was first -called." He was asked when he last attended the parish church? He -replied that he was present in the parish church at the time when, -according to the allegation, the meeting was held at his house, but -that his wife did not then attend worship with him. The accused persons -were all required to take the _ex officio_ oath, but they excused -themselves from doing so at least for the present, and requested time -for further consideration of that subject. Archbishop Abbot addressed -them as follows:-- - -[Sidenote: 1632, May.] - -"You shew yourselves most unthankful to God, to the King, and to the -Church of England, that when (God be praised) through his Majesty's -care and ours you have preaching in every church, and men have -liberty to join in prayer and participate of the sacraments, and have -catechisings, and all to enlighten you, and which may serve you in -the way of salvation, you in an unthankful manner cast off all this -yoke, and in private unlawfully assemble yourselves together, making -rents and divisions in the Church. If anything be amiss, let it be -known; if anything be not agreeable to the Word of God, we shall be -as ready to redress it as you; but whereas it is nothing but your own -imaginations, and you are unlearned men that seek to make up a religion -of your own heads, I doubt no persuasion will serve the turn, we must -take this course; you are called here, let them stand upon their bonds, -and let us see what they will answer; it may be they will answer what -may please us." Laud, then Bishop of London, proceeded to observe, in -a very characteristic manner--"It is time to take notice of these; nay -this is not the fourth part of them about this City. You see these came -of set purpose; they met not by chance; they are desperately heretical; -they are all of different places, out of Essex, St. Austin's, St. -Martin's le Grand, Buttolph's, Aldgate, Thisleworth, (Isleworth) St. -Saviour's; let these be imprisoned. Let me make a motion. There be -four of the ablest men of them; let these four answer and be proceeded -against, and the while if the rest come in, they shall be received, -but if they will not, I know no reason why four or five men should not -answer for all." - -When Lathrop was present before the Commissioners, the Bishop, after -having asked some very insulting questions, demanded, "Where are your -orders?" to which Lathrop replied--"I am a minister of the Gospel of -Christ, and the Lord hath qualified me." "Will you lay your hand on -the book, and take your oath?" enquired the Court; to which question -the minister returned a distinct negative. The following curious -conversation between the Commissioners and certain accused parties is -worth being transcribed. Eaton, together with "two women and a maid," -appeared, and were asked by the Court why they were assembled in a -conventicle, when others were at church? - -[Sidenote: _Persecution of Congregationalists._] - -_Eaton._ "We were not assembled in contempt of the magistrate." - -_London._ "No! it was in contempt of the Church of England." - -_Eaton._ "It was in conscience to God (may it please this Honourable -Court); and we were kept from church, for we were confined in the house -together by those that beset the house, else divers would have gone to -church, and many came in after the sermons were done." - -_London._ "These were first discovered at Lambeth, and then at other -places, and now taken here; they have in their meetings books printed -against the Church of England." - -_Archbishop of Canterbury._ "Where were you in the mornings before you -came hither to this house?" - -[_Eaton._] "We were in our own families." - -_Canterbury._ "What did you?" - -_Eaton._ "We read the Scriptures, and catechised our families; and may -it please this honourable Court to hear us speak the truth, we will -shew you what was done, and (free us of the contempt of authority) we -did nothing but what you will allow us to do." - -_London._ "Who can free you? These are dangerous men; they are a -scattered company sown in all the City, and about St. Michael of the -Querne, St. Austin's, Old Jury, Redriffe, and other remoter places. -Hold them the book." - -_Eaton._ "I dare not swear, nor take this oath, though I will not -refuse it; I will consider of it." - -_Sir Henry Marten._[454] "Hear, hear! You shall swear but to answer -what you know, and as far as you are bound by law. You shall have time -to consider of it, and have it read over and over till you can say it -without book if you will; when you have first taken your oath that you -will make a true answer." - -[Sidenote: 1632, May.] - -_Eaton._ "I dare not; I know not what I shall swear to." - -_King's Advocate._[455] "It is to give a true answer to articles put -into the Court against you, or that shall be put in touching this -conventicle of yours, and divers your heretical tenets, and what words -and exercises you used, and things of this nature." - -_Eaton._ "I dare not." - -_Archbishop of Canterbury._ "What say you, woman?" - -_Sara Jones._ "I dare not worship God in vain." - -_Bishop of London._ "Will you not swear and take an oath when you are -called to it by the magistrate?" - -_S. Jones._ "Yes! I will answer upon my oath to end a controversy -before a lawful magistrate." - -_Earl of Dorset._ "What dost thou think, woman, of these grave Fathers -of the Church, that these here be not lawful magistrates?" - -[_S. Jones._] "I would do anything that is according to God's word." - -[_Richard Neile_] _Archbishop of York._ "Would you? then you must take -your oath now you are required by your governors; you must swear in -truth, in judgment, in righteousness." - -[Sidenote: _Persecution of Congregationalists._] - -_S. Jones._ "Yes, and they that walk in righteousness shall have peace; -but I dare not forswear myself." - -_Canterbury._ "Come, what say you?" - -_Pennina Howes_ (a maid). "I dare not swear this oath till I am better -informed of it, for which I desire time." - -_Sir Henry Marten._ "Must you not be ready to give an account of your -faith?" - -_P. Howes._ "Yes! I will give an answer of my faith if I be demanded, -but not willingly forswear myself." - -_King's Advocate._ "What, will you take your oath, good woman?" - -_Sara Barbone._ "I dare not swear; I do not understand it; I will tell -the truth without swearing." - -_Archbishop of Canterbury._ "Take them away." - -So they were all committed to the New Prison. And it was appointed that -at the next Court, being a fortnight after this, because of Ascension -Day, they should be brought again to the Consistory at St. Paul's, -because of trouble and danger in bringing so many prisoners as these -were over the water to Lambeth. - -These people were immediately committed to the New Prison; and on the -8th of the same month (May) they were brought up again before the -same tribunal, when again they declined to take the obnoxious oath. -On the 7th of June, it was reported to the Court that some of the -conventiclers had escaped; and on the 17th more persons were arraigned, -who had been seized at a meeting held in a wood near Newington, in -Surrey. These also refused to be sworn, after which the Bishop of -London and the Archbishop of Canterbury repeated their expostulations. -The High Commission, on the 21st, had brought before it Ralf Grafton, -an upholsterer, dwelling in Cornhill, and reported to be a rich man, -charged with being a principal ringleader of "those conventiclers that -met at Blackfriars." Upon his declaring, "I dare not take the oath, -and I am no ringleader of any to evil," the Archbishop said: "You met -without law; you had no authority; _pœna ad paucos_, _metus ad -omnes_; wherefore, the Court, for his contempt in refusing to take the -oath, set a fine of two hundred pounds upon him, and committed him to -prison." Grafton replied: "I have bail here ready, if you please to -take it; I do tender it to you." Upon this the Bishops exclaimed: "No; -away with him to prison; if he come not in by the day of mitigation, -let the fine stand!"[456] - -[Sidenote: 1630.] - -In connection with these notices of persecution endured by frequenters -of conventicles, we may present the following picture of their method -of worship, as depicted by one of their enemies in that style of minute -and graphic detail which so characteristically marks the narrative -of events given by common people in the sixteenth and seventeenth -centuries:--"To shew the manner of their assembling, or dissembling, -in that house where they intend to meet, there is one appointed to -keep the door, for the intent to give notice if there should be any -insurrection, warning may be given to them. They do not flock together, -but come two or three in a company. Any man may be admitted thither, -and all being gathered together, the man appointed to teach stands in -the midst of the room, and his audience gather about him. He prayeth -about the space of half an hour; and part of his prayer is, that those -which came thither to scoff and laugh, God would be pleased to turn -their hearts, by which means they think to escape undiscovered. His -sermon is about the space of an hour, and then doth another stand -up, to make the text more plain; and at the latter end he entreats -them all to go home severally, lest the next meeting they should be -interrupted by those which are of the opinion of the wicked. They seem -very steadfast in their opinions, and say, rather than they will turn, -they will burn."[457] - -[Sidenote: _Independents and Brownists._] - -Though certain Independents of the seventeenth century disavowed all -connection with the Brownists, that name was often applied to them; -and in some instances it is difficult to decide whether by the title -we are to understand persons whose origin might be traced to the -teaching of Cecil's relative, or persons who had been made converts by -more recent apostles of Independency.[458] Allusions are discovered -in the Corporation Records of Yarmouth for the years 1629 and 1630 to -Brownists then living in that town. The Earl of Dorset, writing in the -latter of these years to the bailiffs, aldermen, and commonalty, after -a reference to the party spirit prevalent in the borough, observes: -"I should want in my good care of you if I should not let you know -that his Majesty is not only informed, but incensed against you for -conniving at and tolerating a company of _Brownists_ amongst you. I -pray you remember there was no seam in our Saviour's garment. _Root out -that pestiferous sect forth from your town; they are as dangerous to -the soul as the plague is to the body._ But I know not whether in this -you be traduced, as well as (I am sure) you have been in other things. -They are arrows shot forth from the same quiver, and drawn by the same -hands; and perhaps the mark aimed at through that false perspective -is but to place in his Majesty an ill opinion of you. If you be -innocent, let me know, and I shall endeavour to clear you. Howsoever, -I pray, give testimony of your obedience and good zeal to religion in -_chasing those companions from your society. God cannot prosper you -while they live amongst you, and you willingly protect and harbour -them_; and I am sure it will alienate his Majesty's respect from you -and enforce him to take some course against you, when you shall so -neglect your duties in that kind."[459] - -[Sidenote: 1630.] - -[Sidenote: _Independents and Brownists._] - -The Corporation gave heed to the Earl's exhortation, and in reply, -dated the 13th of September, 1630, manifested abundant zeal in rooting -out schism. - -"Concerning those _separatists_ by your lordship mentioned, we must -acknowledge that there be amongst us still some persons of that sect, -to the number of thirty, and not above; the most of them women; not -any one of them ever yet bearing the meanest office amongst us, and, -one only excepted, not any one of ability to be a subsidy man. What -courses we have taken from time to time for the suppressing of them, -the Lord's Grace of York, whilst he was our diocesan, could bear us -record, to whom (as we have since done to our present diocesan, as -also to the Lord Bishop of London) we tendered an impartial list of -all their names, without favour or affection, craving his lordship's -aid for their reformation. The ecclesiastical courts have from time -to time received presentments of them. The judges of assize have -been solicited by us. What authority soever the law has put into our -hands, we have not spared to execute to the uttermost, by indicting -them constantly at our public sessions, by fining them according to -statute, by imprisoning the ringleaders amongst them, and by _forcing -some of them to avoid, not only the place, but the kingdom_. If, beyond -this, we could be directed by and to any course whereby we might free -ourselves of them, we should not only willingly, but thankfully embrace -it. In the meantime, vouchsafe the acceptance of this our humble -protestation, that, as for ourselves, being the representatives of the -town, we are, all and every one of us, free from faction and schism, -either in religion or discipline, and every ways conformable to the -doctrine and government of this Church, whereof we profess ourselves to -be members."[460] - -[Sidenote: 1630.] - -[Sidenote: _Independents and Brownists._] - -In connection with this reference to the Brownists and the poor -Separatists of Yarmouth, (for amongst them, it is said, there was not -"one subsidy man,") it may be observed that two classes of Independents -are distinctly visible at that period. As some Independents, mostly -the obscure, went further than others in their doctrine of toleration; -so some Independents, principally of the same class, went further than -others in the doctrine of voluntaryism. Any broad and philosophical -exposition of that now much discussed principle we have not been able -to discover in the writings of that day; others, better acquainted -with the immense pamphlet literature of the times, may prove more -successful. But, at an earlier period, in a Confession of Faith -published in 1616, there occurs the following simple and explicit -statement on the subject:--"We believe that tithes for the pastor's -maintenance under the Gospel are not the just and due means thereof. -Howbeit, yet we do not think these tithes absolutely unlawful, if -they remain voluntary; but when they are made necessary we think -them not to be so lawful. The same do we judge also of whatsoever -other set maintenance for ministers of the Gospel is established -by temporal laws. We grant, that for the minister's security, such -established maintenance is best; but for preserving due freedom in the -congregation, sincerity in religion, and sanctity in the whole flock, -the congregation's voluntary and conscionable contribution for their -pastor's sustenance and maintenance is, doubtless, the safest and -most approved--nay, it seemeth the only way; wherewith the Apostles -caused their times to be content, neither did they care for other order -therein; which certainly they would and should have done if other order -had been better. Only they are careful (and that very religiously) -to command all churches of conscience and duty to God to give (not -sparingly, but liberally, and not as alms, but as duty), for upholding, -advancing, and countenancing of the holy worship and service of God, -which is either much strengthened or weakened, much honoured or abased -among men, according as is the pastor's maintenance."[461] And in -other tracts, largely quoted by Mr. Hanbury, in his "Memorials," there -are passages expressing ideas on the subject of ministerial support -in advance of those which were entertained by more distinguished -Independents. The latter countenanced and advocated the acceptance of -tithes; but in a Puritan tract, written before, though not published -until 1644, notice is taken of a very sharp attack on the tithe system -by the sect commonly called Brownists or Separatists. It is objected, -say the Presbyterian authors, "that we are not maintained according to -the direction Christ hath given in His Testament; but our maintenance -is Jewish and anti-Christian." "Our ministers receive maintenance -from all sorts of men in their parish without difference." This they -call "an execrable sacrilege, and covetous-making merchandize of -the holy things of God; a letting out of ourselves to hire, to the -profane for filthy lucre." Tithes, in particular, are denounced by -these Nonconformists, but the principle of their objection goes to a -much deeper point than to touch or remove these particular imposts; -it also cuts at the root of all kinds of ministerial support, except -that which is exclusively voluntary.[462] In another publication, -written by Burton against his late fellow-sufferer William Prynne, -there is a decided assault both on tithes and on parishes; the former -being pronounced unapostolic, and the latter a human and political -institution. But, whilst maintaining that Christ will provide for His -faithful and painful ministers, this champion of voluntary churches -puts in a caveat in favour of the state appointing some kind of -"maintenance for the preaching of the word, as is done in New England -to those who are not members of Churches."[463] At a later period, -Independents objected to tithes, yet they accepted support from the -Government in another form. - -[Sidenote: 1642.] - -Upon the opening of the Long Parliament, Congregationalism took deep -root, and afterwards spread its branches over East Anglia. As the Dutch -church in the city of Norwich, the Dutch aspect of Yarmouth Quay, and -the settlement of a colony of Flemings in the village of Worstead, shew -that there was an early intercommunication between the inhabitants of -the Low Countries and the county of Norfolk; so also the connection -between the English Independents in Holland and the Nonconformists -of the eastern counties indicate that there was intercourse between -the people of the opposite shores at a later period, in relation to -Puritanism and Independency. Links of union appear in the persons of -the Congregational pastors, Robinson and Bridge, who each resided one -part of his life in Norfolk and another in Holland. - -The oldest Congregational Church in the county of Norfolk was formed in -Yarmouth, and consisted of persons who had just returned from Holland, -where they had been in exile for conscience' sake. - -"Inchurching," as it is quaintly termed, created much solicitude, and -the Yarmouth people wrote to Rotterdam for sanction and advice before -taking any decided step. In 1642, a formal document of dismissal was -sent; after which it became an enquiry, whether the Church should -choose Yarmouth or Norwich as the place of assembly. Unable to settle -this question, they deferred it for a time, and simply resolved upon -"inchurching, judging ten or twelve to be a competent number." Soon -afterwards, an answer came "that Yarmouth was safer for the present," -and a Church covenant having been adopted and ratified at Norwich, the -people unitedly chose Mr. Bridge as their pastor. The Independents of -Norwich held religious worship by themselves in some private house, -and joined with the townspeople of Yarmouth only in the celebration -of the Lord's supper. But at length, becoming tired of their journeys -in passing to and fro, the former constituted themselves a distinct -community.[464] - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterians and Independents._] - -The Presbyterians at Yarmouth betrayed some jealousy of their -Independent neighbours; for Sir Edward Owner, an alderman and justice -of the peace, who represented the town in the Long Parliament, -waited, in company with the Presbyterian Incumbent of the parish of -St. Nicholas, upon Mr. Bridge, to express displeasure at his having -gathered a Church in what was called the "Congregational way." After -this occurrence, the Church resolved "that for a time they would -forbear to receive any into their fellowship, until they gave notice to -the town that they could forbear no longer." - -Mr. Bridge, when elected to the pastorate of this new community, held -the office of town preacher in Yarmouth, and was also a member of -the Assembly of Divines. He had preached before the House of Commons -in February, 1643; and it was in the May of the same year, whilst at -home, during a temporary suspension of his Westminster duties, that his -brethren called him to be their Bishop. Notwithstanding his position at -Westminster and his Congregational office at Yarmouth, the Corporation -retained him in his municipal chaplaincy and allowed him fifty -pounds a year during his absence. The continuance of this connection -no doubt led to the interference of the bailiffs with his pastoral -relations, and explains the effect produced by the interview; but -the Church, notwithstanding this circumstance, speedily asserted its -independence, and by doing so did not at all affect the public position -of their pastor, or diminish the influence which he exercised over his -fellow-townsmen. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XV. - - -[Sidenote: _The Royalist Army._] - -Charles went to Oxford after the battle of Edge Hill, and there, -during the civil wars, set up his head quarters. Occasionally he was -absent with the army, but that central city, which was so convenient -for the purpose in many respects, he made his fortress and his home. -It underwent great alterations. Fortifications were contrived by -Richard Rallingson, who also drew "a mathematical scheme or plot of -the garrison;" and in an old print, by Anthony Wood, may be traced -the zig-zag lines of defence, which were drawn on every side about -the city.[465] Gownsmen transformed themselves into cavaliers, and -exchanged college caps for steel bonnets. Streets echoed with the tramp -of war horses and the clatter of iron-heeled hoots. Wagons, guarded -by pikemen, and laden with ammunition and stores, rolled through the -picturesque gateways; and valiant and loyal subjects rallied around -their Sovereign in the hour of his need, ready to shed their last -drop of blood beneath his standard. The colleges melted down their -plate to supply military chests; and Magdalen especially stood true to -the King's cause. Rupert took up his residence there, and the sound of -his trumpets calling to horse disturbed the silence of the beautiful -cloisters. Whilst most of the Fellows, being Divines, could only help -with their prayers and their purses, one of them, who was a doctor of -civil law, raised a troop of under-graduates, and fell fighting in his -Majesty's service.[466] Amidst the excitement which followed the King's -turns of fortune, he gathered together the relics of his court, and -established in Christ Church Hall a mock parliament, which was intended -to rival the real one at Westminster. Charles had grasped at absolute -power, now nothing remained but the shadow of dominion. At Oxford he -but played at kingship. - -[Sidenote: _The Royalist Army._] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -In the Royal army, of which, perhaps, the worst portion might be -found at Oxford, the principal officers were men of high spirit and -courage, with a strong dash in them of old English chivalry; but, with -some of the virtues of mediæval knighthood, they possessed a more -than ordinary share of its vices. In retired parts of the country, -especially in Cornwall, yeomen and peasants, of pure life and artless -manners, followed Royalist commanders with a sort of feudal devotion; -but it must be admitted, with regard to most of the regiments who -fought for the King, that the men in the ranks were worse than those in -command--for, wanting that tone of manners which marks the well-bred -gentleman, they had nothing to check the ebullitions of coarse impiety -and brutal ruffianism. We are not concerned to vindicate the soldiers -on the other side. No doubt they were chargeable with excesses, some -of which have been indicated in these pages. Irreligious people mixed -with Puritans; tapsters and serving men appeared among patriots; -but, whatever the drawbacks on the reputation of the Parliamentary -forces, there is but little doubt that the moral character of the men -on the other side was far worse. Indeed, this is virtually admitted -by Royalists themselves; for Clarendon paints dark pictures of the -debauchery of the Lords Goring and Wilmot; and Chillingworth, in a -sermon preached at Oxford in the autumn of 1643, while charging the -enemy with Pharisaism, hypocrisy, falsehood, want of justice, and -pretence of reformation, is also unsparing in his reproofs of Royalist -profanity, irreligion, and blasphemy.[467] - -Fiery resentment burned in both camps, and was industriously fanned by -the newspapers of the day. Parliamentary journals had nothing but what -was good to say of their own party, and nothing but what was bad of -their adversaries. Led away by idle rumours, editors and correspondents -made mountains of molehills, and often stated as facts what only -existed in their own distempered brains; all this the scribblers for -the Oxford press paid back with interest. - -[Sidenote: _The Royalist Army._] - -Reports were industriously circulated throughout the country affecting -the religious character of the King and court, upon the tender point -of popish sympathies. An Irish minister, who had spent seven weeks at -the University in the summer of 1643, afterwards declared that Irish -Papists, who had committed atrocious barbarities in the rebellion, -were received at court with signal favour; that Franciscans and -Jesuits encouraged the soldiers to fight against the Roundheads, and -were themselves enrolled as cornets; that Roman Catholic worship -was performed in every street, and, _he believed_, that for every -single sermon in the city there were four masses.[468] How much of truth -there might be in these broad accusations, it is impossible for us to -determine; but the adage no doubt is applicable here, that where there -is much smoke there is some fire.[469] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -Charles met all such charges with recriminations. He felt shocked, -he said, at the impieties and profanations which were committed in -sacred places; at the countenance which was given to ignorant and -scandalous laymen who had usurped the ministry; at the suspension and -reviling of Common Prayer which had become so prevalent; at religion -being made the cause and ground of rebellion; and at the destruction -of discipline in the "most unblemished Church of Christendom."[470] -Nothing could appear right in his estimation which the Parliament did, -and even their ordinances for national fasts were met with counter -ordinances for fasts at another season. Prelatists and Puritans would -not, even for the sins of the nation, fast on the same day; for as at -Westminster one party commanded that the last Wednesday in the month -should be devoted to humiliation and prayer, at Oxford the other -party denounced that appointment, and substituted the second Friday. -The Royalists threatened to sequester the estates of such clergymen -as would not obey their command; and, amidst all this most unseemly -strife, we hear Thomas Fuller exclaiming, in his "Meditations on the -Times," "Alas! when two messengers, being sent together on the same -errand, fall out and fight by the way, will not the work be worse -done than if none were employed? In such a pair of fasts, it is to -be feared that the divisions of our affections rather would increase -than abate God's anger towards us. Two negatives make an affirmative. -Days of humiliation are appointed for men to deny themselves and their -sinful lusts. But do not our two fasts more peremptorily affirm and -avouch our mutual malice and hatred? God forgive us: we have cause -enough to keep _ten_, but not care enough to keep _one_ monthly day of -humiliation."[471] - -To rebut the charge of popery, the King publicly received the sacrament -at the hands of Archbishop Ussher, in Christ Church, at the same time -making a solemn protestation, that he had prepared his soul to be a -worthy receiver, that he derived comfort from the blessed sacrament, -and that he supported the true reformed Protestant religion, as it -stood in its beauty in the days of Elizabeth, without any connivance at -popery. He imprecated, in conclusion, Divine wrath upon himself, if his -heart did not join with his lips in this protestation.[472] - -[Sidenote: _The King at Oxford._] - -For his conduct on this occasion he is accused of hypocrisy, because -a few days afterwards he agreed to a truce with Ireland, and to the -toleration of Papists in that country. To grant such a truce and such -a toleration would not in the present day be deemed inconsistent with -the sincerest Protestantism; but the matter was otherwise regarded -at that time, and most advocates of religious liberty then denied -the privilege to Roman Catholics, because they knew that Catholics -would deny the privilege to them. Indeed, they reckoned such persons -no better than social incendiaries, and incorrigible rebels against -constitutional government; and, however unreasonable it may seem to -us, they considered that to allow any scope for popish worship was -to connive at the practices of popish treason. Charles himself was -by no means prepared to place the toleration of Roman Catholics on -its righteous grounds. He was willing, when it served his purpose, to -declare himself of one mind with those who condemned all religious -freedom; and he must have wished the declaration made by him, upon -receiving the Lord's supper from the hands of Ussher, to be understood -as meaning that he would not tolerate popery at all. Therefore, -to proclaim toleration to Irish Catholics immediately after this -declaration could not but lay him open to the charge of hypocrisy on -the part of his contemporaries. But at the same time we have no doubt -that his expression of attachment to the Protestant religion as it -stood in the days of Elizabeth, understanding by that expression a -religion both anti-papal and anti-puritanical, was perfectly sincere. -Prelacy was an essential principle in the reformed religion of Charles; -and with prelacy were associated in his mind forms of worship which -many of his subjects pronounced to be "flat popery." His notions of -reformation, perhaps, mainly hinged on a separation from Rome, with the -abolition of monachism and the removal of certain gross abuses which -had been prevalent in the mediæval church. He inherited, in fact, the -Protestantism of the Tudors: but at the same time he had none of the -magnanimity of Elizabeth, none of that religious patriotism which made -her the idol of her subjects, none of that indignation against popish -wrongs and cruelties, which she so strongly felt and expressed--as, -for example, when she dressed herself in deep mourning to receive the -gay French ambassador after the St. Bartholomew massacre:--in short, -Charles had none of that spirit which made Elizabeth appear, without -any tinge of hypocrisy, so much more of a Protestant than she really -was. And we may add, that he had a trick of saying and doing things -with a smooth artificial gravity which awakened suspicion, so that even -when really honest he found it difficult to obtain credit for sincerity. - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -It is remarkable that we do not find any High Church Bishops with -the King at Oxford. Even Skinner, Bishop of the diocese, had retired -from the city to the rectory of Taunton. The absence of others may be -attributed to personal restraint, or the dangers of travelling in a -time of civil war, or a sense of duty towards their scattered flocks, -or a disinclination to throw themselves into a military camp. But some -other prelates and clergymen of a different character come under our -notice, as present at Oxford at this critical period. - -[Sidenote: _Bishops at Oxford._] - -Bryan Duppa, Bishop of Salisbury--whose fine face and silvery locks, -set off to advantage by the robes of the Garter, may be seen in his -portrait on the walls of Christ Church--upon being stripped of his -episcopal revenues waited on his Majesty, and was entrusted by him with -business of the greatest importance. Archbishop Ussher preached before -the court, carried on his literary labours in the University, and, as -an opponent of the toleration of Papists, took part in a discussion -held in the royal presence upon that subject. Soon afterwards he -further offended the Roman Catholics by a discourse from the words of -Nehemiah, iv. 11:--"And our adversaries said, they shall not know, -neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, -and cause the work to cease." In this discourse he contended, that -no dependence could be placed on Romanists, and that on the first -opportunity they would act towards the Protestants of England as -they had recently done towards the Protestants of Ireland. He also -preached sermons to his Royalist auditory in a tone of remarkable -fidelity and earnestness, dwelling upon the folly of expecting that -God would prosper the cause of those who provoked Him to anger by the -dissoluteness of their lives.[473] - -Perhaps Jeremy Taylor also might be found at Oxford, after having lost -the rectory of Uppingham, in Rutlandshire. Wood says that he preached -before the King, and followed the Royal army in the capacity of a -chaplain; and probably it was during this part of his life that he -reaped some of those military allusions which we find in his sermons. -As, for example, when he compares the man who prays in a discomposed -spirit, to him that sets up his closet in the outquarters of an army, -and chooses a frontier garrison to be wise in: and when he speaks of -the poor soldier, standing in the breach, "almost starved with cold and -hunger," "pale and faint, weary and watchful," and of the same person -in his tent by dim lantern light, having a "bullet pulled out of his -flesh, and shivers from his bones, and enduring his mouth to be sewed -up, from a violent rent, to its own dimensions."[474] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -Dr. Thomas Fuller, we may add, after being deprived of his preferment -at the Savoy, and leaving behind him his library, found refuge in -Lincoln College, and preached before the King; the losses which this -cheerful Divine suffered at the time leading him to observe, with -his accustomed humour, "that his going to Oxford cost him all that -he had, a dear seventeen weeks compared with the seventeen years he -spent in Cambridge." Whilst Fuller tarried in the former University, -there arrived Lord Hopton, an eminent Royalist officer of moderate -opinions and of a pacific disposition. The ejected minister of the -Savoy became a chaplain to the regiment of this brave soldier and -sincerely religious man, and he hoped by filling this office to wipe -off the stain of disaffection with which his enemies had endeavoured -to spot his fame. He accompanied Hopton to the west, where he accepted -a nominal chaplaincy to the infant Princess Henrietta, who was born at -Bedford House, in the city of Exeter, on the 16th June, 1644.[475] - -[Sidenote: _Clergy at Oxford._] - -Another eminent churchman was now at Oxford. William Chillingworth, -after the raising of the siege of Gloucester, left the construction -of his Roman _testudines_, and more befittingly employed himself in -preaching before the University, and in writing polemical tracts, -especially one, entitled "The Apostolical Institution of Episcopacy." -This publication, which was not answered for years afterwards, is -very characteristic of its author, and takes a ground of defence for -the Church of England not at all agreeable to high Prelatists; for he -reduces Episcopal government to the smallest dimensions, specifying its -essence to be no more than the appointment of one person of eminent -sanctity, to take care of all the churches in a diocese--his authority -being bounded by law and moderated by assistants. Even this scantling -of rule he seems to defend rather than enforce--stating as the ground -of adopting it, that there is _no record of our Saviour against it_, -that it is _not repugnant_ to the apostolic government, and that it is -_as compliable_ with the reformation of the Church, as any other kind -of polity.[476] Chillingworth did not long survive his employment at -Oxford; and the short remaining history of his life is so curious, so -illustrative of the religious aspects of the war, and of the oddities -of people engaged in it, that we venture to transfer it to these pages. - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -He was taken prisoner in Arundel Castle; whither, in the month of -January, 1644, he had repaired, to recover from an indisposition -brought on by the inclemency of the winter. As he was not fit to travel -to London with the captured garrison, the victorious Parliamentarians -removed the distinguished Episcopalian to Chichester, a favour for -which he was indebted to Mr. Cheynell, whose story is curiously -entwined with his own. Cheynell, a rigid, zealous Presbyterian, -"exactly orthodox, and very unwilling that any should be supposed -to go to heaven but in the right way," had been ejected from his -living in Sussex by the Royalists, and happened to be at Chichester -when Chillingworth reached it as a prisoner. With sympathy for his -old antagonist, Cheynell procured for him lodgings in the bishop's -palace. Chillingworth, who had never been violent enough to please -the Royalists, was infamously denounced by one of them; but Cheynell -defended his reputation, guarded his health, and, as he informs us, -took care of "something more precious than either, to wit, his beloved -soul." Yet he wearied him with interrogations and arguments about King -and Parliament, Prelate and Puritan. "I desired," he says, "to know -his opinion concerning that liturgy, which had been formerly so much -extolled, and even idolized amongst the people; but all the answer that -I could get was to this purpose, that there were some truths which -the ministers of the gospel are not bound, upon pain of damnation, -to publish to the people; and, indeed, he conceived it very unfit to -publish anything concerning the Common Prayer Book or the Book of -Ordination for fear of scandal." "When I found him pretty hearty one -day, I desired him to tell me whether he conceived that a man living -and dying a Turk, Papist, or Socinian; could be saved." No doubt the -question was so pointed, on account of the dying man's reputation for -latitudinarianism, or as he believed it to be, charity, and in this -respect Chillingworth was consistent to the last. "All the answer that -I could gain from him," says Cheynell, "was that he did not absolve -them, and would not condemn them." It is pleasant amidst all this -gossip, and much more of the same description, to find Cheynell telling -his old friend and controversialist that he prayed for him in private, -and asking him whether he desired public intercession as well. He -replied, "Yes, with all his heart, and he said withal, that he hoped he -should fare better for their prayers."[477] - -[Sidenote: _Clergy at Oxford._] - -After Chillingworth's death, Cheynell had the corpse laid out in a -coffin covered with a hearse-cloth. The friends of the deceased were -entertained, according to their own desire, with wine and cakes. Those -who bore his remains to the grave were Episcopalians; and--as a -further touch of description to illustrate those times--it may be added -that, according to the custom of the country, they had each a bunch of -rosemary, a mourning ribband, and a pair of gloves. Different opinions -were expressed as to where the churchman ought to be interred. It was -at last decided in favour of Chichester, liberty being granted to "all -the malignants" to attend the hearse. When they came to the grave, -Cheynell, as he held in his hand what he called the "_mortal_ book" of -the great Protestant advocate--the very book which has received the -praises of all generations since as _immortal_--proceeded with strange -infatuation to denounce it in terms of the most violent abuse, after -which he flung the volume into the open grave.[478] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -Charles, whilst remaining at Oxford, had amongst the Episcopal -clergy other staunch friends residing elsewhere. Of this number was -John Barwick, a Fellow of St. John's, Cambridge,[479] who acted as -chaplain to Bishop Morton during the civil wars, and who continued -with him as long as he remained in Durham House. This he did, his -biographer tells us, for the express purpose of being serviceable to -the King; concealing himself there "as in a great wood," carrying on -a private correspondence betwixt London and Oxford, conveying, on the -one hand, to the loyalists his Majesty's orders and commands, and, -on the other hand, to his royal master, what he could pick up of the -"designs and endeavours of the rebels." Resolving to tell no lies, but -rather "with silence to answer all captious and ensnaring questions," -he yet clandestinely wrote and received letters in cypher, the key -to which he carefully kept. The letters were slid in by stealth, -amidst pedlar's wares, and carried to and fro, "as it were through -a lattice, and enveloped in mist." He employed adventurous women to -disperse everywhere, among friends and foes, books favourable to the -Royal cause; such emissaries trudging on foot, receiving the books -from bargemen on the Thames, and distributing them wherever they had -opportunity. Letters were sometimes sewed in the covers of volumes, -and secret marks were given to notify their insertion. When the Royal -cause became desperate, and the King was shut up "as in a net within -the walls of Oxford," he continued to write to Barwick to do what he -could, especially by securing, through favour of the Parliamentary -authorities, those individuals for his personal attendants, upon -whose faithfulness his Majesty could depend. These notices, extracted -from "Barwick's Life"--not, on the whole, a very trustworthy book, -though accurate enough, no doubt, in reference to his contrivances and -intrigues in favour of the King--throw an interesting light upon a -great deal which was clandestinely going on at the time in the royal -service. - - - - - [Illustration.] - - CHAPTER XVI. - - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -The Long Parliament, almost from the beginning, took ecclesiastical -affairs entirely into its own hands. It assumed control over church -property, not, indeed, touching the rights of Puritan patrons, but -interfering to a large extent with those advowsons and presentations -which belonged to High Churchmen. - -As time rolled on, and especially when the war began, not only rights -of this description which had belonged to Royalists were forfeited -entirely; but we may state in passing, that a wholesale sequestration -of property followed, it being then enacted that the estates real -and personal of Bishops, Deans and Chapters, and other persons, who -had either taken up arms against the Parliament, or _contributed aid -or assistance_ to such as did, should be seized, and employed for -the benefit of the Commonwealth.[480] Such nets swept within their -meshes an abundance of spoil. Ecclesiastical corporations and Royalist -nobles, squires, and clergymen, suffered the deprivation not only -of their ancient privileges, but of their property and possessions. -One forfeiture in particular may be mentioned, illustrative of the -control which Parliament assumed over the benefices of the Church. An -ordinance appeared commanding the Archbishop of Canterbury to collate -to benefices such persons, and such persons only, as were nominated -by Parliament.[481] For disobedience to this ordinance he was the -following month wholly suspended from the duties and privileges of -his office. The temporalities of the archbishopric were claimed by -the High Court of Parliament, which ordered that Edward Corbet, a -Puritan clergyman, whom Laud had refused to collate, should be by the -Vicar General inducted to the living of Chartham, in Kent, a benefice -in the Archbishop's gift. The revenues of Deans and Chapters were -collected and administered by committees, who paid such sums to such -persons for such purposes as Parliament might appoint. The system of -pew-rents adopted in some places, like everything else in the Church of -England, now came under Parliamentary control. Numerous benefices had -been vacated through the death or the ejection of incumbents. How were -the vacancies to be filled up? In some instances returned refugees, -who had suffered in the days of Laud, were instituted to the vacant -benefices.[482] Scotch Divines, and ministers of other Protestant -Churches, were also declared eligible for appointment. At the same -time Episcopal ordinations were not nullified, and the validity of all -Presbyterian ordinations, as a matter of course, was acknowledged by a -Presbyterian Parliament. - -[Sidenote: _Committees for Ecclesiastical Affairs._] - -The Committees for _scandalous_ ministers had early in 1643 been -followed by a Committee for _plundered_ ministers, that title being -used to designate clergymen who had been ejected from their livings -by the Royal army. The Committee for plundered ministers provided -them with relief; and the instruction given to this body directed -their attention to malignant clergymen, holding benefices in and about -town, whose benefices after being sequestered might be appropriated -to ministers of a different character. As the plundered were thus put -in the place of the scandalous, the Committee for the plundered took -cognizance of what had previously been submitted to the Committee -for the scandalous. In July they received power to consider cases -of scandal apart from charges of malignity, and to dismiss those -whose characters would not bear examination. On the 6th of September -the Commons ordered the Deputy-Lieutenants and the Committees -of Parliament, or any five or more of their number, to take the -examinations of witnesses against any ministers who were scandalous in -life or doctrine, and also against any who had of late deserted their -cures or assisted the forces raised against Parliament.[483] - -[Sidenote: 1643.] - -This order, upon being examined, shews that subordinate authorities -were appointed to co-operate with the superior one--that they were -commissioned to discharge magisterial functions in the provinces by -collecting evidence, which they were required to transmit to the -Committee sitting in London. It is also obvious that this parent -Committee itself stood in the same relation to Parliament as other -Committees, and that its business was to communicate information -to the House, not to exercise any independent control. A very -notable puritan phenomenon is this often-vilified body, with its -manifold provincial ramifications. Persons may fairly object to -Parliament men being invested with such ecclesiastical powers, and -they may also consistently complain of the innovations made by such -an arrangement upon the ancient ecclesiastical system of England; -but nobody can charge this Committee with setting to work in an -unbusiness-like manner, or with acting in an arbitrary and impulsive -way. No sinecurists--anything but idle--toiling day by day, and that -for several hours together, they did their work from beginning to -end by line and rule. No committee ever proceeded with more order -and with greater regularity. They had definite principles of action, -and they carefully followed them. The minutes which they kept, with -the signatures of the chairmen, are still extant,[484] and speak for -themselves. - -Therein we see how one day they resolved to report to the House the -conclusions at which they had arrived, and the course which they -recommended to be pursued; and how, another day, they finally declared -what should be done "by virtue of an order of both Houses." - -Dipping into these records, we find the Committee resolving upon the -augmentation of poor livings. For example, £8 payable to Ussher, Bishop -of Carlisle, out of the impropriate tithes of Allhallows, Cumberland, -and the further annual sum of £20, out of the impropriate tithes -forfeited by a delinquent, are granted, March 3rd, 1646, for the -purpose of increasing the stipend of such minister as the Committee -should approve to officiate in the church of Allhallows. A grant of -£40, out of a Papist's impropriation, is made on the 15th of July, -1646, for the maintenance of a minister to a chapelry in Lancashire, -subject to the approbation of the Divines appointed by ordinance of -Parliament for examination of ministers in that county. The incomes -of several vicarages are noticed as augmented by grants out of -forfeited revenues. Grants also appear for weekly lectures by assistant -ministers; for instance, at Tamworth, "by reason of the largeness -of parish, and the concourse thereto from other places." A petition -to the Committee for sequestration which met at Goldsmiths' Hall is -reported as coming from the parish of Benton, and from two contiguous -chapelries, complaining that there was but one minister for all those -places, and that he was a reader and an alehouse keeper; and also -stating that, by reason of the corruption of Episcopacy, only £10 a -year out of the glebe lands and tithes had been paid to a curate, who, -on account of his poverty, was constrained to keep an alehouse. - -[Sidenote: _Tithes._] - -[Sidenote: 1644.] - -Tithes, of course, were payable when harvest came. Each rector -would, as of old, have the right of sending an agent among the corn -shocks, that he might affix to every tenth some twig or other sign of -ecclesiastical appropriation. But the revolution at the commencement -of the civil wars had thrown into jeopardy such ecclesiastical claims. -Not only could the farmer then, as always, expose the rector to damage -and loss, but he could also successfully resist the setting out and -appropriation altogether. Greater hazard still, perhaps, attached to -the demand "of rates for tithes;" and altogether it is plain that the -distress of the clergy must in some cases have been very great.[485] -Consequently, on the 8th of November, 1644, Parliament issued an -ordinance stating, that there remained not any such compulsory means -for recovery of tithes by ecclesiastical proceedings as before had -been the case; and the remedy now provided was to make complaint to -two justices of the peace, who were authorized to summon the person -complained of, and after examination on oath, to adjudge the case with -costs; a method which, at least for its simplicity and summariness, -presented a striking contrast to all previous modes of procedure in -ecclesiastical or civil courts. In case of non-payment, distraint -might be made by order of the justices, and if there remained nothing -available for that purpose, the defaulter could be committed to -prison.[486] The city of London was exempted from the operation of the -ordinance, an exemption afterwards repealed. We may add that vicars -probably would be exposed to special inconvenience in collecting their -small tithes, whilst their incomes, even when fully paid, would in many -cases be very inconsiderable. Hence, on turning over the Parliament -Journals, we find orders given for the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to -consider how poor vicarages and cures could be raised to a competent -maintenance out of Cathedral revenues and impropriate parsonages. - -We may further observe that in the Norwich Corporation Records there -are numerous entries illustrating the ways in which local Committees -co-operated with the Committee at Westminster, for uniting parishes, -enquiring into cathedral revenues, and supporting city clergymen. - -The House however was not content to leave all the details of -ecclesiastical business even to their own farreaching and laborious -Commissioners, but Argus-eyed, and Briareus-handed, looked into and -managed almost everything itself.[487] - -[Sidenote: _Church and Parliament._] - -Although Parliament claimed the absolute right to control benefices, -there were some things needful for the induction of clergymen -which could not be comprehended within the range of Parliamentary -functions. Ministers already accredited, having received Episcopal -or Presbyterian orders, found no difficulty in the way of collation; -but what method was to be pursued relative to ministerial candidates -still unordained? To meet this difficulty the Westminster Assembly -recommended the temporary appointment of committees for the ordination -of ministers--only their temporary appointment--for whenever -Presbyterianism should be fully established, then the Church would of -course do all things after a Presbyterian fashion. Yet not without -difficulty did the Divines reach a conclusion on this subject, as the -Independents and Presbyterians differed to some extent respecting the -nature of ordination. - -[Sidenote: 1644.] - -[Sidenote: _Church and Parliament._] - -The entire control of Church temporalities centred in Parliament.[488] -The arrangement had great inconvenience. How such a scheme (had -it continued) would have worked in the long run, may be conjectured -from the contests inevitably arising, whenever the civil and sacred -authorities have come into such close connexion. The quarrels of -Hildebrand and Henry IV. are but conspicuous, perhaps extreme -illustrations, of what naturally results from an intimate alliance -of two such powers as Church and State when guided by different -impulses. Only so long as sympathy prevailed between the two bodies at -Westminster could coincident authority continue. The moment that any -change of feeling arose between them, their co-operation would be at an -end. The temporary rules which were adopted with regard to ordination -were the same as those established with a view to permanence the year -following.[489] They required candidates to take the covenant, to -undergo an examination in religion and learning, and to prove a call -to the ministry. If the candidate happened to be deficient in Hebrew, -Greek, and Latin, he had severer tests applied to his knowledge of -logic and philosophy. But the machine did not always work smoothly. -For example, the Committee for plundered ministers sequestered a Mr. -Leader, vicar of the parish of Thaxted, in Essex, and settled in -his room a Mr. Hall. The patroness, Lady Maynard, would not present -Mr. Hall, and preferred to appoint a Mr. Croxon, a man represented -as notorious for drunkenness and profanity. Articles accordingly -were exhibited against the latter, in consequence of which Croxon -was sequestered. Lady Maynard being allowed again to nominate, the -well-affected parishioners protested against the concession of that -privilege. The Commissioners, however, stood by her ladyship's rights -as patroness, and she now recommended another person of the same name -as before. But on his being submitted to the Assembly, they would not -sanction his appointment. Three times they declined, and the Lords -approved of the refusal, yet after all, in some clandestine way, the -candidate obtained an order for induction. This person, whom the -Divines pronounced the most troublesome they ever had to do with, came -to Thaxted Church, and insisted upon preaching. The sequestrators stood -at the door of the desk to prevent his doing so; but the mayor and -churchwarden espoused his cause, as did also the rabble of the parish. -The latter assaulted the sequestrators, tore their hair, rent their -neck-bands, and seized their hats and cloaks. "Let them alone," said -the mayor, "and let the women decide the case." This fray in the parish -church ended in the commitment of parson, mayor, and town-clerk to -prison, "whence they were released on submission." This case gives us a -curious insight into the local church politics of those days.[490] - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XVII. - - -Laud, the principal author of the evils which induced the revolution, -remained a prisoner. He had become a helpless old man; and it would -have been better for the Puritans had they checked their resentment, -and suffered their vanquished enemy to linger out his days as a captive -or an exile; but unfortunately they determined otherwise. The Scotch -Commissioners had presented Articles against him in the House of Lords -on December the 17th, 1640; and on the following day the Commons -had resolved to accuse him of high treason.[491] In the following -February, articles of accusation had been exhibited by the Commons, -after which his case had been kept in abeyance for more than two years -and a half. Though the idea of bringing him to trial had never been -abandoned, mild views of his punishment had been entertained; for, in -a newspaper published in May, 1643, it is stated that "the sending of -the Archbishop of Canterbury and of Bishop Wren to New England had -been agitated in the House, and that Parliament would not banish them -without a trial."[492] In the opening of the year 1644, it was resolved -that Laud should take his trial. - -[Sidenote: _Laud's Trial._] - -The trial lasted from March to July. The accused prelate received -three or four days' notice of the time of his appearance, and of the -particular articles which were to be alleged against him. From ten -until one o'clock the managers of the prosecution stated their case and -produced their evidence, when an adjournment followed till four o'clock -in the afternoon. Then the prisoner made his defence, and one of the -managers replied. The proceedings terminated between the hours of seven -and eight, when the fatal boat moored at Westminster,--which had so -often glided backwards and forwards on errands of vengeance,--returned -with its grey-haired passenger to the archway of the Traitors' -Gate.[493] - -[Sidenote: 1644.] - -The principal managers for the Commons were Serjeant Wylde, Mr. -Maynard, and Mr. Nicolas. Prynne acted as solicitor, and arranged the -whole proceedings. He had suffered so much at the Archbishop's hands, -that, however watchful he might be over himself, he could scarcely -suppress feelings which were incompatible with a just discharge of his -legal responsibilities. With all his learning and great ability, we -must admit that he was not remarkable for self-control; and the utmost -stretch of candour cannot prevent our receiving, from his conduct on -this occasion, the unpleasant impression that, in preparing materials -for the conviction of his old enemy, he was swayed, to some extent at -least, by personal resentment.[494] - -The accusations brought against Laud may be reduced to three: first, -that he had aimed at subverting the rights of Parliament; secondly, -that he had attempted to subvert the laws of the land by his conduct -in reference to ship-money, by his illegal commitments, and by his -support of the Canons of 1640; thirdly, that he had endeavoured to -alter and subvert God's true religion established in this realm, to set -up instead of it Popish superstition and idolatry, and to reconcile -the Church of England to the Church of Rome. In support of this grave -indictment relating to religion, much stress was laid on such facts -as these: his introducing innovations, using images and crucifixes, -consecrating churches and altars by superstitious rites and ceremonies, -commanding the Book of Sports to be read, upholding doctrinal errors, -persecuting Puritans, corresponding with Roman Catholic priests, and -discouraging foreign Protestants.[495] - -[Sidenote: _Laud's Trial._] - -Laud, in his defence, when speaking of his ecclesiastical career, did -not profess that he had sought, as the highest objects of his life, -the gathering of souls into Christ's fold, and the promotion of truth -and charity; but he plainly said that his main endeavour had been to -secure an outward conformity. Nor did he, as most men would have done -under the same circumstances, qualify his avowal of ritualistic zeal by -expressing large and noble Christian sentiments. On the contrary, he -simply declared: "Ever since I came in place I laboured nothing more -than that the external worship of God (too much slighted in most parts -of this kingdom) might be preserved, and that with as much decency and -uniformity as might be; being still of opinion that unity cannot long -continue in the Church, where uniformity is shut out at the Church -door; and I evidently saw that the public neglect of God's service in -the outward face of it, and the nasty lying of many places dedicated to -that service, had almost cast a damp upon the true and inward worship -of God, which, while we live in the body, needs external helps, and all -little enough to keep it in any vigour."[496] Yet we must confess that -for Laud to adopt this strain was honest; and certainly, amongst his -many faults, hypocrisy is not to be reckoned. Indeed, he made it his -boast, and he had ground for so doing, that he did not shift from one -opinion to another for worldly ends; and that he had never attempted to -slide through the difficulties of the times by trimming his religious -opinions. - -[Sidenote: 1644.] - -In dealing with the evidence against him, the Archbishop maintained -that personal resentment influenced the witnesses in the statements -which they made; and in that opinion probably he was to a considerable -extent correct. Certain of their allegations had, no doubt, a spiteful -appearance; but then it is impossible to forget how this merciless -man had provoked such conduct towards himself by his own inexcusable -demeanour towards others; and that by a law of Providence, righteous -in itself, though executed by instruments not free from blame, such -delinquents as Laud, after having sown the wind, are sure, sooner -or later, to reap the whirlwind. Prynne, of course, tried to make -everything tell against his enemy; yet even he could not help allowing -that the prisoner at the bar "made as full, as gallant, and pithy a -defence, and spake as much for himself as was possible for the wit -of man to invent." This special pleader proceeds however to say, the -very moment after making this admission, that Laud spoke "with so much -art, sophistry, vivacity, oratory, audacity, and confidence, without -the least blush, or acknowledgment of guilt in anything, as argued -him rather obstinate than innocent, impudent than penitent, and a far -better orator and sophister than Protestant or Christian."[497] Prynne -attributed the Primate's boldness to the King's pardon which he carried -in his pocket. - -[Sidenote: _Laud's Trial._] - -When the whole evidence had been presented, a question arose whether -the facts which had been adduced legally proved him to be guilty of the -crime of treason. The Peers were not satisfied that such was the case; -and in the present day, there are few, if any, constitutional lawyers -who would admit that the proofs alleged brought the Archbishop within -the scope of the Statute of Treasons. Owing to legal difficulties, the -prosecution, in its original form, was dropped, and a Bill of Attainder -was brought in. The Bill, after having been read a third time in the -House of Commons, was sent up to the House of Lords. They admitted, as -they had done before, that the accused was guilty of endeavouring to -subvert the law, to destroy the rights of Parliament, and to overthrow -the Protestant religion; but still, they asked, can all this prove him -to be traitor to the King?[498] The old points were debated over and -over again. But what did that avail? Popular feeling against him had -become intense; the London citizens were now more earnest than ever -in petitioning for speedy justice against all delinquents; and some -individuals went so far as to shut up their shops, declaring they would -not open them until righteous vengeance fell upon the head of this -arch-enemy of the people of God.[499] Influenced by such clamour, if -not convinced by the arguments of the Commons, the Lords present in -the House on the 4th of January, 1645, passed the fatal Bill;[500] and -afterwards it was in vain that the condemned produced a pardon, under -the great seal, in arrest of execution. - -[Sidenote: 1645, January.] - -The fatal proceedings against Laud are easily accounted for. The -causes are found in the growing power of the anti-Episcopal party; -the ascendancy of the Presbyterians, who for a long time had felt the -deepest horror at Laud's career; the influence of the Scotch, who had a -special hatred to the Primate for his designs on their country; and the -activity of Prynne, who certainly had sufficient cause for detesting -the mutilator of his ears. But the sentence of death executed upon him -cannot be justified. Lord Campbell pronounces it "illegal, barbarous, -and unprovoked," "as little to be palliated as defended." Hallam speaks -of the whole business as "most unjustifiable," and "one of the greatest -reproaches of the Long Parliament." Even Godwin admits that the -prelate "fell a victim to the Scots, to the Presbyterians, and to the -resentment of an individual who had formerly been the subject of his -barbarity."[501] We may add that the same legal objections apply to the -Bill of Attainder against him which are urged in the case of Strafford; -and further, that in one respect the treatment of the prelate was worse -than the treatment of the statesman; inasmuch as, whilst some persons -may defend the putting of the Earl to death as a political necessity, -no one can regard in the same light the execution of the Archbishop. - -[Sidenote: _Laud's Execution._] - -[Sidenote: 1645, January.] - -Many men who have committed great errors have afterwards, in the midst -of suffering, behaved in such a manner as somewhat to redeem their evil -reputation. To a considerable extent it proved so in this instance. On -its being proposed to him by the renowned Hugo Grotius that he should -escape--a step which he believed his enemies were not averse to his -taking--Laud replied: "They shall not be gratified by me in what they -appear to long for; I am almost seventy years old, and shall I now go -about to prolong a miserable life by the trouble and shame of flying?" -"I am resolved not to think of flight, but continuing where I am, -patiently to expect and bear what a good and a wise Providence hath -provided for me, of what kind soever it shall be."[502] He delivered -on the scaffold a speech which was prefaced by the first verse of the -twelfth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews,[503] as if it had been -a sermon; though, after the exordium, it forsook a homiletic form. He -referred to himself as a martyr, declared that he forgave his enemies, -and endeavoured to clear himself from the charge of favouring Popery -and disliking Parliaments. Then, after praying, and pulling off his -doublet, he said that no man could be more willing to send him out -of the world than he himself was to go. Upon being asked by Sir John -Clotworthy what special text of scripture he found most comfortable, -he replied, "_Cupio dissolvi et esse cum Christo_." "A good desire," -answered the knight, who added, "there must be a foundation for that -desire and assurance." Laud had no notion of Puritan "evidences," and -simply rejoined, "No man can express it, it is to be found within." -"It is founded," the Presbyterian went on to say, "upon a word though." -Laud closed the conversation by adding, "That word is the knowledge of -Jesus Christ, and that alone."[504] The Archbishop's last prayer is -the most beautiful thing connected with his history, and reminds us of -Shakespeare's words-- - - "Nothing in life - Became him like the leaving it." - -"Lord, I am coming as fast as I can; I know I must pass through the -Shadow of Death before I can come to see Thee, but it is but _umbra -mortis_, a mere shadow of death, a little darkness upon Nature, but -Thou, by Thy merits and passion, hast broke through the jaws of death; -so, Lord, receive my soul, and have mercy upon me, and bless this -kingdom with peace and plenty, and with brotherly love and charity, -that there may not be this effusion of Christian blood amongst them, -for Jesus Christ's sake, if it be Thy will."[505] - -[Sidenote: _Laud's Character._] - -So perished William Laud, a man who has been magnified by one party -into a martyr, and degraded by another into a monster. He was neither, -but a narrow-minded individual, with little or no sensibility, fond -of arbitrary power, a thorough bigot, and a ceremonialist to such -an extent, that he acted as if salvation depended on adjusting the -position of altars, presenting obeisances, regulating clerical attire, -and "adding to it some of the frippery of the Romish ecclesiastical -wardrobe, which had lain neglected ever since the Reformation."[506] -His religious weaknesses were not tempered with the smallest degree of -Christian charity. Contemptible trifles he pressed upon the consciences -of people with an iron hand. Yet Laud's reputation does not come down -to us tainted with the vulgarities of avarice or sensuality. He was -liberal and chaste; and, though proud, he was not addicted to luxury -or ostentation. Possessed of considerable learning, and remarkable for -activity and acuteness of mind; he patronized such studies as accorded -with his tastes; and it should not be forgotten that, at Windsor, -Reading, and Oxford, there still remain noble and lasting monuments of -his beneficence.[507] - -As one of England's most conspicuous Churchmen, he may be ranked with -Dunstan, Becket, and Wolsey;[508] but he had not the princely bearing, -the knowledge of mankind, and the skilful statesmanship of Wolsey--nor -did he evince the high-minded spiritual ambition and independence of -Becket--nor do we discover in him the mystic tone and artistic taste of -Dunstan. But he had the pride, the intolerance, and the superstition of -all three. In the middle ages he would have made as to ritualism a good -monk, and if severity of discipline be a proof of excellence, by no -means a bad abbot. - -[Sidenote: 1645, January.] - -It was on the very day of Laud's attainder that Parliament established -the Presbyterian Directory, and prohibited the Anglican Prayer -Book.[509] That book, profoundly reverenced by all Anglo-Catholics, and -held in scarcely less honour by some doctrinal Puritans, excited only -the opposition of the Presbyterians and the other sects. Tracts of the -period irreverently represent the liturgy as being the very _lethargy_ -of worship; the litany, as not merely "a stump, or a limb of Dagon, -but the head of the Mass Book;" and the surplice, as "a Babylonish -garment, spotted with the flesh," and as worse than the "plague-sore -clout," which had been sent "to infect Master Pym, and the rest of the -House."[510] For this coarse abuse, the whole Presbyterian party must -not be held responsible; but such abuse indicates the existence of -feelings with which leading Presbyterians had to deal on their own side. - -Many persons disliked all prescribed forms, and represented them as -muzzling the mouths of the saints, and stopping the course of the -Spirit of God. "True prayer," they said, "is first in the heart, then -in the mouth, but this sort of prayer is in the mouth before it can -come into the heart at all: it is an abortive birth which never had -a right conception."[511] Yet the chief oracles both of Parliament -and the Assembly, though advocates for _extempore_ devotion, were -not disposed to leave ministers altogether to their own impulses in -conducting public devotion. They adopted a middle course, and whilst -abandoning particular forms of prayer they provided a General Directory -of worship. - -Parliament issued an order for that purpose to the Assembly, sometime -in October, 1643, but the business stood in abeyance until the -following May, when the subject came up for discussion in the Jerusalem -Chamber. Minor questions arose, such as whether laymen might assist -clergymen by reading the Scriptures--a question determined in favour -of probationers; and whether the Lord's Supper might be received by -communicants sitting in pews--a question negatived by a resolution of -adherence to Presbyterian usage. But the grand debate of the Assembly -at that time related to the suspension of improper communicants. This -matter involved principles of Church discipline, which could not be -settled without much controversy, and which long perplexed statesmen -and divines. - -[Sidenote: _The Directory._] - -The preface to the Directory, which is a very important part of the -book, adverts to the liturgy used in the Church of England, as an -offence both to many of the godly at home, and to many of the reformed -abroad. The imposition of it had heightened past grievances, and its -unprofitable ceremonies had been a burden to the consciences of not a -few. By it people had been kept from the Lord's table, and ministers -had been driven into poverty and exile. While esteemed by Prelates as -if it set forth the only way in which God could be worshipped, Papists -had counted its use a concession to themselves, and a compliance with -their Church. Moreover, a liturgy, it is said, encouraged an idle -ministry. Therefore, it was now to be set aside, not from affectation -of novelty, or to the disparagement of the first reformers, but as -a further reformation of the Church of Christ, the easing of tender -consciences, and the promotion of uniformity in the worship of God. -The Directory contains no forms of prayer, but only suggestions as to -topics of public supplication. - -[Sidenote: 1645, May.] - -[Sidenote: _The Directory._] - -The Directory, upon being dispatched to Scotland,[512] obtained there -the sanction of the General Assembly; and on its return, after the -book had been endorsed by the English Commons, it was presented to the -House of Lords, who gave it their sanction. Presbyterian statesmen are -sometimes charged with a rash abolition of old ecclesiastical laws, -without the previous or immediate institution of others to occupy their -room. It is alleged that these men short-sightedly pulled down the -ancient buildings and left them in ruins, and that they were for some -time not prepared to raise a new structure on the ancient site. This is -an incorrect representation. Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity, it is very -true, fell into desuetude from the opening of the Long Parliament; also -many Puritans in the Establishment laid aside the Liturgy, and even -reviled it. Notwithstanding, no specific law appears against it, until -the Directory had been sanctioned by Parliament. The same ordinance -which forbids the Liturgy enforces the Directory. In the first place -that authority rehearses and repeals the statutes of uniformity, and -at the same time declares that the Book of Common Prayer should not -remain in any place of worship within the kingdom of England or the -dominion of Wales. The same ordinance then goes on to declare that -the Directory should be observed in all public religious exercises -throughout the realm, and that fair register books of vellum for -births, marriages, and burials should be kept by the minister and other -officers of the Church. It is remarkable that no penalty whatever is -mentioned for a breach of this ordinance. So far as the terms of it -are concerned, it looks as if it might be broken with impunity; and -it was so broken. In country parishes where Royalism was predominant, -and such parishes were very numerous, parsons and churchwardens set at -nought the enactment of the two Houses, and would not acknowledge as -law that which had not received the Royal sanction. The Prayer Book was -dear to them from associations with the past in their own lives and -those of their fathers; and they were resolved still to read its litany -and collects. Finding that simple advice and exhortation produced no -effect in many quarters, Parliament adopted more stringent measures. -It would appear that, as early as the month of May, 1645, penalties -for contempt of the new enactment were under consideration,[513] but -an explicit threatening for disobedience was not uttered until the -month of August. Then came an ordinance[514] which--after providing for -the supply of printed books of the Directory, and commanding that it -should be read the Sunday after it was received--proceeded to declare -that any person using the Book of Common Prayer in church or chapel -should, for the first offence, pay the sum of five pounds, for the -second offence the sum of ten pounds, and for the third offence suffer -one year's imprisonment. Every minister was to pay forty shillings each -time he offended. Those who preached or wrote against the Directory -fell under additional liabilities to pay not less than five, and -not more than fifty pounds. Thus a new Act of Uniformity succeeded -the old one. The High Commission Court had been abolished, but its -spirit had migrated into another body. Happily it is no easy thing to -change a people's religion by Act of Parliament. Wherever the exercise -of reason, and the study of Scripture are neglected, there remain -sentiments, perhaps prejudices, which are too deeply sown to be raked -out by any legal instrument, however sharp and close-set its teeth may -be. Human conscience, whether rude and ill-informed, or disciplined -and wise, always hates all tools of state husbandry employed for such -ends. Accordingly, a good many people in England, when its rulers would -force them into a new form of worship, deliberately and resolutely -rebelled, some having to endure a considerable amount of suffering for -conscience' sake.[515] - -[Sidenote: 1645, August.] - -[Sidenote: _The Directory._] - -The Scotch soon began to lament the inefficacy of the new enactment. -They complained that the Prayer Book was still used in some parts of -England, where Parliament had undisputed authority; and, of course, -in a kingdom which was cut up into two hostile camps, where Royalism -remained in the ascendancy, the Liturgy would continue to be honoured, -and the Directory would be disused. Errors, heresies, and schism were -also deplored as still prevalent, by the brethren from the north, -who watched with pious zeal all that was going forward on this side -the Tweed, and were greatly distressed at the tardy progress of -ecclesiastical reform, and at the little enthusiasm which was enkindled -by the Covenant. In Ireland, the Directory met with an adverse fate. -The bishops and clergy of Dublin in particular remained loyal to -the Prayer Book. They pleaded their ordination vows, the oath of -supremacy, the Act of Uniformity, the communion of the two Churches -of England and Ireland in the bond of Common Prayer, the legality of -its use, the freedom of the Church, and the attachment to the Liturgy -cherished by the people. The Bishop of Killaloe, and several other -dignitaries, signed a protest, and whatever opinions may be formed of -their arguments, posterity will do honour to their conscientiousness. -This was in 1647. Some persons continued, in spite of Parliamentary -orders, to use the Prayer Book. The last instance of its being publicly -read in Dublin occurred when the aged and venerable Archbishop Bulkeley -delivered to his clergy a valedictory discourse in St. Patrick's -Cathedral.[516] - -[Sidenote: 1645 August] - -In connection with the Directory, notice should be taken of certain -forms of devotion which were published for the use of seamen. A book -of that period exists, without date, entitled "A Supply of Prayer for -the Ships, that want Ministers to pray with them." The preface states -that there were thousands of ships without any ministers, and that the -crews, therefore, either neglected religion altogether or used the Book -of Common Prayer. What is glanced at as a matter of necessity might -perhaps in some cases be matter of preference. Alderman Garroway, in -his speech at Guildhall, it will be remembered, spoke of sailors as -being fond of the old liturgy; and such sailors must have remained in -the fleet even after the Presbyterian Earl of Warwick had become Lord -High Admiral. Though the navy, as far as rulers were concerned, might -be called Presbyterian, numbers of the men would feel no attachments -in that direction. At all events, to avoid inconvenience, it was -thought fit to frame prayers for the navy, "agreeing with the Directory -established by Parliament." By whom the work was done we do not know, -but clearly the spirit of it is Presbyterian. "Heal our rents and -divisions," and "preserve us from breach of our solemn Covenant," are -expressions found amongst its petitions. Eschewing the Apocrypha, it -prescribes psalms and chapters from the Old and New Testament. Forms of -devotion are given, rather as specimens and guides than anything else. -"The company being assembled, they may thus begin with prayer," are the -cautious words employed by the sturdy opponents of ritualism.[517] - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XVIII. - - -Proposals were still going on for a Treaty of Peace between the King -and the Parliament. His Majesty, from what he heard of dissensions in -the popular party, felt encouraged to hope for favourable terms. He -had also an idea that the House of Peers, and some in the Commons, -really wished for a reconciliation.[518] Laud's trial was at the time -in progress, and the sympathies of the Royalists, of course, were -with the prisoner. Accordingly, overtures were forwarded, from Oxford -to Westminster, and, in return, Commissioners were despatched from -Westminster to Oxford.[519] Their treatment, however, on reaching the -latter city, was not such as to inspire much hope of a prosperous -issue. The people reviled them as traitors, rogues, and rebels, and -threw stones into their coaches as they rode to the quarters appointed -for their entertainment at "the sign of the 'Catherine Wheel,' next -St. John's College"--"a mean inn," as Whitelocke describes it, only a -"little above the degree of an alehouse."[520] The conduct of Charles -in sending a sealed reply telling the Commissioners they were to carry -what he pleased to place in their hands, although it should be but the -_Song of Robin Hood and Little John_, certainly did not tend to an -amicable adjustment of affairs; and his duplicity in calling the Lords -and Commons at Westminster a Parliament, whilst he entered upon record -in his council book that the calling them so did not imply that they -were such, proves that his only object was to pacify his opponents for -a time, that he might do what he liked with them whenever they should -be again within his power.[521] - -[Sidenote: 1645, January.] - -[Sidenote: _Treaty at Uxbridge._] - -At length, the preliminaries of a treaty were arranged, and a meeting -was fixed to take place in the town of Uxbridge in the month of -January, 1645. The propositions of Parliament related to religion, -the militia, and Ireland; and the Commissioners were instructed to -stipulate that the subject of religion should be considered first, on -the ground of its supreme importance.[522] When they assembled, the -town, selected as the theatre of their negotiations, was divided into -two parts; the north side of the main street being allotted to the -Parliamentarians, the south side to the Royalists. So crowded was every -corner of the place, that some of the distinguished personages were, -as Whitelocke informs us, "forced to lie, two of them in a chamber -together in field beds, only upon a quilt, in that cold weather, not -coming into a bed during all the treaty."[523] The house chosen as -most convenient for deliberation was Sir John Bennet's residence,--a -picturesque building at the west end, still in existence, containing -a "fair great chamber," with curiously wainscotted walls. Courtesies -were exchanged between the diplomatists, but it soon plainly appeared -that two hostile camps had pitched within the precincts of this little -town. On a market day, just as the business of the treaty was about to -commence, a lecture had to be preached in the parish church, according -to established custom. Christopher Love, a young Presbyterian divine, -full of fervour and zeal, happened then to be officiating as chaplain -to the garrison at Windsor, and he had just travelled to Uxbridge -in order to perform there this popular service. Farmers who came to -sell their corn, and even persons in the train of the noble visitors -from Oxford, contributed to increase the congregation which crowded -the church. The preacher's discourse was reported by certain hearers -to the authorities on the south side of the High Street as being of -a seditious and intolerable character. On the following morning a -paper was handed over to the party on the north side of the street, -complaining of the sermon, and alleging that the preacher had gone so -far as to declare that the King's representatives had "come with hearts -full of blood, and that there was as great a distance between this -treaty and peace as between heaven and hell." They therefore desired -justice might be executed upon this fomenter of strife. The same day -saw an answer returned, to the effect that Love was not included in the -retinue of the Commissioners from London; that they wished all causes -of offence to be avoided; and that they would report the circumstances -which had occurred to the Lords and Commons, who, they were quite sure, -would consider the matter "according to justice."[524] So the matter -dropped. - -[Sidenote: 1645, February.] - -It is curious to find Clarendon lamenting that Uxbridge Church was now -in the possession of the Presbyterians, and that, according to the -ordinance just issued, the Directory had there taken the place of the -Prayer Book. The King's Commissioners, therefore, who would willingly -have gone to church, were restrained from doing so, and had to observe -days of devotion in "their great room of the inn," where, as the -historian states, many who came from town and from the country daily -resorted.[525] The tables were turned; Episcopalians and Presbyterians -had changed places; and his Majesty's followers found themselves at -Uxbridge in the ranks of dissent. - -[Sidenote: _Treaty at Uxbridge._] - -Three weary weeks of debate ensued; religion, according to the -stipulated arrangement, coming first under discussion.[526] The four -grand ecclesiastical propositions which were placed in the forefront -by the Parliamentary Commissioners were the following: _first_, that -the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy, which had passed the two Houses, -should now receive the Royal sanction; _secondly_, that the Ordinance -for the Westminster Assembly should be confirmed; _thirdly_, that the -Directory, and the scheme of Church government annexed to it, should -be enacted for the reformation of religion and the accomplishment of -uniformity; and _fourthly_, that his Majesty should take the solemn -League and Covenant, and concur in enjoining it upon all his subjects. -Touching these several particulars, there may be seen in Dugdale and -Rushworth a mass of papers, very dull and dry to all appearance now, -but which had in them abundant light and fire, when they were exchanged -and read in that large "fair room" at Uxbridge. - -[Sidenote: 1645, April.] - -Before the debates on religion closed, the King made a very plausible -shew of concession, by professing his willingness to allow that -all persons should have freedom in matters of ceremony, and that -bishops should be bound to consult their presbyters, and constantly -to reside within their dioceses. He promised, too, that poor livings -should be improved, pluralities abolished, and ecclesiastical -jurisdiction reformed.[527] Yet, while making these smooth and pleasant -offers--calculated, if not to induce the Parliament to come to terms, -at least to raise the Royal cause to a somewhat higher position in -public esteem--his Majesty wrote to his secretary, Nicholas, in the -following style: "I should think, if in your private discourses, I no -wise mean in your public meetings with the London Commissioners, you -would put them in mind that they were arrant rebels, and that their end -must be damnation, ruin, and infamy, except they repented, and found -some way to free themselves from the damnable way they are in (this -treaty being the aptest), it might do good."[528] This double dealing -shews that Charles, in his negotiations with Parliament, fancied he -had to do with creatures of a kind fit only to be inveigled into traps -and snares; and it also shews that, at least, he had so much of -Romish morality as consists in not keeping faith with heretics. His -antagonists felt persuaded of this fact, though they could not put -their hands so easily on the proofs as subsequent revelations enable us -to do. But what they did actually discover made them very suspicious -of his Majesty's proceedings, and induced them to act towards him -sometimes in a manner which appeared not only ungracious, but -inexpedient; we, however, now seeing the whole series of events from -beginning to end, are enabled to discern in some of the most repulsive -acts of the liberal and popular party the keenest foresight and the -broadest prudence. - -[Sidenote: _Debates about Ordination._] - -To return from Uxbridge to Westminster. - -The Presbyterians, working with the best intentions, striving to reform -the people of England and to drive out error and evil, had much trouble -with other matters besides the enforcement of the Directory. Churches -wanted ministers, for scandalous clergymen had been dismissed and aged -clergymen had become incapable. Some too had died, and some had removed -to take charge of other parishes.[529] The Oxford University, wholly -in the hands of Royalists, yielded no candidates for the ministry, and -Bishops would not ordain persons to serve in the new Establishment. In -consequence of these circumstances vacancies were irregularly filled -up, and uneducated persons were wont to thrust themselves into the -sacred office. Amidst this disorder the Presbyterians, sorrowful on -the one hand because of such destitution, and displeased on the other -with the irregularity in such a mode of supply, and at the same time -mortified by the taunts of Royalists and Episcopalians, vigorously -devoted themselves to the business of supplying churches and ordaining -ministers. In the month of April, 1645, Parliament ordered that no one -should preach who had not received ordination in the English or some -other reformed Church, or who had not been approved by the authorities -appointed for the purpose.[530] - -[Sidenote: 1645, April.] - -It was specially enjoined that this rule should be put in force -throughout the army, because in some regiments Presbyterian -ministrations and worship were not held in high esteem; and the -Lords, who cherished strong Presbyterian sympathies, also directed -the Assembly to prepare a form according to which clergymen might be -ordained without the offices of a diocesan bishop. Long and tiresome -debates arose amongst the Divines in connexion with this latter -subject;--Presbyterians, Independents, and Erastians differing from -each other in the ideas which they entertained of what ordination -meant. This controversy has been long since buried, and we shall not -disinter it from amidst the dust of "old diaries" and "grand debates;" -but the point raised by the Independents, who contended for the right -of each congregation to choose its own ministers, has some vitality -for people in these days. Of course the Presbyterians carried the -question according to their well-known views, and after they had done -so, Parliament, adopting the decision of the Divines, declared by -an ordinance, that the solemn setting apart of presbyters to their -holy office was an institute of the Lord Jesus Christ; that certain -rules ought to be observed in the examination of candidates; that -publicity should be given to the testimonial of the examiners; and -that ordination should be performed by the laying on of the hands -of the presbytery, accompanied by a public fast. It was expressly -stated at the conclusion of the ordinance that it should stand in -force for twelve months, and no longer--a provision which stamped -the arrangements with something of a tentative character. Until -presbyteries could be duly organized, the duty of ordination was vested -in the Assembly; and no wonder that Baillie, in a letter written from -London in February, 1646, laments the onerous and absorbing engagements -which this new law entailed upon the Divines.[531] - -As the question of Presbyterian discipline came under discussion, the -debates in the Assembly increased in energy, learning, and acuteness, -as well as in prolixity. No person who has read Dr. Lightfoot's notes -of the proceedings can deny the erudition and controversial acumen of -the disputants on both sides; and all who have glanced over Baillie's -lively pages will admit that this battle for great principles was -waged with sincerity and earnestness. A very important point of -enquiry arose in the month of April, 1644, Whether "many particular -congregations should be under one presbytery?" The Independents pressed -to be heard on the negative side, and spent twenty long sittings in -advocating their opinion. Goodwin was foremost in the debate, but the -rest of the dissenting brethren took their turns. The champions well -acquitted themselves, their enemies being judges. "Truly, if the cause -were good," wrote Baillie, "the men have plenty of learning, wit, -eloquence, and above all, boldness and stiffness to make it out; but -when they had wearied themselves, and over-wearied us all, we found -the most they had to say against the presbytery, was but curious -idle niceties, yea, that all they could bring was no ways concluding. -Every one of their arguments, when it had been pressed to the full, in -one whole session, and sometimes in two or three, was _voiced_, and -found to be light unanimously by all but themselves."[532] There can -be little doubt of this. The reasoning of the Independents would of -course be found wanting when weighed in the Presbyterian balance, and -the majority of the Assembly would naturally consider their own votes -an ample refutation of their adversaries' arguments. "They profess," -says the same authority in another place, respecting the Independents, -"to regard nothing at all what all the reformed or all the world say, -if _their sayings be not backed with convincing Scripture or reason_. -All human testimonies they declaim against as a popish argument." The -simplicity of the writer is perfectly amusing as he thus insensibly -glides into the position of papal advocates, and tacitly acknowledges -the authority of general opinion in the Church; on the other hand, -the firmness and consistency of these genuine Protestants is truly -admirable, as they resolutely adhere to the only invincible method of -argument by which the cause of the Reformation can be defended. - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterians and Independents._] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -While Independent principles favoured universal toleration, the -Presbyterians, by advocating the establishment of classes, synods, -and a general assembly, and by calling on the magistrate to enforce -the authority of the Church, plainly interfered with the civil rights -of the people. The thoughtful among the Independents therefore became -more and more averse to the Presbyterian scheme; they saw that it -would be fatal to those very liberties for which the nation had so -valiantly contended in the field. Accordingly, we find that Philip -Nye, in the March of 1644, boldly contended before the Assembly that a -presbytery was inconsistent with the civil state. This was a galling -accusation, and the Presbyterian party indignantly cried down the -assertion as impertinent. Great confusion arose in the Assembly; but, -undismayed by the combined opposition of a large majority, the champion -of Independency on the following day renewed the impeachment. It was -an aggravation of his offence in the eyes of his adversaries, that he -took advantage of the presence that day of some distinguished noblemen -and others to make his bold avowal. He would enlighten these personages -on the great question. He repeated that the liberties for which the -people fought would be unsafe if Presbyterianism were established. -Again the Presbyterians endeavoured to silence him. The meeting was in -a tumult. Some would have expelled him; but the Independents rallied -round their intrepid friend, declaring their resolution not to enter -the Assembly again if he should be excluded. Whether, after this scene -of excitement, during which it is not improbable that Nye manifested -some warmth of temper, he really became more calm in the advocacy of -his principles; or whether it was a mere expression of triumph on -the part of one who helped to form the majority of the convocation, -and to overcome by clamour the voice of reason, we do not venture to -determine,--but the Scotch Commissioner concludes his account of that -memorable day's proceedings by observing, "Ever since we find him in -all things the most accommodating man in the company."[533] - -[Sidenote: _Committee of Accommodation._] - -[Sidenote: 1645, November.] - -As Presbyterians and Independents thus frequently came into collision -at Westminster, at last a Committee of Accommodation was appointed, -with the view of healing the differences betwixt these two parties. -This committee arose out of a suggestion by Oliver Cromwell; and -the Parliament who appointed it in 1644 directed the committee, in -case union should be impracticable, to devise a plan for meeting the -scruples of tender consciences. The committee selected six of their -number, including two Independents, to draw up propositions for the -purpose; from which it appears that the Independents claimed for their -male Church members the power of voting upon ecclesiastical questions, -and that they contended for the necessity of signs of grace as a -qualification for membership. These positions were irreconcilable with -the scheme of their opponents, which placed the Church under the power -of presbyters, and admitted to communion all who were not scandalous in -their lives. No method could be devised for combining the Independent -with the Presbyterian scheme, although the Independents professed -themselves ready to make the trial; for the Presbyterians determined -in the first instance that their own form of Church government should -be settled as a standard, and that until that was done the exceptions -of the dissentients should not be taken into consideration. As the -Presbyterians resolutely pushed forward the completion of their own -model, the dissenting brethren at last abandoned all attempts at -comprehension, and drew up a remonstrance complaining that they had -been unfairly dealt with. In the month of November, 1645, the Jerusalem -Chamber witnessed further debates between the two parties; but the -question had now reached this point, how far tender consciences, -which cannot submit to the established ecclesiastical government, -may be indulged consistently with the Word of God and the welfare -of the nation? The Independents pleaded for a full toleration, to -which the Presbyterians would not consent, and the former could not -without difficulty be brought to propose any measure of liberty to -be enjoyed exclusively by themselves; yet urged by their opponents -to state what they required in their own case, they replied that -they did not demur to the Assembly's Confession of Faith, and that -they merely sought liberty to form their own congregations, to have -the power of ordination, and to be free from Presbyterian authority. -"In our answer," observes Baillie, "we did flatly deny such a vast -liberty." All the indulgence conceded was that Independents should not -be compelled to receive the Lord's Supper, nor be liable to synodical -censure; and this amount of freedom was made dependent upon their -joining the parish congregation, and then submitting in all but the -excepted particulars to the new ecclesiastical government. Baillie, -who supplies some knowledge of party secrets, informed a friend that -had not the Presbyterians allowed some indulgence, they would have -brought upon themselves insupportable odium, and that in making their -limited offer they were persuaded that it would not be accepted. -The Independents of course were not content with the result of the -controversy, and still sought the liberty of forming Churches of their -own. - -[Sidenote: _Committee of Accommodation._] - -The threadbare argument about the abuse of liberty and the opening of -a door to all manner of sectaries was zealously urged against any such -toleration as the Independents claimed. Altar would be set up against -altar, it was said, the seamless robe of Christ would be rent, and -the unity of the Church would be destroyed. At last, Burroughs rose -and declared "that, if their congregations might not be exempted from -that coercive power of the classes, if they might not have liberty to -govern themselves in their own way as long as they behaved peaceably -towards the civil magistrate, they were resolved to suffer, or go to -some other place of the world where they might enjoy their liberty. -But while men think there is no way of peace but by forcing all to be -of the same mind, while they think the civil sword is an ordinance of -God to determine all controversies of Divinity, and that it must needs -be attended with fines and imprisonment to the disobedient; while they -apprehend there is no medium between a strict uniformity and a general -confusion of all things;--while these sentiments prevail there must be -a base subjection of men's consciences to slavery, a suppression of -much truth, and great disturbances in the Christian world."[534] The -expression of such wise and beautiful sentiments closed the debates of -this fruitless Committee. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XIX. - - -The Scotch army had crossed the Tweed in the month of January, 1644. -Isaak Walton had seen them marching along with their pikes, and -wearing on their hats this motto, "For the Crown and Covenant of both -kingdoms,"[535] but the quiet angler was not able to understand clearly -what he beheld. These soldiers proved of far less service to England -than was expected. The indiscretion of generals in the field involved -regiments in disaster, and political and religious jealousy at an -early period sprung up between some English and Scotch commanders. -Grounds of difference existed, inasmuch as certain of the southern -captains felt little sympathy with the covenanting zeal of their -northern allies. Both, however, had begun to find out that the enemy -was much stronger than they had at first imagined, and Baillie, in -the month of March, 1644, deplored the persistent attachment of the -Royalists to Episcopacy and absolute monarchy, and the absence from -their consciences of all remorse for their past misdoings. Indeed, he -speaks of so much confidence existing at Oxford, that the popular cause -was there accounted to have sunk into a hopeless state; and the Scotch -presbyter himself complains that the ways of the Parliament were -endless and confused, being full of jealousy, and of other faults. The -Independents, he also says, prevented Church matters from being settled -as he wished; Antinomians and Anabaptists were on the increase, and, in -short, things were altogether in a bad condition.[536] - -[Sidenote: _Long Marston Moor._] - -The military prospects of the Parliament did not much improve as the -spring advanced. The patriots longed for something to be done. The -Earl of Manchester was besieging York, and upon the consequence of the -expedition in the north, depended the affairs of the Church, scarcely -less than the affairs of the State. When, on July the 2nd, 1644, -Cromwell and Leslie met Prince Rupert on Long Marston Moor, it was -for the purpose of settling an ecclesiastical as well as a political -question. - -[Sidenote: 1644, July.] - -The two armies stood face to face on that memorable spot, eyeing each -other for hours, within musket shot,[537] the Parliament horse and -foot being ranged along the south side of the moor on rising ground, -amidst fields of standing corn, now tall and wet with rain, whilst the -King's forces were protected by a deep ditch and hedge in front. When -the sun was going down over the wide plain the action commenced. At -first it proved in favour of the Royalists, so much so that the Earl of -Leven's men fled, and the Scotch might be heard crying, "Waes us, we're -a' undone!" Forthwith news of victory flew to Oxford, greeted there -by bell-ringing and bonfires, to be only, however, speedily followed -by very different tidings; for before midnight Cromwell and Leslie -plucked a victory out of the enemy's hands. They charged a brigade of -greencoats, and put to the rout the remainder of the Royalist army. The -chase was continued to within a mile of the walls of York, the dead -bodies, it was said, lying three miles in length, the moon with her -light helping somewhat the darkness of the season.[538] - -The part which Cromwell took in this fierce battle gave no little -triumph to the Independent party, who made the most of the Scotch -flight, and hardly did justice to General Leslie.[539] This vexed the -Presbyterians, and already the breach between the two assumed a serious -appearance. - -[Sidenote: _Naseby._] - -Though the victory of Marston Moor was of great advantage to the cause -of the Parliament, it certainly did not decide the conflict. So far -from that being the case, the fortunes of war afterwards favoured the -Royalists. In August the Earl of Essex found himself so circumstanced -in his western campaign that he suddenly capitulated to the King--an -untoward event, which naturally called forth the lamentations of the -Westminster Divines.[540] Later still, amongst those persons who were -anxious thoroughly to humble their High Church adversaries, and to -bring the King to terms of complete submission, there might have been -heard complaints to the effect that two summers had passed without the -nation being saved; that victories gallantly gotten by the army, and -graciously bestowed by Heaven, had been put into a bag with holes; that -what was gained one day was lost another, that the summer's victory -became a winter tale; and that the whole game had to be played over -again. The secret of this want of complete success was said to be the -unwillingness of the Presbyterians to crush the Royalists, and their -desire for such an accommodation of differences as would place their -own ecclesiastical polity close by the side of the English throne. The -Independents, therefore, who were loud in making complaints of the -description just indicated, seeing as they did that the Presbyterian -scheme threatened the extinction of that religious liberty with which -their own interests were identified, resolved that there should be -a revision of the whole war policy on their own side, and an entire -reformation effected in the character and tactics of the army. Out of -this determination arose the famous new modelling of the army, and the -self-denying ordinance. These changes were accomplished in the winter -of 1644, and the re-organized forces, under Fairfax and Cromwell, were -ready to take the field by the spring of 1645. When all this had been -accomplished, hopes revived, but the siege and capture of Leicester -by the Royalists, at the end of May, inspired new fears.[541] These, -however, were not of long continuance, and were wholly dissipated by -the memorable battle in the month of June. - -[Sidenote: 1645, June.] - -On Saturday, the 14th, in the afternoon, the lines of the new-modelled -army were drawn across certain fallow fields in front of the village of -Naseby, whose trim hedges, numerous trees, and solitary windmill are -quaintly depicted in an old wood engraving inserted in Sprigg's history -of the battle; whilst in the open country, in front of the Parliament -troops, the King's forces were stretched out in full array. As at -Marston Moor, so now at Naseby, victory at first seemed to wait upon -Prince Rupert; but he, ever hot-headed, lost his advantage by pursuing -the enemy too far, and came back to find the tide of battle turned -against him. There had been, during his absence, desperate charges -amidst the furze of the rabbit warren, and the swords and pistols of -the Ironsides had proved too much for the well-mounted cavaliers.[542] -This engagement proved decisive beyond question, and its place in -the history of the Civil Wars is most conspicuous, resembling in -this respect the locality where the battle was fought. As Dr. Arnold -observes: "On some of the highest table land in England, the streams -falling on one side into the Atlantic, on the other into the German -Ocean; far away too from any town, Market Harborough the nearest, into -which the cavaliers were chased late in the long summer's evening." - -[Sidenote: _Naseby._] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -Fast as a horse could gallop, the news was carried up to London, and -there for days the talk ran on the standards, the field pieces, the -much powder and shot, and the royal coach and baggage, with cabinets -and letters, which had been seized by the conquerors.[543] The -surrender of Leicester to the Parliament resulted from this victory, -and as a further consequence came the second relief of Taunton.[544] -That town was held on behalf of the Parliament by Robert Blake--the -man who said, when the enemy strove to starve him out, that he had not -eaten his boots yet, and who had shewn throughout the siege a patience -which was equalled only by his courage. The remembrance continued fresh -amongst the Taunton people of the Puritan minister's sermon, preached -in the grand old church of St. Mary, on the words, "I am the Lord, -I change not: therefore ye sons of Jacob are not consumed;"--and of -the shouts of "deliverance!" "deliverance!" which rang through the -edifice before the sermon was finished, and which echoed from street -to street as Welden's squadron of horse dashed through the east gate -to the market-place;--nor could any forget the pause which followed in -the church after the tidings had been heard, when all the congregation -knelt down and thanked God for their deliverance. And now, again, the -faith of the inhabitants was rewarded by the arrival of most timely -succour; for the battle of Naseby set Fairfax free to turn his forces -southward, and to scatter the forces of Goring, who had been such -a pest to the county of Somerset. Not only was Taunton effectually -delivered; but Bristol, Bridgewater, Ilchester, and Langport fell into -the hands of the Parliament. - -[Sidenote: _Sufferings of the Clergy._] - -As the war proceeded, and as blustering Cavaliers galloped over the -country, singing ribald songs and plundering their neighbours; and as -Roundheads, equally stern and demure, marched up and down, singing -psalms and sacking the houses of Royalist malignants, it necessarily -happened that the clergy were great sufferers in the confusion, for -they were required to take a side, wherever the soldiers of either -army came. Those who went not up "to the help of the Lord, to the help -of the Lord against the mighty," fell under a Puritan malediction, -very much like that which was imprecated on Meroz. On the other hand, -such as held back from fighting the battle of their King, were treated -by Royalists as rebellious scoundrels. Between the two, little peace -fell to the lot of country ministers where the torch of war happened -to be kindled. And, indeed, such were the issues at stake, and so -inextricably were religious questions interwoven with political ones, -that it seemed next to impossible for any man whose views were not -hemmed in by the boundaries of his own little parish, not to take part -in the far-spreading and momentous strife. - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -The Puritan who espoused the side of Parliament laid himself open -to the violence of Royalists. They would attack his house, break -open his chests and cupboards, take away his little stock of plate, -cut the curtains from his bed, and steal his linen, even to the -pillow-cases. Patience, under such circumstances, became a sign of holy -confessorship, and it was told long afterwards with admiration--akin -to that of a Catholic repeating the legend of a saint--how a good man -so treated, exclaimed with Job, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath -taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."[545] If a clergyman or -chaplain happened to be discovered as a refugee in any castle or in any -camp, he would of course be seized as a prisoner of war; and a story is -told of one such, who was sentenced to be hanged unless he would ask -pardon of the King; which, if he did, he should have not only his life, -but a good church-living; whereupon, conscious of his integrity in the -part he had taken, the stout-hearted man replied--"To ask pardon, when -I am not conscious of any offence, were but the part of a _fool_, and -to betray my conscience in hope of preferment, were but the part of a -_knave_; and if I had neither hope of heaven, nor fear of hell, I would -rather die an honest man, than live a fool or knave." It was hard to -crush or to ensnare any one who was made of this kind of mettle; and -this person, whose name was Balsom, after being delivered from the -halter, went on preaching to the Royalist garrison, declaring--"While -I have a tongue to speak and people to hear, I will not hold my -peace."[546] - -[Sidenote: _Sufferings of the Clergy._] - -But all Puritans did not adopt the political cause of the Parliament. -Some, though incensed at the conduct of Archbishop Laud, still clung to -the fortunes of King Charles. They would never wear a surplice, they -would never make the sign of the cross; but at any time they would -cheerfully die for their sovereign and their country. Such individuals -suffered from the Parliament army almost as much as their brethren -did from the Royalists. The Rector of Okerton,[547] whose reverence -for the Crown was equalled by his dislike to ceremonialism, was four -times pillaged by troops of Roundheads, was twice sent to prison, -and was reduced to such straits that he had to borrow a shirt.[548] -Cases also occurred in which ministers disapproved of an appeal to -arms altogether. A clergyman, who would not keep any days of public -fasting and thanksgiving--because, as he said, he would not give -thanks to God for one man killing another--was persecuted on that -account, and was sent to prison by the governor of Boston for keeping -a conventicle. So all drank of the sorrow-cup by turns; it being -handed sometimes by one man to another, when both of them were alike -Puritans. Walker has collected numerous instances of hardship suffered -by the Royalist clergy during the wars. A distinction is to be made -between the extravagant statements and vituperative remarks in the -first part of his most uncharitable book, and such anecdotes as are -related on the authority of correspondents in the second part. These -latter partake of a legendary character, and are doubtless coloured -highly by their authors; but there is no reason why we should discredit -them altogether; and it is very interesting and instinctive to compare -them with the traditions of confessorship on the Nonconformist side. -Mikepher Alphery, rector of Woolley, in Huntingdonshire, was pulled -out of his pulpit by a file of musketeers, and lived for a week in -a booth under the trees of his churchyard; Lewis Alcock, rector of -North-Stoneham--who seems to have been a "muscular Christian"--when -threatened by the Parliament soldiers, brought his bed down into -the parlour, and with his gun charged, resolved not to give up his -parsonage except with his life. Eldard Alvey, of Newcastle, had to -relinquish everything he possessed, and to provide for the safety -of himself, wife, and seven children, in the night time, whilst his -two curates were threatened with a pistol-shot, if they did not give -up reading prayers. Daniel Berry concealed himself under a pile of -faggots, where his pursuers discovered him by thrusting their swords -into the heap.[549] Other similar cases might be mentioned. - -[Sidenote: _Sufferings of the Clergy._] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -The largest amount of suffering experienced by the clergy belongs -to the period when men's passions were exasperated by war. Soldiers -on both sides were the ministers of vengeance. The fiery excitement -kindled in the battle-field was carried into peaceful homes, which -became identified with the camp; and ministers of religion, pious, -faithful, and devoted, might be found, who, if they did not privately -prompt, failed publicly to disapprove of the persecution of their -brethren. In many of the biographical sketches supplied by Walker, -no indications of spiritual religion appear on the part of those -whose livings were sequestered. By some, too, as is evident from -the instance just cited, the most determined resistance was offered -to their persecutors. The spirit of the High Churchman during the -civil wars comes out occasionally in strong contrast with that of the -Puritan after the Restoration. Yet we cannot doubt but that on the -Anglican as well as on the Puritan side there were sufferers, who bore -their Master's cross; that for His sake, from loyalty to what they -conscientiously regarded as His truth, they bravely endured reproach -and wrong. It is amongst the mysteries of Divine Providence, that holy -men in this life have to suffer sometimes in a cause which, although -by themselves accounted good, is by brethren, equally honest, branded -as evil; and that thus there comes to be, in ecclesiastical conflicts, -so much pain, at once conscientiously inflicted, and conscientiously -endured. No calm thinker can fail to discern the anomaly; and no loving -heart but must long for that blessed future, when the fruits of such -strange discipline will be reaped by souls now divided on earth, but -who will then be united in Heaven amidst the purest charity and the -humblest joy. - -Only ignorance of the history of those times can lead any one to -suppose that the main ecclesiastical questions at issue were settled -entirely, or even chiefly by the debates of either divines or of -statesmen. What occurred far away from the Jerusalem Chamber, and -from St. Stephen's Chapel, had much to do with the proceedings within -those walls. Naseby fight struck the last blow in the struggle with -Episcopacy, and by crushing the Royalist party, rendered the cause -hopeless; and it also, though in a less obvious manner, materially -affected the fortunes of Presbyterianism, by controlling its excesses, -and preventing the concession of its inordinate demands. - - - - - [Illustration.] - - CHAPTER XX. - - -The Naseby triumph was won, not by the Scotch army, or by the English -Presbyterian generals, but chiefly by Cromwell and his Independent -Ironsides. They sustained the hottest brunt of the battle, their -charges bore down the brilliant cavaliers; and they, therefore, -claimed the greenest laurels reaped on that memorable field. They had -become the sworn opponents of the men who were so busy in laying the -corner-stones of the new ecclesiastical establishment. Jealousy of -Presbyterian power was an influence which, combined with a disapproval -of the mode of carrying on the war, produced the self-denying -ordinance, by which certain officers of that persuasion were removed -from command. Not that Cromwell and others had any great distaste -for Presbyterianism considered in itself, since in doctrinal tenets -and religious feeling they agreed with the Genevan school; but with -the exclusiveness and intolerance of its ecclesiastical polity they -were at issue: and they were determined that, while they had tongues -to speak and hands to fight, they would not allow a Presbyterian any -more than an Episcopal Church to trample upon the liberties of other -denominations. They had fought for religious freedom as their own -right, and were prepared to concede it, with certain limitations, -to their brethren; nor would they now, in the hour of their success, -surrender the prize for which they had fought and bled. As the Naseby -heroes assumed an attitude of resolute opposition to the Presbyterians, -the effect soon became visible at Westminster. - -[Sidenote: _Unpopularity of the Scotch Army._] - -New elections contributed to alter the relative position of these -parties. New writs were issued by the Speaker of the House of Commons, -in August, to fill up vacant seats. Before the end of the year, one -hundred and forty-six fresh members took the oath; and within twelve -months eighty-nine more did the same, amongst whom were Blake, Ludlow, -Algernon Sidney, Ireton, Skippon, Massey, and Hutchinson. - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -There was another cause at work in the same direction. The Scotch army -had been the main pillar of Presbyterian hope. In almost every letter -which the indefatigable Robert Baillie wrote home to his friends this -fact appears. No doubt, in the simplicity of his heart, and without any -consciousness of inconsistency, he could stand up in any Edinburgh or -London pulpit and take for his text, "The weapons of our warfare are -not carnal;" and yet, no man was more filled with the idea that the -success of Presbyterianism in England depended upon Scotch soldiers. -To take one instance from a sheaf of quotations. "If by any means we -would get these our regiments, which are called near thirty, to sixteen -thousand marching men, by the blessing of God, in a short time we might -ruin both the malignant party and the sectaries. The only strength -of both these is the weakness of our army. The strength, motion, and -success of that army, in the opinion of all here, is their certain and -quick ruin.... It's our only desire to have the favour of God, and -to hear of the speedy march of our army."[550] But at the time of -which we now speak the Scotch soldiers had become very unpopular. Our -laborious correspondent expostulates with the authorities of his own -country, not only on the dilatoriness of their military movements, but -on the demoralized condition of their troops; so that, as he said, if -justice were not done "on unclean, drunken, blasphemous, plundering -officers," Scotland would "stink in the nose" of England. He was -frightened to hear what many told him of ravishers, blasphemers, and -Sabbath-breakers, being left unpunished. No one could be more zealous -for the discipline of the forces than he who thus discloses his bad -opinion of their character and his fear of the ruinous consequences. -Letters in the State Paper Office indicate what ground there was -for Baillie's apprehensions. These letters complain of the lawless -behaviour of Major Blair's men, stationed in Derbyshire, who broke open -houses, beat women, and robbed the carriers as they came to Winkworth -market. And so it happened, that while the Scotch Presbyterian army, -which was meant to be England's saviour, was sinking into had repute, -Cromwell's Independents were being praised up to the very skies.[551] - -The case stood thus. The Scotch and most of the Presbyterians of the -Westminster Assembly were, on the one side, for putting down the sects, -and setting up an ecclesiastical rule which should have government -support without government direction, and exclude from toleration -systems different from their own; and on the other side were the -army, the Erastians, and the Independents, who, differing from each -other in religious opinion and character, were politically united, -forming an irresistible phalanx, which exhibited as its watchwords -such mottoes as these: "State Control over a State Church;" "For other -Churches full Toleration." Two questions had to be decided. Should not -Presbyterianism, established by the civil power, be subject to the -interference of that power? Should not freedom of worship and polity be -allowed to sects dissenting from the Establishment? There was also a -third--Was Presbyterianism of Divine right? - -[Sidenote: _The Power of the Keys._] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -Let us see how the three were handled. - -I. The question touching "the Power of the Keys" was debated in the -Assembly, and then in the House of Commons. According to Presbyterian -doctrine, the keys of the Kingdom of Heaven were committed to the -ruling officers of the Church. They had power to call before them any -member, to enquire into his spiritual state, and to suspend him from -the Lord's Supper, if found unworthy of communion. Church censures, -however, while independent of the magistrates' authority as to their -origin, were, in their execution, if necessary, to be supported by the -magistrates' assistance. The Independents agreed with the Presbyterians -thus far, that the most careful order ought to be maintained in the -Church of Christ; but the Independents contended that discipline was a -duty pertaining to the congregation at large, and that no individual -should be set aside, or cut off from Christian privileges, except by the -votes of the community. At the same time, they excluded all magisterial -interference, and could not accept of any enforcement of their own -decisions by legal penalties. The Erastians took a very different -view, and believed that communion ought to be perfectly open, and that -it should be left to every man's conscience to decide respecting his -own fitness for receiving the Lord's Supper. Crimes only, they said, -deserved social penalties, and these were to be adjudged by civil -tribunals. The Presbyterians carried their own point in the Westminster -Assembly. The keys, contrary to the Independent idea, were to be in the -hands of Church officers, and not to be held by the congregation at -large. The keys, contrary to Erastian notions, were to be exclusively -under spiritual, not at all under civil control. - -When this question passed from the Assembly to the Commons, and the -time came for deciding the matter, the conclusion of the Assembly -was annulled. The House determined, that if any person found himself -aggrieved by the proceedings of a Presbytery, he might not only appeal -to a superior Church tribunal, but he might bring his case for final -adjudication before the High Court of Parliament. Criminal charges were -reserved entirely for the magistrates' decision, whose certificate was -necessary for the suspension of offenders. A committee of Lords and -Commons also had vested in them a discretionary power to adjudge any -cases of scandal unspecified in the rules for suspension which had been -drawn up by the Assembly.[552] - -[Sidenote: _The Power of the Keys._] - -The Erastians, who were at this time the leaders of the political -Independent party in the House of Commons, thus defeated their -opponents. By fixing the control of ecclesiastical judicature in -the civil magistracy and in Parliament, they established their own -distinctive principle, which was utterly subversive of the polity -advocated by the Presbyterians. The Church was altogether degraded from -its position as a kingdom not of this world; and also discipline became -so fettered, that in many cases its exercise proved to be impossible. -The rules prepared by the Assembly, and sanctioned by the Commons, -appeared sufficiently formidable to fence the Lord's table against the -approach of improper communicants; yet the very minute specification of -sundry offences, as in all cases of precise canon law, really presented -an obstacle in the way of discipline respecting unspecified offences -against morality and religion. All such minute rules are inherently -vicious, and are singularly out of harmony with New Testament methods -of legislation. Moreover, the interference of magistrates and of -senatorial committees were likely to render these rules inoperative; -and in cases which the rules did not reach, such interference was not -calculated to produce ecclesiastical purity. - -One object of the Presbyterians was the establishment of a Church of -incorrupt religion and of undefiled morality. The Puritan Presbyter -resembled the Anglican Archbishop as an apostle of uniformity; but -the former thought much more of moral reformation, and much less of -ritual worship, than the latter. The Church discipline of Presbyterian -courts came nearer to the Church discipline of Archdiaconal ones than -many people suppose; but what is truly moral and religious was raised -by Presbyterians above what is ceremonial in a measure far beyond the -conception of Romanists or Anglo-Catholics. The old ecclesiastical -courts were overturned, many cases of immorality were no longer subject -to jurisdiction; and Presbyterians, who, like Anglicans, treated the -nation as a Church, aimed by their own system to supply what they -considered a great defect in the moral government of the people. - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -The English Presbyterians essayed to walk in the path of their Scotch -brethren; and the general conviction of the latter as to the divinity -of that system must be borne in mind. Amongst an equal number of -persons, where one man in England believed prelacy to be a divine -institution, a dozen might be found in Scotland, who were not only -assured that their Church rested upon the foundation of apostles and -prophets, but were resolved also, in its defence, to go to prison, -to the gallows, or to the stake. Church power bore in their eyes the -stamp of Heaven, and owed nothing to Acts and Ordinances of Parliament. -In Scotland, the Reformation had not been, as in England, mainly the -revolt of the laity against the clergy. The clergy had led the way, -like a grand prophet choir, they had headed the host. They had been -in the van as the nation marched out of Egypt; and Moses did not more -rejoice over Pharaoh than John Knox had done over the Man of Sin. Some -will say there was plenty of fanaticism in the Reformation on the -other side the Tweed; but it must be admitted that there was certainly -no time-serving. Braver men never trod God's earth; and the sons now -brought some of their fathers' fire over the border. - -But, however admirable the purpose of the Presbyterians might be, the -means employed for its accomplishment were inappropriate, dangerous, -and unjust. They were _inappropriate_, because purity of discipline -has ever been found impossible in a State establishment, whether it -be the superior, the ally, or the subordinate of the civil power; for -a Church which comprehends, or is meant to comprehend, a whole nation -within its pale, must necessarily be open to great laxity of communion. -The means, too, were _dangerous_, because to vest the power of -discipline, entailing civil consequences, in a body of local officers, -was to place the social position and interests of individuals at the -mercy of a few in their own parish, who possibly might be induced -by unworthy motives to give trouble and annoyance. And the means -also were _unjust_, because the penal enforcement of uniformity in -doctrine, worship, and polity, contravened the rights of conscience, -and deprived all Nonconformists of religious liberty. It was not on -the side of opposition to strict discipline and pure fellowship that -religious Independents had any sympathy with the Erastians in their -anti-Presbyterian warfare. Most earnestly did the former inculcate -the importance of these very things, and, for the sake of them, were -prepared to sacrifice many temporal advantages. What they objected -to was, first, the secular power which the new Church wished to -manage and employ for its own purposes; and secondly, the intolerance -towards rival sects with which the supremacy of that Church would be -connected. The Independents maintained, what wise and thoughtful men, -though widely removed from Erastian tendencies, have ever since done, -that if there be an Establishment at all, it is far better that the -State should be mistress of the Church than that the Church should be -mistress of the State. No doubt, the political alliance between the -Erastian and the Independent damaged somewhat the apparent consistency -of the latter; but in this respect, as to what he suffered, he only -shared in the common fate of religious persons when entering into -political combinations; and as to what he did, he only acted like many -individuals since of eminent conscientiousness; for in fact he was glad -of help, from whatever quarter it might come, in his endeavours to -prevent despotism and to resist intolerance. - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -II. The question of the keys, if it did not exactly involve, certainly -approached the question of _toleration_. At any rate, Church -censures, when left to the presbytery of a parish, gave little hope -of religious liberty being conceded to the parishioners. But, beyond -mere implication and probable contingency, there existed the fact that -the Presbyterian regarded the suppression of opinions and usages -contrary to his own as an inexorable obligation. In addition to the -legal enactment of discipline, he asked power to punish sectaries. -The ministers were ardent in endeavouring to prove the magistrates' -duty to put down heresy and schism. It formed the theme of numerous -sermons preached in St. Margaret's to the House of Commons. The City -Divines, in their weekly meetings at Sion College, debated upon the -best method of securing that end. The zealots of the party would, if -possible, have moved the Corporation of London to throw its influence -into their scale; but, just then, certain political complications -checked the movement, and deep lamentations over the faithless -citizens immediately ensued. So far did some of the Londoners go in -this kind of backsliding, that they even spoke of the Assembly being -dissolved[553]--an extreme measure, which the Lords Say and Wharton, -in their jealousy of ecclesiastical encroachments upon the liberties -of the people, had also proposed in the Upper House.[554] At the -same period, books and pamphlets were written by Prynne and others, -to establish the claims of the new ecclesiastical polity, and the -righteousness of treating all sectaries as obstinate offenders.[555] -One of their advocates, in the heat of his eloquence, declared, -"that to let men serve God according to the persuasion of their -own consciences is to cast out one devil, that seven worse might -enter."[556] The Scotch were too much interested in the subject, and -took too prominent a part in the settlement of ecclesiastical affairs -in England, to be silent at this crisis.[557] But the style of the -letter which they sent to Parliament ruffled the tempers of many of -the members, though it received at the time a courteous and dignified -notice; but two months afterwards, when another address of a similar -character, yet less offensive in style, came from the same quarter, and -was published without authority, the Houses voted the "papers false and -scandalous, and, as such, to be burnt by the hand of the hangman."[558] - -[Sidenote: _Toleration._] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -The Presbyterian advocates, as they insisted upon the excision of -heresy and schism by the sword of the State, never attempted to do -so on grounds of political expediency with the idea, that by hunting -out heresy and schism they would be getting at serpents of treason -hidden underneath. Very different were the grounds of their policy -from some selected by the Anglican Church at the Restoration. Fidelity -to Christ's crown--pure zeal for His covenant--were put forth, and -sincerely felt in a number of cases, as the main, if not the sole, -motive of the Presbyterian crusade against hated sects. Perhaps -sometimes Independents and Presbyterians did not clearly understand -one another. The former might, at times, seem to countenance the moral -toleration of error and sin, and to be thinking more of liberty than of -truth. On the other hand, the Presbyterian polemic might sometimes only -intend to pour out his fiery wrath upon sympathy with falsehood and -evil when he denounced toleration; but certainly this was not always -the case, and it may be added that, generally, he prized truth much -more than liberty. Neither side seemed to discern that the defence of -freedom in religion must rest simply on the _civil right_ of every -man to pursue his own course, to declare his own opinions, and to act -according to his own convictions, so long as he does not interfere -with his neighbours who wish to do the same. We are prepared to judge -favourably of the motives of the Presbyterians; but if their motives -in some degree redeem their character, it must be admitted that men -holding the opinions of toleration which many at least of that party -did, though they may act under the influence of the best feelings, are -very dangerous persons to be at the head of public affairs. If, under -the idea that they have a mission from Heaven for the purpose, and -with a desire to promote the glory of God, they set to work to gather -the tares from amidst the wheat, woe be to the culture of the field -altogether, and to the growth even of the good grain. He who perfectly -understood this subject interdicted all such interference, no matter -how pious the intent, and laid down a law which is utterly inconsistent -with all intolerance--"Let both grow together to the harvest." After -His decision on the subject, for any persons, however wise and good in -other respects, to attempt the extermination of error and evil by the -scythe of civil penalties, is sheer fanaticism, whether the endeavour -be made by a Protestant ecclesiastical court or by a Roman Catholic -inquisition. - -[Sidenote: _Divine Right of Presbyterianism._] - -III. The doctrine of the _Divine right of Presbyterianism_ was bound -up with its scheme of discipline and its principle of intolerance. The -majority of the Westminster Assembly would not rest content with the -establishment of their Church by the simple decree of Parliament. They -required it to be recognized by the State as _of Divine authority_. Not -only did the Presbyterian say that he believed--which was consistent -and proper--that his own system rested upon the teaching of the New -Testament; but he demanded that the highest power in the realm should -say the same, and enforce its peculiarities, as requirements clothed -with a celestial sanction. This doctrine the Independents opposed, on -the ground that they considered their own Church polity to be nearer -the Word of God. The Erastians also opposed it, because they did not -believe in the Divine foundation of any ecclesiastical rule at all. -Both parties alike opposed it on the principle, that if the State chose -to endow a Church, the State must be left to do so on its own terms. -In this way it happened, as it often does in controversy, that parties -proceeding from different and even opposite points, found themselves -at length side by side, in honest and hearty alliance, so far as -related to a resistance of common foe. But it should be borne in mind -that it was not in the character of religionists that Independents and -Erastians formed their combination, but in the character of patriots -and politicians, who were agreed in resisting a body of men whose -success in the advocacy of intolerance they judged would be as inimical -to the temporal welfare as it would be destructive to the religious -liberties of the nation. - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -There were debates on the _jus Divinum_ in the Assembly, and sterner -and more important debates on the same subject in the House of Commons. -The five brethren argued from Scripture for Congregationalism against -Presbyterianism; and Whitelocke and Selden employed their learning and -logic to prove that the Bible did not decide the question one way or -the other. At length a crisis came. The Presbyterians of the Assembly, -in concert with their Scotch brethren, complained of the Erastian -clauses in the Parliamentary ordinance for discipline, and asserted -the Divine right of the scheme of government. The House of Commons -declared that the Assembly had no right to complain of the decision -of Parliament, since the Divines had been called together simply to -give advice, and that with giving advice their functions came to an -end. Members spoke of the penalties of a _præmunire_, and held up that -which has been described as the "fatal spell before which spiritual -pretensions sunk exorcised, mysterious as excommunication and no less -terrible in its vagueness."[559] At the same time, they called on the -Assembly to answer certain queries as to the nature and extent of the -_jure Divino_ claim. This was done simply with the view of putting -off a serious collision with the Assembly. But whatever want of -earnestness there might be on the side of Parliament in proposing the -questions, no want of earnestness is seen on the side of the Assembly -in answering them. Yet, when the replies were ready in July, 1646, the -Assembly became afraid of a final rupture, and, under the terror of -a _præmunire_, abstained from publishing what they had prepared. The -Divines of Sion College, however, took up the controversy, and would -have vigorously pursued it, had not Parliament cut short the matter by -peremptorily insisting that the ordinances issued in March should be -obeyed. After relieving their consciences by an explanation of their -views, these reverend persons submitted[560] to the authority which -they found it impossible to resist. - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Assembly._] - -As we shall not have occasion again to notice the Westminster Assembly, -it is convenient here to conclude its history. No Convocation ever -sat so long. Gathered in the summer of 1643, it pursued its work till -the autumn of 1647, when, the main business of the ecclesiastical -commission being completed, the Scotch members took their leave. -But from that time up to the winter of 1648-9, a few of the Divines -continued to examine ministerial candidates; and afterwards a small -committee met for the same purpose every Thursday morning, even as late -as the spring of 1652. Upon the breaking-up of the Long Parliament -by Oliver Cromwell, this appendage silently disappeared without any -formal dissolution. Neither before nor since did any convocation of -the Church in England go over so much ground, and accomplish so much -work. In this respect it rivals the Council of Trent. The whole range -of dogmatic divinity, together with ecclesiastical polemics, and -devotional formularies, came under discussion. Notice has been taken -of the partial revision of the Thirty-nine Articles, of the Directory -for worship, and of the humble advice for the ordination of ministers, -and the settling of Presbyterian government. It is almost needless to -say that the Westminster Divines prepared a confession of faith. A -committee, including Reynolds, afterwards Bishop of Norwich, drew up -this document. They divided themselves into sections, each taking a -specific topic. When a chapter had been fully prepared it was submitted -to the Assembly, and then again subjected to minute examination, -sentence by sentence, and word by word. There were long and tough -debates on the doctrine of election. Neal says, "All the Divines were -in the anti-Arminian scheme, yet some had a greater latitude than -others. I find in my MS. the dissent of several members against some -expressions relating to reprobation, to the imputation of the active -as well as passive obedience of Christ, and to several passages in -the chapters of liberty of conscience and Church discipline; but the -confession, as far as it related to articles of faith, passed the -Assembly and Parliament by a very great majority."[561] - -[Sidenote: 1643-52.] - -The confession consists of thirty-three chapters--the first on the -Holy Scriptures, the last on the final judgment. The doctrines of -Calvinism are sharply defined in an order and in a form which many -theologians of the present day, substantially Calvinistic, cannot -adopt. Certain chapters, interspersed with the rest--the twentieth, on -Christian liberty and liberty of conscience, the thirtieth, on Church -censures, and the thirty-first, on synods and councils--plainly exhibit -the intolerance of the times in connection with the principles of -Presbyterian government. As everything which the Assembly did had to be -submitted to Parliament for its sanction, this theological manifesto -came under the consideration of that supreme court. The doctrinal -portions were ratified by the two Houses, but the particulars as to -discipline were "recommitted;" which, under the circumstances, though -it did not amount to a formal, yet proved a virtual rejection.[562] - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Assembly._] - -Two catechisms, the longer and the shorter, were also prepared at -Westminster,--the last of which, with its scripture proofs, was much -more familiar to the children of Nonconformists in past generations -than in the present. The Annotations which bear the name of the -Assembly were, in fact, the production of a committee appointed by -Parliament, including learned men who never belonged to the Assembly -at all. The Assembly also undertook the revision of psalmody, which -has obtained less notice than it deserves. Congregations were getting -tired of Sternhold and Hopkins; consequently Parliament recommended -there should be a new version. One, by Mr. Rouse, found favour with the -Commons, and was submitted to the consideration of the Divines, who, -after a careful perusal and some emendations, pronounced it "profitable -to the Church, should it be publicly sung." But Mr. Rouse had a rival -in Mr. Barton, who likewise had prepared a new psalter. He petitioned -the Lords in favour of his own work, and obtained their patronage. They -passed a resolution, enquiring of the Divines why Mr. Barton's book -might not be used as well as others? The Lower House soon afterwards -decided that Mr. Rouse's psalms and no others should be sung in all -churches and chapels within the kingdom of England, the dominion of -Wales, and the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. The Assembly, in answer to -the queries of the House of Lords, replied that, if liberty should -be given to people to sing whatever translation they liked, several -different books would be used even in one and the same congregation -at the same time, "which would be a great distraction and hindrance -to edification." This was such an extraordinary contingency, that -to contemplate it as at all probable, indicated the existence of an -astonishing amount of disunion and obstinacy. It is a significant fact -that, whilst in the Episcopal Church of England, after the imposition -of the Prayer Book, the choice of a form of psalmody was left to the -discretion of the clergy and their congregations, the Presbyterians, -when in power, would not allow such liberty, but endeavoured to secure -uniformity in the worship of praise, such as in the worship of prayer -they did not even permit.[563] - -[Sidenote: 1643-52.] - -The Westminster Assembly has seldom been treated with justice. By -Episcopal Churchmen, too generally, it is depreciated; and by some -it is dismissed with a few words of unconcealed contempt. Scotch -Presbyterians have extravagantly extolled it; and Neal, the Independent -historian of Puritanism is accused of damning it with faint praise. -Clarendon speaks of the Assembly in words of scorn; and Walker, still -more deeply prejudiced, writes against it with wearisome vituperation. -Milton, who had incurred the censure of the Divines by his doctrine -of divorce, could not be expected to pronounce an equitable judgment -on their merits; and we do not wonder at the resentment which burns -against his censurers through certain magnificently sonorous sentences -in the third book of his History of England.[564] Baxter's words have -been often quoted on this subject, and though not free from partiality, -they deserve more than those of any other man to be repeated: "The -Divines, there congregate, were men of eminent learning and godliness, -and ministerial abilities and fidelity; and being not worthy to be one -of them myself, I may the more freely speak that truth which I know, -even in the face of malice and envy, that, as far as I am able to -judge by the information of all history of that kind, and by any other -evidences left us, the Christian world, since the days of the apostles, -had never a synod of more excellent Divines (taking one thing with -another) than this synod and the synod of Dort were."[565] - -[Sidenote: _Westminster Assembly._] - -[Sidenote: 1643-52.] - -This is high praise; but it comes nearer to the truth than the -condemnatory verdicts pronounced by some others. The godliness of the -men is proved by the spirit of their writings, and by the history of -their lives. Their talents and attainments even Milton does not attempt -to deny. No one would think of comparing any of them with Jeremy Taylor -in point of eloquence; and in breadth of sacred learning, in a certain -skilful mastery of knowledge, and in the majesty and grace of polemical -argument, the best were not equal to Hammond and Pearson. Cosin would -surpass them all in some branches of study, which they would account -useless. Certainly, none of them had the sagacious quaintness of Bishop -Hall, or the inexhaustible wit of Thomas Fuller; but quaintness and -wit are qualities not needed in theological conferences. Even superior -eloquence and large accomplishments may, in such case, be dispensed -with. The Westminster Divines had learning--scriptural, patristic, -scholastical, and modern--enough, and to spare; all solid, substantial, -and ready for use.[566] Lightfoot and Selden were of ponderous but not -unwieldy erudition; and Arrowsmith and Calamy, though less known to -literary fame, were ripe and ready scholars. Caryl and Greenhill had -abundance of knowledge; Dr. Goodwin was, in many respects, the greatest -Divine amongst them all. Moreover, in the perception and advocacy of -what is most characteristic and fundamental in the Gospel of Jesus -Christ, they were, as a body, considerably in advance of some who could -put in a claim to equal, and perhaps higher scholarship. They had a -clear, firm grasp of evangelical truths. The main defect and the chief -reproach of the Assembly consisted in the narrowness and severity of -their Calvinism, and in the fierce and persistent spirit of intolerance -manifested by the majority. - - - - - [Illustration] - - CHAPTER XXI. - - -The new modelling of the army was a necessary measure, and produced a -very great moral improvement. Even Hampden had spoken of the insolence -of the soldiers, and, after the fall of Reading, complaints of their -conduct reached the Earl of Essex. It was declared that they had grown -"outrageous," and that they were "common plunderers." According to -report, they had ransacked five or six gentlemen's houses in a single -morning. In fact, the Roundheads, in some instances, had grown to be -as odious as the Cavaliers; and, without better discipline, they were -threatening to prove a ruin, rather than "a remedy to this distracted -kingdom." Having claimed an independence incompatible with military -subjection, these volunteers needed a thorough re-organization, such -as was accomplished by the new model. Fairfax, in his first march -after the reform had commenced, resolved on "the punishment of former -disorders, and the prevention of future misdemeanours." Offenders were -tried and justice was summarily executed. A "renegado" was hanged _in -terrorem_ upon a tree at Wallop, in Hampshire, as certain troops were -marching through that parish; and the next day a proclamation was -issued, threatening with death any one who should dare to commit any -act of plunder. There is no reason to doubt the testimony of Joshua -Sprigg, Fairfax's chaplain, that a moral reformation ensued upon the -adoption of the new military constitution, and that the men became -"generally constant, and conscientious in duties; and by such soberness -and strictness conquered much upon the vanity and looseness of the -enemy." - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -But the state of religion chiefly concerns us. If the church at Oxford -had been turned into a Royalist camp, the camp of Fairfax and Cromwell -might now be said to be turned into a Republican Church. Not that there -existed any organized ecclesiastical government, or any uniformity of -worship; but, according to the authority just quoted, "the officers, -many of them, with their soldiery, were much in prayer and reading -Scripture," an exercise which before they had "used but little." "Men -conquer better," adds the chaplain, "as they are saints than soldiers; -and in the countries where they came they left something of God as well -as of Cæsar behind them--something of piety as well as pay."[567] - -[Sidenote: _Religion in the Camp._] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Richard Baxter spent some time with the army, and has largely recorded -his opinion of its condition. He found that an "abundance of the -common troopers," and that many of the officers were honest, sober, -and orthodox; but he complains of a few proud, hot-headed sectaries, -amongst Cromwell's chief favourites, who by their "heat and activity -bore down the rest, or carried them along with them." Baxter, with -all his large-hearted charity, was not free from prejudice with -regard to this subject, and his accounts of the "sectaries" must -therefore be received with caution. He tells us they were hard upon -the Presbyterian ministers, putting some gall into their wit, calling -them "priest-byters, dry-vines, and the dissembly men." Honest -soldiers of weak judgments, and little theological knowledge, were -seduced into a disputing vein, sometimes for state democracy, and -sometimes for church democracy, sometimes against forms of prayer, -and sometimes against infant baptism,--sometimes against set times -of prayer and the binding themselves to any duty before the Spirit -moved them, and sometimes about free grace and free will, "and all the -points of Antinomianism and Arminianism." We are by this reminded of -the description of the Eastern Church by Gregory, of Nyssa. He tells -us that knots of people at the street corners of Constantinople were -discussing incomprehensibilities; in the market-place money-changers -and shopkeepers were similarly employed. When a man was asked how -many _oboli_ a thing cost, he started a discussion upon generated and -ungenerated existence. Enquiries of a baker about bread were answered -by the assertion--that the Father is greater than the Son. When -anybody wanted a bath, the reply was, the Son of God was created from -nothing.[568] With some allowance for the extravagance of the satire, -and with a change of terms to suit the Commonwealth controversies, the -description of his countrymen by the Greek preacher may be applied -to many of the soldiers of the new-modelled army. Here a field -opened for controversy, adapted to Baxter's subtle and debate-loving -nature. Honest as the day, with a passionate desire to reform the -army, he went from tent to tent, with the Bible under his arm, whilst -his eyes flashed with fire burning in the very depths of his soul. -Everybody who knows the man will believe him when he says: "I was -almost always, when I had opportunity, disputing with one or other -of them, sometimes for our civil government, and sometimes for church -order and government, sometimes for infant baptism, and oft against -Antinomianism and the contrary extreme." Well armed with theological -weapons, he was as much in his element with "the sword of the Spirit," -cutting down regiments of ghostly errors, as any pikeman or trooper -could be as he was stabbing an enemy or firing a pistol at his breast. -Baxter particularly records an encounter he had at Amersham. Bethel's -troopers, with other sectarian soldiers, accompanied by some of the -inhabitants of Chesham, had a pitched battle with the Presbyterian -Divine. He occupied the reading pew, and his antagonists, "Pitchford's -cornet and troopers," took their place in the gallery: the church being -filled "with poor, well-meaning people, that came in the simplicity of -their hearts to be deceived." The debate went on till nightfall; Baxter -stopping to the very last, lest his retirement should be construed into -a confession of defeat. - -[Sidenote: _Religion in the Camp._] - -It is remarkable that this champion of orthodoxy assures us that he -found nearly one half of the religious party either sound in their -belief, or only slightly tinged with error; and that the other half -consisted of honest men, who, with kindly and patient help, seemed -likely to be recovered from their theological mistakes. There were, in -his judgment, only a few fiery spirits, and they made all the noise -and bustle. One of the heaviest charges which he brings against the -sectaries will, in the present day, redound to their honour; for he -observes: "Their most frequent and vehement disputes were for liberty -of conscience, as they called it, that is, that the civil magistrate -had nothing to do to determine anything in matters of religion, by -constraint or restraint, but every man might not only hold, but -preach and do, in matters of religion, what he pleased--that the civil -magistrate hath nothing to do but with civil things, to keep the peace, -and protect the Churches, liberties."[569] In short, it appears that -the Roundhead army really contained a set of men who anticipated John -Locke's doctrine of toleration, and something more. - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -The chaplain of Fairfax was Joshua Sprigg, an Independent minister, -already mentioned. Breathing the spirit then prevalent in the camp, -he advocated the toleration of extreme opinions; but does not appear -himself to have been a man of extravagant views. His history of the -army is creditable to his intelligence and judgment; and, though -tinctured with the peculiar rhetoric of the day, it is singularly free -from all fanaticism. Another Independent Divine holding a chaplaincy -under General Fairfax was the celebrated John Owen. The General had -his head quarters for a time at Coggeshall, where Owen officiated as -vicar, and in 1648 he preached before his Excellency and the Committee -two sermons, which are published.[570] They commemorate the surrender -of Colchester, and the deliverance at Rumford; and with an oratorical -flourish, which has been severely criticised,--but which really means -nothing more than that Providence had given success to the arms of -the Parliament--the preacher speaks of the God of Marston Moor. The -accommodation of the passage in Habakkuk--"God came from Naseby, -and the Holy One from the West; His glory covered the heavens, and -the earth was full of His praise," is less defensible--though the -excitement of the moment, the flush of victory, and the aspect of a -military audience, may be allowed to mitigate our censure of Owen's -want of taste on the occasion;--and taste is hardly to be looked for in -a military preacher, amidst the throes of a revolution full of fire and -blood. The martial zeal appearing in some parts of these discourses is -only a specimen of what blazed up much more fiercely in the addresses -of other ministers who fulfilled their vocation in garrisons and tented -fields. What must some of the sermons have been, where there was not -Owen's learning, judgment, and devoutness to check the orator! And -let us not here omit to remark, that Owen was true to the principle -which was the guiding star of the new army, and insisted strongly in -these sermons upon the iniquity of persecuting men for religion. In -this respect there were few, if any, of the religious teachers popular -amongst Cromwell's troops, who did not sympathize with the Coggeshall -Divine. - -[Sidenote: _Religion in the Camp._] - -It is useless to pick out the names of chaplains now unknown. Many of -them, no doubt, if we were fully acquainted with their history, would -be found more respectable and worthy men than were others whom we see -thrown conspicuously on the surface, to attain by no means an enviable -notoriety. Hugh Peters is chief of this class. He certainly must have -been a man of considerable ability to have gained the influence which -he possessed; and in earlier life he could have been no worse than -a coarse but energetic preacher, followed by crowds of the common -people. Escaping to Rotterdam to avoid persecution, he became colleague -with the learned Dr. William Ames in the pastorate of an Independent -Church.[571] The man bore a good reputation then, and, it is said, -procured £30,000 for the relief of the Irish poor. He also visited New -England, and for a long time after his return did not give up the idea -of going back to America. In Sprigg's "History of the Army," Peters, -who early became a military chaplain, is introduced repeatedly as a -messenger to Parliament with tidings of victory, for which he received -handsome rewards. A chaplain might have been better employed than in -conveying messages of this nature, yet such an occupation was not so -unsuitable to his sacred character as some other employments in which -he was engaged; for it is related of him that he acted as a recruiting -officer in market towns, entered into treaty with Royalist commanders -for the surrender of garrisons, and even acted as a general of brigade -against the Irish rebels.[572] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Another individual, less known to posterity, who combined the offices -of chaplain and captain, was Thomas Palmer, of Nottingham, the account -of whom by Lucy Hutchinson gives us an insight into a kind of character -then very common. He had a bold, ready, earnest way of preaching, and -lived holily and regularly as to outward conversation, whereby he -obtained a great reputation, which swelled his vainglorious, covetous, -contentious, and ambitious spirit. He had insinuated himself so far as -to make these godly men desire him for their captain, which he had more -vehement longing after than they, yet would have it believed that the -honour was rather forced upon him. Being at that time in the castle -with his family, he came to the governor and his wife, telling them -that these honest people pressed him very much to be their captain, and -desiring advice on the subject. They freely told him, that, as he held -a charge of another kind, they thought it not fit for him to engage in -this new one, and that he might equally advance the public service and -satisfy the men who made the request by marching with them simply in -the character of chaplain. He went away, she said, confused, observing -that he would endeavour to persuade them to be content; but afterwards -he informed her that they would not be otherwise satisfied, and so he -was forced to accept the commission.[573] - -Allowing for the lady's prejudices, her story of Palmer may be admitted -in the main; and we may add that, in another part of her narrative, -she mentions four hundred people, whereof "more than half were high -malignants, who enlisted under one Mr. Coates, a minister and a godly -man." - -[Sidenote: _Religion in the Camp._] - -John Saltmarsh, another of the army chaplains, was a somewhat different -character. He must have been a man of irreproachable spirit, for, -according to a report preserved by Anthony Wood, "he always preached -the bonds of love and peace, praying that that might be the cord -to unite Christians in unity." "He meddled not in the pulpit with -Presbytery and Independency," but only "laboured to draw the soul -from sin to Christ."[574] Yet strange stories are told of him. He had -visions just before his death. He visited Windsor Castle, where he -refused to take off his hat to Fairfax and Cromwell, because, he said, -the Lord was angry with them for committing the saints to prison. After -administering reproof which was equally distinguished by faithfulness -and fanaticism, he took his leave, remarking that he had finished -his errand and must depart never to see the army any more. Returning -home, cheerful and in health, to his wife at Ilford, he told her he -had finished his course and must go to his Father; and then lying down -immediately afterwards upon his bed, he died quietly the next day. -These facts taken together indicate a disturbed condition of the brain -just as the soul was about to shake off its mortal coil. But on turning -to Saltmarsh's "Sparkles of Glory, or Some Beams of the Morning Star," -the only book which we have read of his, we notice in it some of the -clearest expositions of religious liberty which can be found in the -literature of those times. The spirit of the treatise is singularly -beautiful, and the teaching of such a man must have been of a healing -tendency. It is very true he undervalued the baptism of water, and -depreciated all outward ceremonies--in fact, entertained many opinions -in common with Quakers; but he had an intense craving after spiritual -unity, believing that he found God in lower as well as in higher -things, in purer as well as in more corrupt administrations, and -expressing "his tenderness and respect towards Episcopalians at home -and abroad, though he did not approve of their forms." A mystical -element pervades his books, strongly reminding us of John Tauler; and -that person is to be pitied who can read the writings of such men -without deriving interest and edification. Each exhibits an imaginative -mind, striving eagerly to catch glimpses of the infinite and eternal, -united to a tremulously sensitive heart, which reacts on the intellect -and electrically touches it, so as to make every idea quiver with -emotion. There was an abundance of mysticism in the Parliamentary camp; -it might and did run into phantasies; but beneath much of what some -keen men of the world would ridicule as jargon and absurdity, there may -be felt the pulsations of the old patriarch's desire, "O that I knew -where I might find HIM!" - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -[Sidenote: _Religion in the Camp._] - -The religion of the camp, in which Fairfax and Cromwell had the rule, -will not be fully understood unless we notice the ministrations of -those officers who became theological teachers, although they claimed -no clerical character. By them indeed the distinction between clergy -and laity was quite broken down. Cromwell, Harrison, Berry, and others, -preached and prayed in a manner esteemed by many of the soldiers more -edifying than that of some Presbyterian, or even some Independent -clergymen. It would be idle to judge of them by rules applicable to -the arrangements of a standing army of the present day; although few -now would object to religious efforts for the welfare of soldiers -such as were employed by the late lamented General Havelock. But, -nobody can deny that fondness for preaching became a monomania in the -Parliamentary army. It led to inflammatory harangues, and also to dry -and distressing diatribes. Ninety-seven divisions might be numbered -in discourses by these sermonizing majors.[575] A preference for the -style of preaching peculiar to such persons, or a prejudice in favour -of doublet and cuirass over Genevan cloak and bands, or a belief in -current scandals touching the parochial clergy, made the Roundhead -soldiers at times disgracefully impatient under the preaching of -regular ministers:--as, for example, when Captain Pretty, at Taunton, -"with much admirable incivility," commanded the Presbyterian, Master -Shepherd, to come down from the pulpit, publicly charging him with a -"disorderlie walk." - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Thank God, by the side of this fanatical folly, and even mixed up with -it, there may be discovered also much of honest devotion and Christian -morality. In many a military assembly during the civil wars, gathered -in town or country church--or under some canvas roof in the midst of -a camp--or in the open air by the hill-side--or in the depth of a -valley--or upon a village green--or under the shadow of a secluded -grove--where some unlettered soldier preached the gospel and prayed -with his comrades--though there might be not a little to shock a -cultivated taste, there would be very much more which was acceptable to -Him who is a Spirit, and who overlooks much which is annoying to us, if -men do but worship Him in spirit and in truth. Favourably would these -simple and irregular forms compare with more orderly and imposing modes -of religious service in cathedrals and churches and chapels, - - "Where men display to congregations wide, - Devotion's every grace except the heart." - -Those who fought at Marston Moor and Naseby could not have cultivated -so much communion with the Invisible as they did, without thereby -gaining strength for carrying the daily burdens and fighting the common -battles of human life. There is hardly more of poetry than of truth in -the picture of a Puritan trooper with his helmet on the ground, and his -sword-belt unfastened, sitting by his tent door in the heat of the day, -to talk with the angels of God, whom faith in the well-worn book on his -knee had enabled him to behold:--or, of another veteran of the same -class, the night before a great battle, with clasped hands, looking up -to the bright stars, seeking by prayer the help which he needed from -the God above them. And all this kind of experience must have made such -people not only better soldiers, but better men. It might not correct -those obliquities of vision with which they regarded the character of -their own cause, and the conduct of its enemies; but, where the great -questions of the day did not interfere with their judgment and their -will, prayer and the Bible helped to make them what it was their duty -to be in the common relationships of human life, in their neighbourly -charities, and in their habitual behaviour as fathers and husbands, -as brothers and sons, as friends and citizens. We are convinced that -multitudes of those who fought for the liberties of their country in -the civil wars, were not the contemptible fanatics which they are -frequently represented as being, but noble-hearted men, of whom the -world was not worthy, and England may well be proud. - -[Sidenote: _Religion in the Camp._] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Some years afterwards, Whitelocke, the Commonwealth Ambassador to -Christina of Sweden, had a curious conversation with her Majesty, -respecting the religion of the army. "I have been told," said the -Queen, "that many officers of your army will themselves pray and -preach to the soldiers; is that true?" Whitelocke replied, "Yes, madam, -it is very true. When their enemies are swearing, or debauching, or -pillaging, the officers and soldiers of the Parliament's army used -to be encouraging and exhorting one another out of the Word of God, -and praying together to the Lord of Hosts for His blessing to be with -them; who hath shewed His approbation of this military preaching by -the successes He hath given them." "That's well. Do you use to do so, -too?" asked the Queen. "Yes," said the Ambassador, "upon some occasions -in my own family, and think it is as proper for me, being the master -of it, to admonish and speak to my people, when there is cause, as to -be beholden to another to do it for me, which sometimes brings the -chaplain into more credit than his lord." "Doth your General and other -great officers do so?" she proceeded to enquire. "Yes, madam," returned -Whitelocke, "very often, and very well. Nevertheless, they maintain -chaplains and ministers in their houses and regiments; and such as are -godly and worthy ministers have as much respect and as good provision -in England as in any place of Christendom. Yet 'tis the opinion of -many good men with us, that a long cassock, with a silk girdle, and -a great beard, do not make a learned or good preacher, without gifts -of the Spirit of God, and labouring in His vineyard; and whosoever -studies the Holy Scriptures, and is enabled to do good to the souls of -others, and endeavours the same, is nowhere forbidden by that Word, nor -is it blameable. The officers and soldiers of the Parliament held it -not unlawful, when they carried their lives in their hands, and were -going to adventure them in the high places of the field, to encourage -one another out of His Word, who commands over all; and this had more -weight and impression with it than any other word could have, and was -never denied to be made use of but by the popish prelates, who by no -means would admit lay people (as they call them) to gather from thence -that instruction and comfort which can nowhere else be found." The -Queen complimented the theological envoy. "Methinks you preach very -well, and have now made a good sermon. I assure you I like it very -well." The politeness of a courtier was not wanting in return. "Madam, -I shall account it a great happiness if any of my words please you." -Her Majesty continued to say, "Indeed, Sir, these words of yours do -very much please me; and I shall be glad to hear you oftener on that -strain. But I pray, tell me, where did your General, and you, his -officers, learn this way of praying and preaching yourselves?" "We -learnt it from a near friend of your Majesty," he added, with truth and -adroitness, "whose memory all the Protestant interest hath cause to -honour." "My friend," replied the Queen, "who was that?" "It was your -father," rejoined Whitelocke, "the great King Gustavus Adolphus, who -upon his first landing in Germany (as many then present have testified) -did himself in person upon the shore, on his knees, give thanks to -God for His blessing upon that undertaking; and he would frequently -exhort his people out of God's Word; and God testified His great liking -thereof, by the wonderful successes He was pleased to vouchsafe to -that gallant King."[576] But we must leave the religious exercises of -Cromwell's army, as our history now requires us to follow King Charles -to the Scotch camp. - -From May to July the Divine right of Presbyterianism formed a salient -topic of conversation and debate amongst citizens and statesmen.[577] -From May to July the same question was agitated at Newcastle between -King Charles and Alexander Henderson. - -[Sidenote: _Charles I. and Henderson._] - -The backbone of the King's strength having been broken at Naseby, -and his midland capital being environed with a Parliamentary army, -the monarch, defeated on all sides, resolved to flee. Though every -reasonable hope had vanished, still he kept up his spirits--trusting to -his own talent for intrigue, to some wonderful interposition of Divine -Providence, and, above all, to that divinity which "doth hedge a king." - -In a state of entire indecision as to whither he should bend his -steps, the royal fugitive rode out of Oxford, and pursued the road to -London. A thoughtful journey it must have been; and, at last, as he -approached the metropolis, at Hillingdon, his heart sunk within him, -when, pulling his bridle to the left, he galloped off through a cross -country to the Scotch camp at Newark.[578] Arrived there, his treatment -by those into whose arms he threw his fortunes without his confidence, -was sufficient to cast him into absolute despair but for that strange -hopefulness to which we have just referred. Removing with the army from -Newark to Newcastle, the annoyances of his position considerably -increased.[579] In his letters to Queen Henrietta Maria--his dear -heart, as he fondly called her--he complained of being barbarously -baited and threatened, of new vexations which happened to him every -day; declaring to her that there never was a man so lonely as he, and -then with a beautiful touch of tenderness he assured the woman--really -the star of his evil fortunes--that she was his last comfort, and that -her letters in cypher were around him all day, and under his pillow all -night.[580] - -[Sidenote: 1646, July.] - -[Sidenote: _Charles I. and Henderson._] - -Alexander Henderson sought to effect the King's conversion. Sheets and -sheets of closely-written paper passed between them throughout those -wearisome months. Each did his best. Day after day, night after night, -these controversialists read and reflected, wrote and revised, and -it must be allowed, to the credit of the King, that the intelligence -and acuteness which he brought to this undertaking appear exceedingly -respectable, even in comparison with all the accomplishments of his -clerical antagonist.[581] Charles contended for the _jus Divinum_ of -Episcopacy, and the apostolical succession of bishops; Henderson for -the _jus Divinum_ of presbyteries and the human origin of prelacy. -The monarch upheld the authority of the Fathers as interpreters -of the Bible; the minister the interpretation of Scripture by -Scripture--declaring patristic writings and traditions to be unworthy -of trust. The royal disputant contended that inferior magistrates and -the people had no power to reform religion; the clerical respondent -that such persons did possess it, and that it became them to exercise -it when even kings failed to perform their duty. The Prince urged that -he was bound by his coronation oath to preserve the Church of England, -and that he could be released only by the voice of the Church itself; -the Presbyter that Parliament had sufficient authority to remove this -obligation. His Majesty asked what warrant there was in the Word of -God for subjects to force the royal conscience, and to make a ruler -alter laws against his will? The reverend gentleman replied that when -a man's conscience is misled, he necessarily does that which is amiss, -and that his duty is to have his conscience better informed, and not -to move till he has struck a light, and made further discoveries. This -question involved another, as to the right of the subject to take -up arms, which, of course, Charles held to be absolutely unlawful; -whilst Henderson asserted the right of defensive war against unjust -authority. It is enough to give this summary. Inconclusive arguments -were advanced on both sides, and each was more powerful in attack than -he was in defence. Under the circumstances, no good could come out of -the controversy, for neither of the disputants would concede one jot; -and what is still more important to be borne in mind is this, that the -arbitrament of the question between them now rested in other hands. - -[Sidenote: 1646, July.] - -The Parliament in July again held out propositions for peace. Papers -duly signed by the clerks of both Houses were formally entrusted to -the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery, to the Earl of Suffolk, and to -other commissioners, attended by Stephen Marshall, who acted as their -chaplain. They travelled to Newcastle on the 24th of July. Thither they -and the Scotch commissioners went in their coaches, at two o'clock in -the afternoon, to wait upon his Majesty. He resided in a fine old -house, with ornamented gables, goodly bays, mullioned windows, and a -door-way guarded by columns--a mansion now totally demolished, but -once the pride of Anderson's-place, in that famous town on the banks -of the Tyne. When the visitors had entered this temporary palace, the -King came forth into a large chamber which was made use of for the -chamber of presence, and there stood at the end of a table until each -had kissed his hand. He intimated his pleasure that they should follow -him into another room, where the Earl of Pembroke stated that they had -brought the Parliament's propositions for his Majesty to consider. -"Have you power to treat?" asked the monarch, anxiously looking at the -commissioners. "No," they replied; upon which he uttered one of those -blunt, petulant speeches which did him almost as much damage as his -proverbial insincerity. "Then, saving the honour of the business, an -honest trumpeter might have done as much." As the propositions were -read, the King listened attentively, and at last observed: "Gentlemen, -I hope you do not expect a very speedy answer, because the business is -of high concernment." They said their stay was limited to ten days, -whereupon he promised despatch, and so terminated the interview. -Mr. Marshall preached the next Sunday before the King, and took as -the subject of his discourse, Isaiah xxxii. 17, "And the work of -righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness quietness -and assurance forever."[582] - -[Sidenote: _Newcastle Treaty._] - -The propositions stipulated, that his Majesty should call in his -declarations against the Parliament; place the control of the militia -in its hands for twenty years; make void all peerages which had been -conferred since May the 20th, 1642; punish such delinquents as had -been proscribed; and disannul the Irish treaty. With these political -demands others were coupled in relation to the Church. First, his -Majesty must take the Covenant, and enjoin the same on his subjects; -next, the ecclesiastical reformation must be completed, and Popery -for ever crushed. Moreover, the bill, which had been transformed into -an ordinance for constituting the Westminster Assembly, must receive -the royal assent; and besides these, other measures, five in number, -which he had not sanctioned, and which he was desired to confirm, -were repeatedly mentioned in the negotiations: (1) The abolition of -the hierarchy; (2) the due observance of the Lord's Day; (3) the -suppression of innovations; (4) the advancement of preaching; and (5) -the prevention of non-residence. Such were the objects to which the old -bills referred, and a new one is mentioned as about to be framed for -regulating the Universities and Schools of England.[583] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Charles did not at once break with the Presbyterians when these -proposals were made to him; on the contrary, he professed a -conciliatory spirit, and kept alive their hopes of his at last making -some considerable concessions;[584] yet all the while he felt a most -intense antipathy to their whole system. As a staunch Episcopalian, -he hated Presbyterianism in itself, and he hated it also, and perhaps -still more, because it touched his royal prerogatives, and because, -if established, it would leave him only the name of a King; since, -under pretence of a thorough reformation of religion, it would in -reality take away all ecclesiastical power from the crown. All this he -had said in letters which he wrote to the Queen; and, in one written -from Newcastle (September the 7th), six weeks after the Parliamentary -Commissioners had read their paper to him in the Council-room, he -thus expresses himself to his "dear heart:"--"I assure thee that -(by the grace of God) nothing can be said or done to me which shall -make me quit my grounds; as, for instance, neither to grant the -London propositions as they are (without great amendment), or sign or -authorize the Covenant, without which, I must again tell thee, I am -more and more assured that nothing can be expected from the Scots." - -Allusions in his private correspondence to the Covenant for awhile -betray no excitement: they are calmly expressed; but at last, doubtless -harassed by solicitations on that point, enough to try any man's -temper, he bursts into a violent passion, and writes to his wife in the -following language: "This damned Covenant is the child of rebellion, -and breathes nothing but treason, so that, _if Episcopacy were to be -introduced by the Covenant, I would not do it_."[585] It was impossible -for him to have said anything stronger than this; and with such -feelings on the part of the King, the Newcastle Treaty came to an end. - -[Sidenote: _Newcastle Treaty._] - -If a good deal of manœuvering appear in the negotiations with the -Presbyterians carried on by Charles at Newcastle, there is as much -downright intrigue with other parties to be discovered in his conduct -at the same time. He inherited some portion of his father's love of -kingcraft, and he employed to the utmost whatever ability of that -description he possessed. To repair his broken fortunes, he sedulously -endeavoured to make tools of the Independents, watching with great -satisfaction the animosity existing between them and the Presbyterians, -and hoping, as he says, that one of the factions would so address him -that he might without difficulty attain his ends.[586] - -And with the one great object of this part of his life in view, he -was prepared to make terms with the Papists. In a letter from Oxford, -March the 12th, 1646, addressed to his wife, he speaks of a former -communication in which he had said: "I will take away all the penal -laws against the Roman Catholics in England as soon as God shall enable -me to do it, so as by their means I may have so powerful assistance as -may deserve so great a favour and enable me to do it; and furthermore -I now add, that I desire some particular offers by or in the favour -of the English Roman Catholics, which, if I shall like, I will then -presently engage myself for the performance of the above-mentioned -conditions. Moreover, if the Pope and they will visibly and heartily -engage themselves for the re-establishment of the Church of England and -my crown (which was understood in my former offer) against all opposers -whatsoever, I will promise them on the word of a King to give them here -a free toleration of their consciences."[587] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Of course, all this intriguing involved much duplicity. The collection -of letters which were written by Charles in 1646, and which are -now published, will be found to exhibit this prominent feature of -the King's character. Whenever he formally conceded any point, some -quibbling about words, some dishonest reserve, some loophole out -of which he might wriggle, is sure to appear in connection with a -Jesuitical conscientiousness which was ever weaving casuistic theories, -and starting ethical questions, in order to cover with a veil of -seemliness the most dishonest and fraudulent acts. Charles was not -rashly false; he did not heedlessly tell lies; he had undoubtedly -certain notions of rectitude, which served occasionally to disquiet his -spirit; and he wished to appear to himself honest and true, even at the -moment of his wishing to deceive others. His mind, however, in these -respects, is but a specimen of a large class of persons in this world -of many-coloured falsehoods and delusions. - - - - -[Illustration] - - CHAPTER XXII. - - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Before Parliament sent its propositions to Newcastle, it had commenced -the business of establishing Presbyterianism. The Directory had been -ordained, and the Prayer Book abolished. Still more was done. - -On the 7th of July, 1645, the Westminster Assembly sent up to the -two Houses a thoroughly-digested and complete scheme of Presbyterian -government.[588] Modified as already represented, the scheme was -embodied in an ordinance on the 19th of August, establishing a -Presbyterian polity in the city of London. This ordinance commanded -that a Congregational Assembly should be formed in each of the city -parishes, and that a Classical Assembly should be gathered in each -of the twelve classes, or districts, into which the ecclesiastical -province of the metropolis was by the ordinance divided. Towards the -end of September, the Houses decided that certain persons should -try the fitness of lay elders; the triers being three clergymen and -six laymen for each class. This was an Erastian arrangement, very -displeasing, of course, to the Presbyterians, and, consequently, -they refused to carry the measure into effect. In the March following -(1646) it became loaded with an additional and still more objectionable -provision. Instead of Parliament being constituted simply a final -court of appeal, it was now to choose certain Lay Commissioners, who -were to act in the first instance as judges of scandalous offences--in -fact, were to have in their hands the entire control of Church -discipline.[589] This was a measure which weighed too heavily on -Presbyterian forbearance; and, therefore, a compromise followed in -the month of June, when the Lay Commissioners were withdrawn, and a -committee of Lords and Commons was appointed to determine such cases of -scandals and offences as had not been already specified. This plan was -in accordance with an earlier direction, to the effect that Members of -Parliament sitting in the Westminster Assembly should be constituted -a tribunal to decide respecting causes of suspension from the Lord's -Supper. On the 2nd of October, the county palatine of Lancaster was -divided into nine classical presbyteries;[590] and on the 21st of -January, 1647, a committee of the two Houses ordered that Essex -should form a province including fourteen classes. - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterian Church Government._] - -Still, presbyteries were not actually formed. In April, 1647, appeared -resolutions of the Houses, entitled, "Remedies for removing some -Obstructions in Church Government;" and after this, on the 3rd of -May, the first Provincial Assembly met in the Convocation House of -St. Paul's, including about 108 members. Dr. Gouge, the prolocutor, -opened the meetings by a sermon in his own parish church of St. Anne, -Blackfriars.[591] - -On the 29th of the January following (1648), another Parliamentary -ordinance appeared, commanding the committees and commissioners -throughout the country--with the assistance of ministers--to divide -their respective counties into distinct classical presbyteries; and -also specifying that the Chancellors, Vice-Chancellors, and heads of -houses should establish the same in the two Universities, and certify -the accomplishment of the fact before the 25th of March. - -On the 29th of August, a more elaborate order issued from the Lords -and Commons, to the effect that all parishes and places whatsoever in -England and Wales should be under the government of Congregational, -Classical, Provincial, and National Assemblies.[592] To see how the -system thus elaborated upon paper, and thus enforced by successive -ordinances, worked in this kingdom; or rather, with some exceptions, -failed to work at all, we must wait till we reach the history of the -Commonwealth Church in the next volume. - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -It is now time to direct attention to the final measures adopted with -reference to Episcopacy. There remained the old bill of 1642, which -had been bandied about between the Parliament and the King, to which -the latter had never given consent, and which, therefore, according -to the monarchical constitution of the country, had never become law. -Virtually it took effect, but constitutionally it had no authority. -Other measures were in the same predicament. Parliament, therefore, -in the autumn of 1646, commenced a revolutionary proceeding, which -really turned England into a republic. The Houses determined that their -own ordinances should be valid and sufficient. Ecclesiastical changes -were amongst the first to be ratified by this proceeding. The old bill -relative to Episcopacy being thrown aside, a new one came before the -Lords and Commons, and received the sanction of both Houses on the 9th -of October.[593] - -This ordinance abolished the titles, sequestered the Church property, -and extinguished the jurisdiction of the hierarchy of England.[594] - -[Sidenote: _Ecclesiastical Courts._] - -The name, style, and dignity of archbishop and bishops were to be known -no more. At one sweep church property belonging to them was transferred -to other hands. "All counties palatine, honours, manors, lordships, -stiles, circuits, precincts, castles, granges, messuages, mills, -lands, tenements, meadows, pastures, parsonages, appropriate titles, -oblations, obventions, pensions, portions of tithes, parsonages, -vicarages, churches, chapels, advowsons, donatives, nominations, rights -of patronage and presentations, parks, woods, rents, reversions, -services, annuities, franchises, liberties, privileges, immunities, -rights of action and of entry, interests, titles of entry, conditions, -common court leet, and courts baron, and all other possessions," with -all and every their appurtenances, became vested in ecclesiastical -commissioners. Another ordinance, bearing date the 16th of November, -gave authority to the commissioners to sell such property for the -benefit of the Commonwealth, with a special reservation in favour of -the _jura regalia_ of the palatine of Durham, and the _jura regalia_ -of the bishopric of Ely.[595] No cathedrals, churches, chapels, or -churchyards, however, were to be disposed of; neither was anything in -the ordinance to affect the property of Serjeants' Inn, or Lincoln's -Inn. Careful provision is made by the ordinance for securing the -property to purchasers, and for preserving the funds so realized. -The first of these ordinances also stated that no one was to use any -archiepiscopal or episcopal jurisdiction; that the sheriffs of counties -where any felony was to be tried should present to the judge some fit -person to do such things as, by the office of the ordinary, had used to -be done, and "that all issues triable by the ordinary or bishop shall -be tried by jury in usual course." - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -[Sidenote: _Ecclesiastical Courts._] - -That last line legalized an extensive revolution. Ecclesiastical Courts -in England, as noticed in our introduction, were of high antiquity -and of large jurisdiction. From the time of the Conqueror they had -taken cognizance of church matters and public morals. After the -Reformation their authority continued. Moral offences, not provided -for by common law, heresy, schism, and ecclesiastical disobedience, -questions touching marriage and divorce, together with the proving of -wills, remained, as before, subject to the ecclesiastical courts. -Though interfered with to some extent by the Court of High Commission, -the old Church Courts retained much of their former business down to -the time when the Long Parliament was opened. Consistories held in -provincial cathedrals might be somewhat quiet, but proceedings before -Archidiaconal tribunals were often exciting enough when enquiries -were made into village scandals; whilst Doctors' Commons continued a -centre of the greatest activity. There sat the Consistory Court of -the Bishop of London, the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, and the -Court of Arches. The judges and advocates received no small attention, -and were paid no little reverence, as they appeared in black velvet -caps and hoods lined with taffeta or miniver; the proctors being -only a little less dignified with their hoods of lambskin, whilst -actuaries, registrars, and beadles were busy in their attendance. -Citations, bills, and answers, proofs, witnesses, and presumptions, -with all their slow and expensive machinery, were patiently kept at -work by ecclesiastical lawyers, and were anxiously waited for and -watched by ecclesiastical and lay litigants. But with the opening of -the Parliament came a change. Amongst the many _jeu d'esprits_ of -the time is one belonging to the year 1641, entitled, "The Spiritual -Courts epitomised in a Dialogue between two Proctors, Busy-Body and -Scrape-All," with a woodcut on the title page representing the Bishops' -Court in great confusion.[596] Complaints couched in very exceptionable -phraseology indicate that the Prerogative, the Consistory, and the -Archdeacon's Courts, which "used to be crowded like money in a usurer's -bag, are very quiet and peaceable now;" "no more false Latin," no -more "ten pounds for a probate to Mr. Copper-nose, the English -proctor," "and no more prying into people's actions." An end had come -to inventories, such as terrified all Bloomsbury, Covent Garden, Long -Acre, and Beech Lane. No more pretended caveats, and bills which would -exceed a tailor's. On a curious broadside, entitled, "The Last Will and -Testament of Doctors' Commons," the same exultation over the decline -of the courts is rudely and vulgarly expressed in very queer cuts and -in very bad English. The Court is represented as very aged, and sorely -shaken both in body and mind by a Westminster ague. That which affected -Doctors' Commons would shake all the consistorial and commissory courts -throughout the country. - -Ecclesiastical causes necessarily fell into confusion. The ordinance, -however, of October, would settle the question, and sweep all issues, -determinable of old by the ordinary or bishop, into the common law -courts, there to be tried by juries in the usual way. This would effect -not only a great professional change disastrous to ecclesiastical -lawyers, and apparent in the deserted yard of Doctors' Commons, but -would occasion a great social change also. People would now carry -cases touching marriage and divorce to the sessions or the assizes. -As to one important point, however, that of wills, the authority of -the old courts of registration survived the ejection of bishops, and -the abolition of their order. In the Bishop's principal Registry and -Consistory Court at Exeter, wills are found in the first case up to -the year 1653, in the second, up to the year 1650, when a gap occurs -as far as 1660. In the Archdeacon of Sudbury's Registry, wills also -are found belonging to 1652, and the years preceding. In the Chapter -House of York, there are transcripts of wills to 1650, and from 1650 -originals occur. In the Archdeaconry of Taunton, wills did not cease -to be registered till 1649, in the Archdeaconry of Huntingdon, not till -1653.[597] A new law with respect to the probate of wills was passed in -the last-mentioned year.[598] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -The effect, in relation to public morals, of the abolition of Bishop's -Courts, and of the disuse of those which were Archidiaconal, has been -too much overlooked. Though the old church discipline, by calling in -the aid of the civil power, contradicted the spirit of Christianity, -though it was often completely frustrated, and though for really -religious ends it proved generally ineffectual; yet it would, in -some cases, check the immorality of a parish, whatever might be the -evils--in the way of slander, injustice, and heart-burning--which it -called into existence. And, at any rate, the destruction of a tribunal -before which people were liable to be cited for unchastity and other -vices not cognizable by the secular courts, is an important fact in the -history of those times, and indicates the occurrence of a considerable -judicial and social revolution. No doubt the Presbyterians, in their -scheme of discipline, and the Long Parliament, in its acts against -immorality, endeavoured to supply what they considered a defect, after -they had accomplished the abolition of the old system. - -[Sidenote: _Payment of Tithes._] - -The ordinance just described only transferred into the hands of -commissioners the property and revenues pertaining to bishoprics; it -did not touch advowsons and tithes in general, or affect parochial -and other ecclesiastical edifices. The right of presentation to -livings remained in the hands of patrons, where the right had not been -forfeited by delinquency, and tithes continued to be claimed as in -former days; but the method of recovering them had undergone a change. -Public opinion appears to have become altogether unsettled respecting -the question of ministerial support. - -In the month of November, 1646, "The Moderate Intelligencer" informs -its readers of a petition from the county of Kent being presented to -Parliament against the support of ministers by the payment of tithes. -It was submitted to the legislature that all clergymen should receive -the same amount of salary, according to the part of England in which -they resided. These Kentish advisers recommended that in parishes north -of the river Trent the stipend should be £100 per annum; and that on -the south side of it ought to amount to £150. The reason alleged for -equal salaries being paid to all incumbents in each of these districts -was, that the arrangement would prevent ministers from hunting after -preferment. The petitioners notice that some people said--who had -"little scripture or reason for their opinion"--that tithes were -unlawful, and that "men should be at the pleasure of the people," in -other words, should be left to be provided for on the voluntary system; -others, it is observed, would, to avoid strife, fain have ministers -paid their tithes in money, not in kind, and they also advocated the -repeal of statutes forbidding the clergy to hold farms, or to cultivate -the practice of husbandry. It is also mentioned that some persons -advocated a new division of parishes, making them all of the same size. - -[Sidenote: 1647.] - -However truly the newspapers might reflect diversities of opinion on -this subject, whatever sympathy some puritan farmers or some puritan -parsons might feel with these inhabitants of Kent, Parliament firmly -maintained the rights of tithe property. In August, 1647, came forth -another ordinance,[599] confirming the prior one of 1644, and removing -doubts raised as to whether it extended to ministers inducted by -parliamentary authority. It mentions appeals brought into Chancery -for vexation and delay, and ordains that no such appeals should be -admitted until the party appealing paid into court, or into the hands -of justices of the peace, the value of the tithes in dispute. This -ordinance was to continue in force until the first of November, 1648. -The April of that year brought another ordinance,[600] cancelling a -proviso in the ordinance of 1644, for placing beyond its reach the city -of London, and committing the enforcement of these ecclesiastical dues -to the Lord Mayor and justices within their jurisdiction.[601] - -[Sidenote: _Church Dues._] - -A newspaper of the 4th of November, 1646, informed the public of a -bill introduced that day for repairing churches, and for giving power -to compel people to contribute towards needful and pious works; the -power to be vested not merely in churchwardens, but in justices of the -peace. Mention is also made of a committee to meet in the Star Chamber, -for the purpose of considering what course had best be adopted, whether -by commitment or otherwise, in order to compel payment from those who -refused to contribute according to the ordinary assessments. More -than a year after these reports were printed, the Lords and Commons, -on the 9th of February, 1647-8, ordained that churchwardens should be -chosen annually by the inhabitants of every parish and chapelry, on the -Monday or Tuesday of Easter Week, and that they, with the overseers -of the poor, should, upon public notice, "make rates or assessments -by taxation of every inhabitant." Churchwardens were also to receive -any rents and profits which had been given for repairing parochial -edifices; and, when churchwardens became negligent of their duties, -two neighbouring justices of the peace were empowered to interfere, -and to give order for necessary repairs. The ordinance was not to -extend to churches "ruined" by the "unhappy wars, extremity of age, or -other casualties," nor was it to apply to any cathedral or collegiate -churches, all of which were "to be repaired as formerly they have been -used and accustomed."[602] - -[Sidenote: 1645.] - -Apart from sweeping revolutions in cathedral establishments, the -colleges of Westminster, Eton, Christ Church, and Winchester -experienced changes peculiar to themselves. It was provided in 1642 -that none of the revenues assigned for scholars and almsmen should -be interrupted in consequence of the sequestration of the rents and -profits of Archbishops and Bishops, Deans and Chapters. In 1645, a -special ordinance provided both for the college and the collegiate -church of Westminster, the Deanery being virtually extinct. The Dean -and prebends had become delinquents, with the exception of Mr. Lambert -Osbolston, who, whilst being a canon of the cathedral, was also master -of the school. The school, the almsmen, and the offices, having no -one to take care of them now that the ecclesiastical corporation -of the Abbey had been dissolved, Parliament proceeded to nominate -commissioners, consisting of the Earl of Northumberland and others, -who were invested with powers similar to those previously possessed by -the Dean and Chapter. Mr. Osbolston was exempted from the forfeiture -of the prebendal income, which had been inflicted on all his brethren -occupying stalls in the Abbey. With the new Commissioner, the Master of -Trinity College, Cambridge, and the Master of Westminster School, were -associated in the election of scholars for the latter foundation. The -Committee was also directed to make allowances out of the revenues of -the collegiate church to the minister who should perform Divine service -within its walls.[603] - -[Sidenote: _Universities._] - -The sequestered estate and profits of the provost of Eton were -entrusted to Sir H. Cholmeley, without prejudice either to scholars -or fellows. Dr. Richard Stewart was ejected from the provostship, -and Francis Rouse appointed in his room.[604] After some discussion, -Parliament left new elections in the hands of the provost and fellows. - -Great changes came over the Deanery of Windsor and the Chapel of St. -George. Spoliation went on without mercy. Precious treasures were -seized for military uses. The revenues were sequestered, and out of -them the yearly sum of fifty pounds was voted for any such minister as -should officiate in the parish church.[605] - -As the educational uses of Eton, Westminster, and other public -foundations of the kind, preserved their revenues from confiscation, -the same also was the case with the two Universities. Their history, -which we have hitherto passed over, now demands our attention, and -requires us to go back for a few years. - -In the battle which the Parliament had to fight with the heads of -houses, Cambridge commenced hostilities. In 1642, the Masters and -Fellows of the Colleges there sent money and plate to the coffers -of the King at York, "many wishing," says Fuller, "that every ounce -thereof were a pound for his sake, conceiving it unfitting that they -should have superfluities to spare whilst their sovereign wanted -necessaries to spend."[606] The University press was employed in -printing the King's declarations, and the University pulpit was made -to resound with diatribes against the King's enemies. When a demand -came for contributions to the Parliament, the University returned -a blank refusal. The men who thus took part in the opening strife -subjected themselves of course to the fortunes of war. The kingdom -being rent in twain, two encampments being pitched face to face, such -as threw themselves into the one had no friendship to expect from the -other. Hence there followed imprisonments for the plate business, -and for like belligerent acts. The Masters of St. John's, Queen's, and -Jesus, were lodged in the Tower, where they were joined afterwards -by the Vice-Chancellor. Thus far the collision was purely political. -University men were treated as malignants. - -[Sidenote: _University of Cambridge._] - -But in January, 1644, another issue was raised. Political delinquency -being still prominently kept in view, it became associated with -religious and ecclesiastical criminations. Many complaints--said -the ordinance for regulating the University of Cambridge--were -made that the service of the country was retarded, that the enemy -was strengthened, that the people's souls were starved, and that -their minds were diverted from the care of God's cause by the idle, -ill-affected, and scandalous clergy. Commissioners therefore were -empowered to call before them all provosts, masters, fellows, students, -and members who were scandalous in their lives, or ill-affected to the -Parliament, or fomenters of the war, or that should wilfully refuse -obedience to the orders of the two Houses, or desert their ordinary -places of residence. Persons found guilty of any such offences were to -suffer the sequestration of their estates and revenues; at the same -time, ministers approved by the Westminster Assembly were authorized to -succeed to the vacant posts. The Commissioners had power to administer -the Covenant under penalties, and to examine and inhibit all persons -who should obstruct the reformation sought to be accomplished by the -Parliament and the Assembly. The ordinance evidently placed at the -mercy of this new Committee every one who, though _not scandalous in -life_, should decline the Covenant or oppose the Westminster decisions. -This document bears date the 22nd of January. On the 30th of the same -month, an order appeared to make void the places of all officers, -ministers, or other attendants upon Chancery, the King's Bench, and -the Common Pleas, who should be guilty of the same offences.[607] The -ground on which the Presbyterian party now in power chose to place -the controversy with the authorities at Cambridge and elsewhere is -sufficiently apparent. - -The justice of their final policy ought to be tested by the principles -upon which it was avowedly based, not by any laxity of method in the -carrying of it out. It is said that, in several instances, those who -were entrusted with the execution of the ordinance were very lenient, -and did not eject all who refused submission; but this does not affect -the character of the enactment. According to Archbishop Tillotson, most -of the fellows of King's were exempted through the interest of Dr. -Witchcot--an exception which is not at all irreconcilable with Fuller's -statement--himself a Cambridge man--that "this Covenant being offered, -was generally refused, whereupon the recusants were ordered without any -delay to pack out of the University three days after their ejection." -Fuller does not say that the order took effect in all cases.[608] - -[Sidenote: _University of Cambridge._] - -A document in the State Paper Office opens a window through which -one can plainly see how sequestrations went on at Cambridge. Houses -were rifled, and goods seized. The effects were sold according to -appraisements. The books of Dr. Cosin, Master of Peter House and Dean -of Durham, were valued at £247 10s., and must have formed a good -library for those days. The furniture of Dr. Laney, Master of Pembroke, -is all inventoried, down to "blankets," "leather chairs," and "fire -irons." The books of Mr. Heath, of Barnet College, are valued at £14; -and Mr. Couldham's, of Queen's, at £10. Horses and furniture are -mentioned, and articles are described as taken away in carts under the -care of soldiers. Zealous partisans received rewards for information -relative to concealed property. An infamous soldier was paid for -divulging the secret where books belonging to his brother might be -found. - -[Sidenote: _University of Cambridge._] - -Thus a political offence provoked the anger and occasioned the -interference of Parliament. But the interference aimed at a religious -result through a revival of Puritanism. The East-Anglian University, -true to its traditional liberality, fostered that movement towards -the end of the sixteenth century, as it had promoted the Reformation -fifty years before. In 1565, the University was restive under the yoke -of ceremonies, and almost all the men of St. John's came to chapel -without hoods or surplices.[609] When Mildmay had founded Emmanuel -College (1585), the Queen said: "Sir Walter, I hear you have erected -a Puritan foundation." He replied: "No, madam; far be it from me to -countenance anything contrary to your established laws; but I have set -an acorn, which, when it becomes an oak, God alone knows what will be -the fruit thereof."[610] The fruit proved Puritan to the heart's core; -and the fact is commemorated in a satire about thirty years afterwards. -Its unconsecrated chapel, standing north and south, instead of -orientating after the prescribed fashion, has been pronounced "typical -of its doctrinal sentiments."[611] Sidney, too, was Puritan, and so -was Catherine Hall, the last so persistently, and to such a degree, -that it is said not to have contributed one fellow or scholar to the -number of the ejected in 1644.[612] Cambridge had the credit of being -"a nest of Puritans" in the middle of King James's reign. Perkins and -Sibbs, ministers of that class, were exceedingly popular with both the -gownsmen and the townspeople. The University for many years supplied -by far the majority of the leading Presbyterian Divines;[613] and -four out of the five dissenting brethren at Westminster were from -Cambridge.[614] Traces of Puritanism existed in Trinity College even so -late as 1636. In some tutors' chambers "the private prayers were longer -and louder by far" than in chapel.[615] But, before the civil wars, a -change in the opposite direction set in. Peter House under Cosin, St. -John's under Beale, Queen's under Martin, and Jesus under Sterne, were -becoming more and more centres of Anglo-Catholicism. The influence of -Laud may be distinctly traced through the last two of these heads of -houses--Martin and Sterne having been chaplains to the Archbishop. -Nor was the Archbishop himself inactive at Cambridge. The reports -about Trinity just noticed were placed in his hands preparatory to his -intended visitation in 1636. So far did some go in the anti-Puritan -movement that, according to report, at the commencement, in July, 1633, -Dr. Collins eulogized Bellarmine, and Dr. Duncan defended some of his -theses.[616] Complaints were made by Puritans of altars, vestments, and -Jesuit activity. Organs were erected, and the worship in Peter House -Chapel incurred the displeasure of the Long Parliament.[617] To judge -of the extent to which anti-Presbyterian views prevailed at Cambridge -in 1644, we may state that, of residents, it seems about a tenth part -of the number was ejected.[618] - -The history of Oxford is not altogether like that of Cambridge. -The source of three religious impulses of very different kinds, -connected respectively with great theological names of very different -character--Wesley, Pusey, and Jowett--the Midland University, central -and many-sided in its religious spirit, as it is in its geographical -position, did much to promote the Reformation, and did something -to foster Puritanism. It produced Reynolds, the Presbyterian, and -Owen, the Independent. A Puritan wave stirred the waters of the -University in 1640. But influence of that kind at Oxford was feeble, -compared with its sweep at Cambridge; and the Laudian impetus to -Anglo-Catholicism most strongly marked the elder University. Laud was -Chancellor of Oxford, and here, of course, his restless brain and -untiring hands would specially prosecute the favourite business of -his life. Accordingly, instances of his minute, constant, and zealous -interference abound throughout his memoirs and papers.[619] He had a -very large share in producing that opposition to Puritanism and the -Parliament, which characterized Oxford at the commencement of the civil -wars. - -[Sidenote: _University of Oxford._] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Phases of conflict, similar to those in the case of Cambridge, may be -recognized with greater distinctness in the case of Oxford. We have -seen already, from our account of the military occupation of the latter -University by the King, that it assumed an attitude of determined -defiance towards the Parliament. What would be figurative in reference -to Cambridge is perfectly literal in reference to Oxford. Colleges -became barracks, and gownsmen soldiers. The University therefore could -not be regarded as otherwise than in a state of rebellion against the -Parliament--now actually the supreme power. Consequently, when the -city was taken, the University was treated as a conquered enemy. To -demand subscription and fealty was the least thing which the conquerors -could do. To remove from office those who were disaffected was but a -measure of common prudence. Besides, such a state of demoralization -had come over the whole institution,[620] and war had so driven away -learning and discipline, that reformation was imperative. Accordingly, -in September, 1646, Commissioners went down to Oxford. Citations were -issued requiring officers, fellows, and scholars, to appear at the -Convocation House, between the hours of nine and eleven o'clock in -the forenoon. The Presbyterian visitors had worship, and a sermon, -which detained them till nearly eleven. A story is related, that the -Vice-Chancellor, Dr. Fell, had the clock put forward, so that it -struck the hour before the Commissioners arrived. At all events, as -the latter were coming in, they were met by the University authorities -going out, the beadle in attendance, exclaiming, "Make way here for Mr. -Vice-Chancellor." The visitors did so, when Mr. Vice-Chancellor moving -his hat, passed by them, saying, "How do ye, gentlemen, 'tis past -eleven o'clock." After this indignity a new Commission was appointed, -but the visitors on the second occasion fared no better than their -predecessors. Their orders were not only disobeyed, but also "despised -and contemned." The heads of Colleges asked, by "what authority they -were summoned;" and resolutely refused to give up books and papers, -the keys of the Convocation House, and the beadles' staves. The -Proctors protested against the citation they had received as illegal, -and claimed to be exclusively under the authority of the King and his -visitors. Patiently persisting in the assertion of its own power, -Parliament allowed the malcontents to be heard by counsel; after which, -their answer was pronounced an insult to the authority of the two -Houses. Fell was then declared to have forfeited, by his contumacy, the -deanery of Christ Church; but the declaration, when posted on the walls -of that establishment was torn down and trampled under foot. Mrs. Fell -also gave much trouble, and being imbued with an obstinacy like her -husband's, had to be forcibly carried out in her chair, by the hands -of the soldiers, into the quadrangle. Possession could not be taken -of Magdalen, All Souls, and other Colleges, without breaking open the -doors.[621] - -[Sidenote: _University of Oxford._] - -There, as in Cambridge, notwithstanding the virulence of the -opposition, some of the Parliamentarian party were willing to wink at -evasions of the Covenant. Isaak Walton tells a story of some one who, -"observing Dr. Morley's behaviour and reason, and enquiring of him, and -hearing a good report of his morals, was therefore willing to afford -him a peculiar favour." He proposed that Morley should ride out of -Oxford as the visitors rode in, and not return until they left again, -undertaking to secure for him his canonry without molestation. The kind -offer, though gratefully acknowledged, was respectfully declined.[622] - -An instance of practical gratitude may also be mentioned in connexion -with the Oxford ejectment. Dr. Laurence, Master of Baliol, and Margaret -professor, had, during the wars, shewn marked kindness to Colonel -Valentine Walton, an officer in the Parliament army, who had been taken -prisoner after Edge Hill fight, and confined at Oxford--the prisoner -being indebted to the professor for his release. The obligation -thus contracted, Walton repaid when Laurence suffered ejectment. He -settled on his friend a little chapelry called Colne, in the parish of -Somersham in Huntingdonshire, augmenting its value by adding to it the -tithes of Colne. This benefice Laurence had become qualified to enjoy, -by receiving a certificate of the Oxford Commissioners, to the effect, -that he had engaged to observe the Directory in all ecclesiastical -administrations--to preach practical divinity to the people--and to -forbear teaching any opinions which the reformed church condemned.[623] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -After the University in general had been subdued, a few scholars -continued incorrigible. They abused the new authorities, and scattered -about the streets scurrilous tracts, entitled, "Pegasus taught to -dance to the tune of Lachryme"--"The Owl at Athens"--"The Oxford -tragi-comedy," and many more.[624] At last, a serjeant, attended by a -file of musqueteers, published before all the College gates by beat -of drum a proclamation, that if any persons expelled by the visitors -should persist in remaining within the precincts of the University, -they should be taken into custody. And a few days afterwards another -proclamation appeared, to the effect that if any of the proscribed -individuals tarried within five miles of the city, he should be deemed -a spy, and be punished with death. This was enough. Oxford was soon -cleared of its obnoxious inmates. Probably the University had been -encouraged in its resistance by the knowledge of the differences -existing between the Parliament and the army. These differences had -become so serious, and had been brought so near, that some of the -soldiers in the Oxford garrison, sympathizing with the army at head -quarters, refused to obey the order of Parliament. Like King Charles, -the University hoped to escape under cover of the strife between the -two parties who had become their conquerors. In that hope, however, the -University, like the King, proved to be mistaken. - -[Sidenote: _University of Oxford._] - -Looking at the quarrel between the Parliament and the University, -we must admit that the Parliament had on its side a right such as -invariably follows victory, and such as always waits on established -government. But another aspect of this affair remains to be considered, -corresponding with the second phase of the Cambridge proceedings. What -was ecclesiastical became mixed up with what was political. Not content -with requiring obedience to the civil authority, the victors aimed at -extinguishing all spiritual power in Oxford save their own. If, in -justification or excuse it be pleaded that this came as a necessity, -arising out of the civil establishment of religion, then the same -plea of justification or excuse is valid in relation to the conduct -of the now ejected, but afterwards restored Prelatists, when they -turned out Presbyterians and Independents in 1662. The cases, so far -as ecclesiastical imposition is concerned, appear to be alike. Those -who think the proceedings of 1662 were unrighteous, and that national -universities ought not to be subjected to ecclesiastical tests, must, -if consistent, also think that the proceedings of 1644 and 1647 were -unrighteous in the very same respects. - -To remove men of scandalous life was proper, and nobody could complain -of the punishment of those who violated university statutes, or wasted -university property. Persons also who had taken up arms against the -Parliament might be justly considered liable to some kind of penalty. -But the articles of enquiry, instead of being confined to such points, -were extended so as to embrace the neglect of the Covenant, and all -opposition made to the Directory, or to any doctrine, "ignorance -whereof doth exclude from the sacrament of the Lord's supper.[625]" - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -[Sidenote: _University of Oxford._] - -This kind of ecclesiastical inquisition served, as it often did, to -put Parliament in an utterly false position. Armed in this manner, -the ruling power stood up, not as the shield-bearer of order, but as -the sword-bearer of persecution. The University availed itself of the -circumstance, and instead of attempting to justify its resistance -of the new government--which would have been a difficult task--it -immediately betook itself to the doing of what was easy, and employed -its ablest pens in drawing up an elaborate paper in Latin and English -against the imposition of the new spiritual tests. In this way, men who -only paid the penalty of insubordination were enabled to appear, as if -carrying in their hands the martyr's palm. The Oxford champions did not -plead for religious liberty. They did not found their case on any broad -principle of toleration. They did not assert the rights of conscience, -or expose the evils of persecution. Sentiments in favour of arbitrary -government occurred even in this very manifesto, and a good deal of -the reasoning they employed was one-sided, full of special pleading, -and altogether unsatisfactory. Yet some of their objections were -forcible, as when they urged that the adoption of the Covenant would be -incompatible with their subscription to the Prayer Book, and when they -complained of Prelacy being ranked with Popery and profaneness. They -slyly intimated that they thought reform a necessity in Scotland, as -well as in England, and truly said that the policy of the Parliament -made the religion of England look like a Parliamentary religion. The -following remark, which they offered on the fourth article of the -Covenant, was not more galling than it was just:--"That the imposing the -Covenant in this article may lay a necessity upon the son to accuse the -father, in case he be a _malignant_, which is contrary to religion, -nature, and humanity; or it may open a way for children that are sick -of their fathers, to effect their unlawful intentions, by accusing -them of malignity; besides, the subjecting ourselves to an arbitrary -punishment, at the sole pleasure of such uncertain judges as may be -deputed for that effect, is betraying the liberty of the subject."[626] - - - - -[Illustration] - - CHAPTER XXIII. - - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterians and Independents._] - -Oliver Cromwell, in a letter from Bristol, after its surrender in 1645, -makes this remark:--"Presbyterians and Independents all have here the -same spirit of faith and prayer. They agree here, and have no names of -difference. Pity it is it should be otherwise anywhere." A pamphlet -entitled "The Reconciler," published in 1646, affords another example -of the spirit which was thus manifested by the illustrious general, -and abounds in sensible remarks and salutary reproof applicable to -both parties. In other places, also, besides Bristol, persons bearing -these different religious names lived in unity and co-operated in the -promotion of the spiritual welfare of their fellow-citizens, and in -other publications besides the "Reconciler," sentiments of candour and -charity were expressed.[627] But, for the most part, the contention -between Presbyterians and Independents was absurdly fierce, and -numerous tracts appeared on both sides filled with unchristian and -disgraceful invectives. - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterians and Independents._] - -The city of Norwich supplies a remarkable instance of this kind of -strife. Puritanism had strongly established itself there before the -civil wars, and had borne earnest witness against the innovations of -the Anglo-Catholics. When Episcopacy had been dethroned, numbers of -the clergy and citizens shewed themselves zealous in supporting the -Covenant and the Directory,--backed, as they were, by an order of -Parliament bearing the name of the Speaker.[628] They endeavoured to -set up in all the churches which crowded the narrow streets of that -hive of manufacturing industry on the banks of the Wensum, the new -model of worship, and to fashion the religion of all the inhabitants -after the newly authorized type. But Independency had also grown up, -and was beginning to flourish within the walls; the Church planted in -1642 presented signs of vigorous vitality, and probably other persons, -not in religious communion with it, favoured its interests from -political motives. The Episcopal party remained strong, and succeeded -in resisting, to some extent, the reforming policy of their energetic -Puritan neighbours;[629] but the latter, instead of uniting all their -strength to maintain a common cause against those who were opponents to -them in common, engaged in a vehement paper war one against another, -which threw the whole city into a state of feverish excitement. There -are extant two curious publications, the one entitled "_Vox Populi_," -an organ of the Independents, and the other, bearing the name of "_Vox -Norwici_," issued by the Presbyterians. In the Independent "_Vox -Populi_," we find the authors maintaining that every man ought to be -left to the liberty of his own conscience; that the Solemn League and -Covenant was the same engine of tyranny in the hands of the presbyter -that the massbook had been in the hands of the priest, or the Book of -Common Prayer in the hands of the prelate; that immoral ministers were -allowed to remain in their incumbencies without any attempt to remove -them; that nothing was heard in parish pulpits but the subject of -church discipline and ecclesiastical uniformity; that the Presbyterian -clergy domineered over the Corporation; and that they were actuated -mainly by self-interest, inasmuch as they had been at one time as -ready to submit to surplices, tippets, liturgies, and canons, as they -were now zealous in casting such things away. The object and animus of -this publication cannot be mistaken; and the character of the "_Vox -Norwici_" is equally intelligible.[630] It leaves what the Independents -had said in reference to the Covenant to be censured by authority, and -to be confuted by the pens and tongues of learned men. It vindicates -the character of the Presbyterian ministers, and declares that if in -their preaching they ever meddled with the topic of discipline and -uniformity, it was "but a touch and away." It asserts that when they -attended the court of the City Corporation, it was as petitioners, -"with their hats in their hands," and that they were, notwithstanding -the imputations cast upon them, disinterested men, as proved by -their conduct, and the amount of their preferments. It affirms that -the covenants of congregational churches--which had incurred the -disapproval of Presbyterians--were vague and useless, and allowed -people to draw their necks out of Christ's yoke. The tract proceeds to -maintain that it was owing to the influence of the Presbyterian clergy -that the magistrates of the city had doubled the poor-rates, so that -the condition of the lower class had become considerably improved; -but at the same time it admits that in congregational churches the -poor were still better off, owing to their small number--poor members -not being so easily admitted to such communion as were sisters in -"silk-gowns." And then, as a last sting for their adversaries, the -Presbyterians add this curious observation: "Besides, you can get so -many good women to you, that their husbands cannot bear the charge of -our poor, because their wives prove so chargeable to them." - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -[Sidenote: _Presbyterians and Independents._] - -It has been pointed out in these pages already how the military -success of Cromwell, and the unpopularity of the Scotch, together with -changes in the House of Commons, helped the political Independents to -curb Presbyterian churchmanship and intolerance. But in those outside -circumstances, if we may so express it, which materially affected the -interests lying within the proper sphere of religion, a considerable -change occurred during the latter part of the year 1646. A lull of -peace in the midst of the civil wars, through the complete defeat of -the King's army, and the capture of his strongholds, had deprived -Cromwell and his soldiers of any further opportunity to increase -their laurels. The Scotch, having the King in their camp, and being -engaged in negotiations with Parliament for the payment of arrears, -occupied an improved position, and further changes in the Lower -House, altered again somewhat the relative strength of the two great -parties. The policy of the Presbyterians on political questions, was -moderation. They were averse to republicanism, and wished to retain -the old constitution of King, Lords, and Commons. Some of the new -members with strong revolutionary sympathies, who had entered the -House in 1645, came by a natural influence to be more moderate when -called themselves to bear the responsibilities of legislation, and -when brought into close contact with persons against whom they were -previously prejudiced. These now felt disposed to side somewhat with -the Presbyterians.[631] Moreover, new members had been returned by -constituencies loyal to the King, and they thought they should best -aid the royal cause by voting with the Presbyterians. Consequently, -the Independent party lost ground a little in the arena of their -recent victories,[632] and the alteration speedily manifested itself -in the turn given to ecclesiastical proceedings. The Presbyterians -availed themselves of their partially recovered supremacy to attack -once more the hateful sects, and, by the iron foot of penal law, to -crush out the life of error and evil. On the 26th of May, 1646, the -Corporation of London, whose courage revived after the debates upon -"the keys," presented a remonstrance to the Lords and Commons, in -which they expressed their devotion to the Covenant, gave Parliament -credit for not desiring to let loose "the golden reins of discipline -and government," and complained of private and separate congregations -daily erected in divers parts of the City, and commonly frequented; -and of Anabaptism, and Brownism, and all manner of schisms, heresies, -and blasphemies vented by such as, touching the point of Church -government, professed themselves to be Independents. So that they go -on to say: "We cannot but be astonished at the swarms of sectaries, -which discover themselves everywhere, who, if by their endeavours -they should get into places of profit and trust in martial and civil -affairs, it might tend much to the disturbance of the public peace -both of the Church and Commonwealth."[633] The Presbyterians made a -motion that the House would take the matter into consideration, which -upon a division they were able to carry.[634] In the winter of 1646, -the Clergy of London, whose influence was paramount with the citizens, -made the pulpits ring with invectives against parliamentary delay in -the work of lifting the Church above the State; and when December came, -the Lord Mayor and Corporation clamorously beset the House with their -grievances. Contempt, they said, was put on the Covenant. Heresy and -schism were still growing. Soldiers usurped the ministry and appeared -in the pulpit. The petitioners entreated that the Covenant might -be imposed on the whole nation, under penalties such as Parliament -might think fit, that nobody should be allowed to preach who was not -an ordained covenanter, and that separate congregations, which were -all "nurseries of damnable heretics," might be suppressed.[635] Upon -this appeal a parliamentary declaration appeared in condemnation of -a lay ministry, of everything derogatory to presbyterian government, -and of those who should disturb any preachers in holy orders. Shortly -afterwards, the London clergy, assembling at Sion College, published a -treatise, entitled, "A Testimony to the Truth of Jesus Christ, and to -our Solemn League and Covenant, as also against the errors, heresies, -and blasphemies of these times, and the toleration of them, to which -is added a Catalogue of the said Errors." The ministers of the -counties of Gloucester, Lancaster, Devon, and Somerset declared their -concurrence with the London brethren.[636] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -Other circumstances contributed to augment the confusion of the times. -In the newspapers and pamphlets of the latter part of the year 1646 -there are several traces of terrific apprehensions entertained by -religious people, such as greatly increased the excitement of the -period. The harvest was late. In October, lamentations appear of -corn in the north not gathered in, and of vetches still standing in -the fields. A famine threatened the population; and such a calamity -appeared the more probable from the continuance in England of the -Scotch army, which, of course, consumed a large quantity of provision. -Wailings over heavy rains and floods in the months of November and -December were of frequent occurrence. "Where are our dry days," it was -asked, "the divers-coloured bow of heaven? If the weather continue, the -nation must abandon their walls of stone, and have recourse to walls of -wood. Heaven weeps for us, yet we cannot weep for ourselves, because we -have hearts of stone; like the offspring of Deucalion's people, we must -partake of Deucalion's punishment." - -[Sidenote: _Supernatural Omens._] - -[Sidenote: 1646.] - -It will help to illustrate the superstitious feelings which mingled -with such fears if we notice the frequent references to supernatural -portents about this time. In a curious quarto tract, entitled "Strange -Signs from Heaven," published in the spring of the same year, we -read the following passage:--"At Brandon, in the county of Norfolk, -the inhabitants were forced to come out of their houses to behold so -strange a spectacle of a spire-steeple ascending up from the earth, -and a pike or lance descending downward from heaven. The Lord in mercy -bless and preserve His Church, and settle peace and truth among all -degrees, and more especially among our churchmen! Also at Brandon, in -the county aforesaid, was seen at the same time, a navy or fleet of -ships in the air, swiftly passing under sail, with flags and streamers -hanged out, as if they were ready to give an encounter. In Marshland, -in the county of Norfolk aforesaid, within three miles of King's Lynn, -a captain and a lieutenant, with divers other persons of credit, did -hear in the time of thunder a sound, as of a whole regiment of drums -beating a call with perfect notes and stops, much admired at of all -that heard it. And the like military sound was heard in Suffolk upon -the same day, and in other parts of the Eastern Association. In all -these places there was very great thunder, with rain and hailstones of -extraordinary bigness, and round, and some hollow within like rings. -The Lord grant that all the people of this kingdom may take heed to -every warning trumpet of His, that we may speedily awaken out of -our sins, and truly turn to the Lord, fight His battles against our -spiritual enemies, and get those inward riches of which we cannot be -plundered, and so seek an inward kingdom of righteousness and peace, -that we may be more capable in His good time of a settled peace and -state in the outward kingdom, and all through our Lord Jesus Christ!" - -While Heaven was interpreted as frowning upon the earth, people were -accused of indifference to religious duties. A religious newspaper, -called the "Scottish Dove," described as "sent out and returning the -28th of October and the 4th of November"--after quaintly remarking that -the Dove had rested on the public fast--goes on to inform the reader -how the country neglected, slighted, and contemned the ordinance of -God, and of the Parliament for days of humiliation--not only in the -country towns, where ignorant people ordinarily ploughed, threshed, -hedged, and ditched, but also in the great city of London. Though the -country was suffering, how thin were the congregations on a fast day! -How full the cookshops, ordinaries, and taverns! "Do men indeed believe -there is a God?" asks the indignant editor. Such lamentations remind -us of similar ones expressed by St. Chrysostom, when comparing the -scanty attendance at church with the multitudes assembled in places of -amusement. - -[Sidenote: _The King at Holdenby._] - -[Sidenote: 1647.] - -Amidst all these fears and complaints, negotiations were continued -between the Presbyterians in Parliament, and the Scotch authorities -relative to the payment and the disbanding of their troops and the -surrender of the King into English hands. When arrangements for the -purpose had been effected between the two parties, his Majesty, at -the end of January, 1647, delivered himself up to the Parliamentary -Commissioners at Newcastle, whence he was conducted to Holdenby House, -in the county of Northampton--a stately Elizabethan mansion, which had -been built by Sir Christopher Hatton--a retreat, however, certainly not -selected in consideration of the fallen monarch's feelings, since it -was within a short ride from Naseby, the scene of his final and most -inglorious defeat. Notwithstanding this circumstance, he graciously -expressed himself as glad to come a little nearer to his Parliament; -and no doubt, with all sincerity, he also declared his perfect -willingness to bid farewell to his northern hosts. His journey was -retarded by unfavourable weather, yet thousands of spectators greeted -his approach to the old mansion; whilst bells rang and cannons fired -"with a gallant echo."[637] The English Presbyterians were greatly -elated on obtaining the charge of the royal person, a prize which, they -hoped, would bring to them other advantages in its train.[638] Charles, -after reaching Holdenby House, requested to be allowed the attendance -of his episcopal chaplains. The request was refused. He was informed -that no one who did not take the Covenant could be permitted to remain -in his household. It is very well known how his Majesty amused himself -whilst at Holdenby--sometimes walking in the pleasant neighbourhood; -sometimes riding over to a bowling-green a few miles distant. Other -matters, too, not often noticed by historians, but characteristic of -the royal prisoner, occupied his attention. As the opening spring -covered with bright green the Northamptonshire fields, and as the pear -trees in the orchards of Holdenby exhibited their snowy types of the -resurrection, the royal and episcopalian churchman naturally desired -to commemorate the holy festival of Easter, so endeared of old to the -hearts of Christians. - -[Sidenote: _The King at Holdenby._] - -"I desire," said Charles, in a paper he wrote at this time, "to -be resolved of this question: Why the new reformers discharge the -keeping of Easter? The reason for this query is, I conceive, that -the celebration of this feast was instituted by the same authority -which changed the Jewish Sabbath into the Lord's Day, or Sunday; for -it will not be found in Scripture when Saturday is discharged to be -kept, or turned into Sunday, whereas it must be the Church's authority -that changed the one and instituted the other. Therefore, my opinion -is, that those who will not keep this feast may as well return to the -observation of Saturday, and refuse the weekly Sunday. When anybody can -shew me that herein I am in error, I shall not be ashamed to confess -and amend it. Till then, you know my mind.--C. Rex." - -To this, Sir James Harrington--who had been appointed by Parliament -to attend upon him at Holdenby--replied, that the changing of the -Sabbath and the instituting of Easter were "not by one and the same -equal authority and ecclesiastical decree, upon which the reason of his -Majesty's query seems to be built." "The Easter festival is a church -appointment; but the observance of the Sabbath is according to the -fourth commandment, and in the New Testament there is evidence of the -change of the day."[639] - -[Sidenote: 1647.] - -With the King in their keeping, and with a majority still on their side -in the House of Commons, the Presbyterians were full of confidence, -and their religious affairs seemed to promise a favourable issue. -But the army became to them an increasing difficulty. To disband it -appeared most desirable; but how to accomplish that object was the -question. The soldiers did not choose to be disbanded. They said -they were not Turkish janissaries, nor Swiss mercenaries--not mere -adventurers of fortune, paid to throw their lances in a cause they -did not care for--but Englishmen, who had been struggling for their -rights, fighting in defence of hearth, home, and a free church; and, -before they laid down their arms, they would know that their country -had obtained what they and their brave comrades had shed their blood -to win. They were entitled to be paid before they were dismissed, and -paid they would be; but, what was more precious to them far than pay, -they would secure for themselves and their fellow-countrymen liberty -of conscience. To use Clarendon's words: "Hitherto there was so little -security provided in that point, that there was a greater persecution -now against religious and godly men than ever had been in the King's -government, when the bishops were their judges."[640] This is -exaggeration; yet it was thus that men talked around their camp-fires -on frosty nights during that memorable winter. The army petitioned -Parliament in the spring of 1647. Parliament objected to army -petitions. The petitioners vindicated their rights in this respect; and -some troopers boldly sent a letter to the honourable House, declaring -that they would not disband until their requests were granted, and the -liberties of the subject were placed beyond peril. A debate followed -this appeal, and speeches were prolonged to a late hour. Denzil Holles, -the Presbyterian leader, full of that passion and prejudice which often -blinded his strong intellect and pushed on his resolute will, then -hastily took a scrap of paper, and wrote across it, as it lay upon his -knee, a resolution declaring the petition to be seditious, and that to -support it was treason. Holles' resolution fell like a spark upon an -open barrel of gunpowder. - -This was in the month of April. In March, the House had resolved that -every officer in garrison, and under the command of Fairfax, should -take the Covenant, and conform to the Church by ordinance established. -The vote aimed a blow at the Independents, and those who sympathized -with them--Cromwell, Blake, Ludlow, Algernon Sidney, Ireton, Skippon, -and Hutchinson. - -[Sidenote: _Earl of Essex._] - -[Sidenote: 1647.] - -The Presbyterians were now walking in the dark on the edge of a -pitfall. Their great general, the Earl of Essex, was dead.[641] The -only son of Robert, Queen Elizabeth's favourite, he had enjoyed much -of his father's popularity. Trained to arms in the Netherlands, he -became an accomplished soldier of the old school; and, having served -with distinction in the wars of the Palatinate, he had acquired the -reputation of a Protestant champion before he was called upon to draw -his sword within the shores of his native land. His military fame and -his religious character pointed him out as a Parliamentary commander -at the outbreak of the civil wars. A moderate Episcopalian in the -first instance, yet wishing to see bishops excluded from the peerage, -he glided into Presbyterianism, and at last would have been glad to -bring about such a settlement of affairs as would give ascendancy to -that system without the destruction of monarchical rule. In all -respects moderate--fearing a decisive victory, such as would crush the -King, scarcely less than he feared such a defeat of the Parliamentary -army as would restore him to his former power--the history of the -military career of the Earl of Essex in England was more cautious than -brilliant, and from first to last abounded in Fabian delays. Nominally -retaining supreme command of the forces till the year 1645, the -influence of this nobleman had declined with the siege of Gloucester, -in 1643. - -The surrender of his army in the west, in the autumn of 1644, brought -a cloud over his military career, though it left untarnished his -personal honour. The old officers being displaced by the self-denying -ordinance, Essex had to resign his baton. Without military command, -he notwithstanding continued to be a man of great influence; which -personal vanity, as well as higher considerations, prompted him to -employ. Sympathizing with Presbyterians, and jealous of Independents, -he incurred Cromwell's displeasure; and Cromwell, after the passing of -the self-denying ordinance, became disliked by him. Had Essex lived, -it was thought--though without sufficient reason--that he might have -allayed party feeling and have prevented the terrible catastrophe -which was not far distant. His death, however, struck at the hopes -of compromise cherished by his Presbyterian friends, whilst, by that -event, Cromwell and his party, as Clarendon reports, were wonderfully -exalted, Essex being the only one "whose credit and interest they -feared without any esteem of his person."[642] - -[Sidenote: _The King and the Independents._] - -It should also be considered how unwise the Presbyterians had been -in paying off and dismissing the Scotch army, which, so long as it -continued on English ground, might be reckoned as an ally and a -defender of the new Church. At least, that army remaining here would -have served to hold the English one in check, and to render its -commanders more prudent, if it did not make its men less bold. But -the march of the Presbyterian regiments over the border left Cromwell -and his brother officers free from all apprehensions of military -resistance. The Independents thus became masters of the situation. - -[Sidenote: 1647.] - -A very bold stroke they in their turn struck at Presbyterian plans, -when, in the month of June, they sent Cornet Joyce to fetch his Majesty -from Holdenby House that they might take care of him themselves;[643] -and they almost reconciled him to his new captivity by relaxing the -restraints which he had endured, and by allowing him to have his own -chaplains. Sheldon, Morley, Sanderson, and Hammond, now "performed -their function at the ordinary hours in their accustomed formalities; -all persons, who had a mind to it, being suffered to be present, to -his Majesty's infinite satisfaction."[644] The restored surplice and -prayer book were a great comfort to the unhappy prince. The concession -appears to have resulted from policy; for as the Presbyterians had -been in treaty with him for the furtherance of their ends, some of the -Independent officers now thought of effecting their own reconciliation -on terms of their own. Into the story of the conferences between -Sir John Berkely and the King on the one hand, and between Sir John -Berkely and certain chieftains of the army on the other, it is not -our business to enter. We would only say that the sincere purpose -of Cromwell, in reference to ecclesiastical matters, seems to have -been to secure toleration, within certain limits, for the religious -opinions and observances both of the people and of the Monarch, and to -prevent the exercise of either Episcopalian or Presbyterian tyranny. -We are inclined to believe that, on such a basis--with due securities -for political liberty, and in connection with official arrangements, -in which, of course, so distinguished a man could not but expect to -have some conspicuous place--Cromwell felt not unwilling to aid in -the restoration of Charles. But the insincerity of the latter and the -opposition of the republicans prevented the scheme from proceeding far. - -Cromwell also aimed at reconciling the factious members of the two -parties. He invited certain Presbyterians and Independents to dine with -him at Westminster, and he held conferences with the grandees of the -House and with the grandees of the army. All this, however, proved to -be of no effect. Ludlow tells a story of the hero of Naseby, at the end -of a conference, flinging a cushion at his head and then running down -stairs, and of his overtaking the general with another cushion, which -"made him hasten down faster than he desired."[645] Ludlow, with all -his prejudice against Cromwell, was not the man to invent an untruth, -even in so small a matter; and one may note this flash of fun after -severe debate, as indicating a genuine Teutonic temperament in the two -rough soldiers, akin to what we read of in old Norse mythologies, of -grotesque tricks played by Woden-like chiefs, and quite in keeping -with what we know of that Teutonic hero, Martin Luther, who could laugh -and joke, as well as preach and pray. - -[Sidenote: _Royalist Demonstrations._] - -Although Cromwell could not reconcile ecclesiastical adversaries, -or come to terms with the captive King, there remained no hope for -Presbyterian uniformity. Active men in the undisbanded army, true to -their purpose, still insisted upon securing the right of toleration, -together with certain other points of a political nature; and, seeing -that there were Presbyterians at work in the House of Commons with a -view of thwarting their designs, they boldly impeached eleven of them. - -Immense excitement ensued. Trained-bands, apprentices, mariners, and -soldiers, petitioned that the King might be brought to London, with the -hope of securing a reconciliation. Riots followed. The House of Commons -was besieged; and Sir Arthur Haselrig, the political Independent, -persuaded the Speaker, at the head of a large number of members, to -leave Westminster, and to fly for protection to the camp. The Speaker, -having "caused a thousand pounds to be thrown into his coach, went down -to the army, which lay then at Windsor, Maidenhead, Colnbrook, and the -adjacent places."[646] - -[Sidenote: 1648.] - -Notwithstanding these extraordinary attempts on the part of the -opposition, the Presbyterians did not lose their ascendancy in the -House of Commons.[647] Their cause received vigorous and influential -support from the London ministers. The Corporation also manifested -similar zeal by taking care to place in all municipal offices -Presbyterians of a true blue tint. The party further strengthened -itself in some quarters through its Royalism, and in consequence of -the repugnance which was felt by numbers of people at the growing -Republicanism of the Independents. Republicanism, besides its inherent -defects, had the disadvantage of appearing to the practical minds of -Englishmen as at the best an untried theory, which, whatever advantages -it might seem to promise, would be found miserably wanting when tested -by being put into practice. - -Outbursts of Royalist violence occurred in the spring of 1648. The -city of Norwich had a Royalist and Episcopalian mayor, whom the -Parliament deposed from office, appointing another alderman in his -place. The citizens who took part with the disgraced chief magistrate -abused his successor, and threatened to hang the pursuivant and -sheriff upon the Castle Hill. It being reported that the gentleman -who had been thus set aside would be carried off by his enemies in -the night, his friends seized the keys of the many-gated city, and -assembled in the market-place, giving out as their watchword, "For God -and King Charles." Large crowds afterwards openly avowed that they -were for his Majesty, and that they would pluck the Roundheads out of -the Corporation, and put in honest men who would serve God and go to -church. The city found itself filled with rioters who were breaking -windows, entering houses, plundering them of food, wine, and beer, and -seizing the fire-arms kept in the magazine. All was confusion, and the -tradesmen shut up their shops. But Colonel Fleetwood's troopers, then -in the county, were quickly despatched to quell the riot. The rebels -ran away after being attacked by the soldiers, and retired to the -Committee House, where the county ammunition was kept. By accident or -from design ninety-eight barrels of gunpowder there exploded, which not -only blew up several persons "into the air, but by the violence of the -shock, which was perceived in the greatest part of the county, many -windows were shattered in pieces, and much mischief done by the stones -and timber at a great distance."[648] A riot of a similar kind happened -at Bury St. Edmunds.[649] - -[Sidenote: _Laws against Heresy._] - -Out of these Royalist demonstrations Parliament made capital at the -moment of putting them down. On the 28th of April, 1648--two days -after the Norwich Corporation had determined on a thanksgiving for -the suppression of the tumult[650]--the House of Commons carried a -resolution that the future government of England should be by King, -Lords, and Commons, and that a treaty should be opened with Charles -for peace and settlement. What kind of settlement it was to be, -ecclesiastically considered, the Presbyterian Commons foreshadowed by a -law made a few days afterwards. - -[Sidenote: 1648.] - -[Sidenote: _Newport Treaty._] - -As early as April, 1646, a bill had been in preparation for preventing -heresies and blasphemies. In the September of that year it had been -read a first and second time. In the following November the House had -voted that the penalty for such offences, in certain cases, should be -death. Subsequent political confusions had arrested for a while the -progress of this measure, but now, on the 2nd of May, 1648, under the -renewed ascendancy of Presbyterianism, an ordinance came forth of the -following character:[651]--The denial of God by preaching, teaching, -printing or writing, of His perfections, or of the Trinity, or of -the two natures of Christ, or of His atonement, or of the canonical -books of Scripture, or of the resurrection of the dead and a final -judgment, was to be deemed a capital offence; and the offender was to -"suffer the pains of death, as in case of felony, without benefit of -clergy." In case of recantation, he was to remain in prison till he -found two sureties who would answer for his never again broaching the -said errors. The ordinance specified a second class of heresies:--That -all men shall be saved--that man by nature hath free will to turn to -God--that God may be worshipped by pictures and images--that there -is a purgatory--that the soul can die or sleep--that the workings -of the Spirit are a rule of life, although they be contrary to the -written Word--that man is bound to believe no more than his reason -can comprehend--that the moral law is no rule of Christian life--that -a believer need not repent or pray--that the two sacraments are not -of Divine authority--that infant baptism is unlawful or void--that -the observance of the Lord's day, as enjoined in this realm, is not -according to the Word of God--that it is not lawful to join in public -or family prayer, or to teach children to pray--that the churches -of England are not true churches--that Presbyterian government is -anti-Christian--that the magistracy established in England is unlawful, -or that the use of arms is not allowable. To publish or maintain -any of these doctrines, entailed imprisonment until the offender -found sureties for his not offending any more. In conclusion, it was -provided that no attainder by virtue of the ordinance should extend -to a forfeiture of estates or a corruption of blood. We have given -this piece of legislation almost entire. It throws light on the nature -of the errors which at that time were prevalent. The ordinance is -pointed at Atheism, Infidelity, and Socinianism, also at Pelagianism, -Universalism, and Popery. It levels its bolts at Quakerism, -Antinomianism, and Anabaptism. It fixes its eyes on fifth monarchy -men, and will allow no anti-Presbyterian to escape its vengeance. But, -in seeking to crush what were mischievous errors, these legislators -really brought within danger of prison and death a number of persons -who, though belonging to none of the proscribed sects, yet might refuse -the exact formulary of belief which the words of the act enjoined. -A person might devoutly believe in the divinity of Christ, and yet -he might object to a definition of the Trinity; he might accept the -Scriptures as Divine, and yet he might doubt the canonicity of certain -books. Notwithstanding such a man's substantial faith, the ordinance -threatened him with a felon's doom. Some of the opinions specified were -merely intellectual, and, socially considered, perfectly innocuous. -But, supposing a man entertained the very worst sentiments coming -within the view of this minutely specific law, such an enactment only -served in the instance of a courageous heresiarch to make him all the -more obstinate in his misbelief. And then the folly of requiring in -such cases sureties for good behaviour! No doubt the statesmen who -thus meddled in the region of religious opinion, proceeded upon other -principles than those of mere political expediency, and would have -met all objections based on the inefficacy of their policy for good, -its social injustice, and its violation of the rights of conscience, -with this argument--that the highest duty of the magistrate is simply -to maintain God's truth irrespective of all consequences; that as a -defender of the Church he is not to bear the sword in vain; and that -he is to tread in the steps of Israel's heroes, walking through the -camp of God, Phineas-like, javelin in hand. But however disposed one -may be to do justice to the motives of these men, as honestly desiring -to advance the glory of God, it is impossible not to regard proceedings -like theirs in the instance before us as inspired with a monstrous -fanaticism.[652] - -[Sidenote: 1648.] - -[Sidenote: _Newport Treaty._] - -In the month of September, 1648, not long after the ordinance had -been passed for more effectually settling Presbyterian government, -boats crossed the water between the Hampshire coast and the Isle of -Wight, conveying Noblemen, Gentlemen, Divines and Lawyers to take -part in a new conference with the fallen sovereign.[653] He was -allowed to have, as assistants in the discussion, certain learned -Episcopalians, including Juxon, Hammond, and Ussher, who were to stand -behind his chair; but they were not to speak except when the King might -wish for their advice, which could be given by them only in another -room. The Parliament sent down on its own behalf five noblemen, with -four Presbyterian Divines--Dr. Seaman, Mr. Caryl, Mr. Marshall, and -Mr. Vines. The principal topics debated were of an ecclesiastical -nature--as on other points the King, being now reduced to the last -extremity, yielded his consent to the demands of Parliament. He -took his stand on the merits of Episcopacy, and the demerits of the -Covenant. His arguments were in the main the same as those which he -had adduced at Newcastle, and some Episcopalians have thought that the -royal theologian, in this renewed controversy, derived little benefit -from his Episcopal advisers.[654] - -Circumstances compelled him now to make large practical concessions. -He would abolish the hierarchy, except the simple order of bishops. -He would for the space of three years allow no other ecclesiastical -government than the Presbyterian, and afterwards would not permit -any Episcopal rule to be exercised except such as Parliament might -allow; indeed, he went so far as to say if he could be convinced that -Episcopacy was not agreeable to the Word of God he would take it -entirely away. Afterwards he promised that for the next three years he -would appoint no new Bishops, that Bishops should receive no persons -into holy orders without the consent of the Presbyters, that another -form than the Common Prayer should be used in the royal chapel, and -that mass should never be said at Court.[655] - -[Sidenote: 1648.] - -Charles at last resolved to make no further concessions. To the three -demands made by Parliament through the Commissioners, first, for the -abolition of Bishops, secondly, for the sale of their lands, and -thirdly, for the use of the Directory by himself, he gave a decided -denial. If, said he, the Houses thought it not fit to recede from the -strictness of their demands in these respects, then he would with all -the more comfort cast himself upon his Saviour's goodness to support -him and defend him from all afflictions.[656] - -[Sidenote: _Newport Treaty._] - -A Royalist reaction now sprung up amongst the Presbyterians, and the -former alienation between the army and the Parliament burst into open -warfare. The army, tired of treaties which made not the slightest -provision for religious liberty, tired also of one-sided Presbyterian -zeal, which sacrificed the liberties of the country to the adored ideal -of a covenanted uniformity, and further tired of long and fruitless -negotiations, addressed a stern remonstrance to Parliament--as long too -as it was stern--demanding justice upon the misguided monarch.[657] -Then came a declaration of the advance of the army towards the -City of London. Thus threatened, the Presbyterians were put on their -defence. To submit to the army would be to give up their idol. More -hope remained for Presbyterianism now in pushing a treaty with the -King than in yielding to the pressure of the Independents. The courage -and calmness of the advocates of this policy at such a moment command -our admiration. Amidst all their fondness for the Covenant, and all -their aversion to Episcopacy, there appeared a disinterested spirit of -loyalty to the King's person, and of great anxiety for the preservation -of the King's life. - -[Sidenote: 1648.] - -On Monday, December the 4th, after tidings had been received of the -removal of Charles across the water from Carisbrook to Hurst Castle, by -officers of the army--the Commons were in deep debate. They declared -that the removal had been accomplished without their consent or -knowledge, and then they grappled with the all-absorbing question, -whether the royal answers to the propositions of both Houses could -be considered satisfactory. Whilst Sir Harry Vane, Mr. Corbet, and -others of the Independent party contended that those answers were not -satisfactory, the Presbyterians put forth all their remaining strength -to save his Majesty. Sir Benjamin Rudyard, Sir Harbottle Grimstone, and -Sir Symonds D'Ewes came to the rescue; but Mr. Prynne stood forward -as the chief advocate of the false and fallen prince. In a speech, -continued long after candles had been lighted, he went over the whole -ground of the long dispute. He could not, as he said, be suspected of -any undue partiality for his Majesty, seeing that all the royal favour -he had ever received was shewn in cutting off his ears; but still he -argued with immense elaboration and great ability that there was enough -in the results of the recent negotiations to warrant the conclusion of -a treaty. The political concessions which had been made he maintained -were amply sufficient. Such as were ecclesiastical, he proceeded -to observe, though they did not meet the Parliament's demands, yet -went so far as to warrant a hope of a satisfactory issue. For hours -he continued his speech, and at the end of it the majority--so the -orator himself reports--declared both by their cheerful countenances -and by their express words that they were abundantly satisfied. -After the Speaker had taken some refreshments there came a division -on the question, that the answers of the King "are a ground for -the House to proceed upon, for the settlement of the peace of the -kingdom." Ayes, 140, Noes, 104. It was Tuesday morning; the clock had -now struck nine, and the debate had lasted from the morning of the -previous day. Although the doors had never been locked, there were -present in the House at one time as many as 340 members: many of them, -however, because of age and infirmity, could not remain throughout the -night.[658] - -Whatever opinion may be formed of the Presbyterian policy, everybody -must acknowledge that such a debate with the army at the door brought -out some noble characteristics, and that Prynne shewed himself a brave -man, with such armed odds against him, thus to stand up for peace with -Charles, at the moment when his death-knell had begun to be rung in the -camp. Zeal for Presbyterianism, hatred of Independency, and jealousy -of the army were powerful motives with this singular person; yet with -these feelings were blended sentiments of the purest loyalty. - -But eloquence proved no match for steel. The Scotch army had set up the -Covenant; the English army now pulled it down. As at the beginning -of that great mistake, so at the end, force had more influence than -reason, violence than argument. Pride's purge carried all before it. -Prynne had not recovered from his exhaustion before the army had -cleared the House of all opponents. Above one hundred members were -excluded before the end of December; others withdrew. Thus by one and -the same blow the fate of monarchy and of Presbyterianism was decided. -It is vain to talk about constitutionalism at such a crisis. Revolution -had marched through England gaunt and grim. Its black shadow had -darkened the land, and now it fell over Parliament itself. The army -had fought for liberty of conscience, certainly not the least of the -prizes in dispute, and that being now in jeopardy, a strong hand was -put forth very unceremoniously to beat down the obstacle which hindered -its attainment. - -[Sidenote: _Execution of the King._] - -[Sidenote: 1649, January.] - -As it was with Lord Strafford and with Archbishop Laud, so it was -with King Charles I. The noblest scene in his whole life was the -last. He appeared to infinitely greater advantage at the bar, and on -the scaffold, than he had ever done before. His religious demeanour, -when he came to die, was all which his admirers could wish. Without -refusing the prayers of Presbyterians and Independents, he availed -himself of the counsels and devotions of Bishop Juxon; and he said to -that prelate on his offering some expressions of condolence--"Leave -off this, my Lord, we have no time for it. Let us think of our great -work, and prepare to meet the great God to whom ere long I am to give -an account of myself, and I hope I shall do it with peace, and that -you will assist me therein. We will not talk of these rogues in whose -hands I am. They thirst after my blood, and they will have it, and -God's will be done. I thank God I heartily forgive them, and will -talk of them no more." In a message to his son, he declared his faith -in the apostolical institution of Episcopacy, and, as a last request, -earnestly urged him to read the Bible, which in his own affliction, he -remarked, "had been his best instructor and delight." He said to his -attendant, on the morning of his execution, "Herbert, this is my second -marriage day, I would be as trim to-day as may be, for before night I -hope to be espoused to my blessed Jesus." "I fear not death, death is -not terrible to me. I bless my God I am prepared."[659] On his way to -the block he hastened his attendants, remarking that he now went before -them to strive for a heavenly crown with less solicitude than he had -often encouraged his soldiers to fight for an earthly diadem. - -His words, as he stood with Juxon at his side,[660] before the axe -of the masked executioner, were broken and confused; but he declared -himself a Christian, and a member of the Church; that he had a good -cause and a gracious God, and was going from a corruptible to an -incorruptible crown. - -[Sidenote: _Execution of the King._] - -The impression which the tragedy produced on two eminent persons has -been fully recorded. Parr, in his _Life of Ussher_,[661] relates how -the Irish primate came upon the leads of Lady Peterborough's house, -"just over against Charing Cross," as the King made his final speech, -and how, when his Majesty "had pulled off his cloak and doublet, -and stood stripped in his waistcoat," and the men in vizards put up -his hair, the good Bishop, unable to bear the dismal sight, grew pale -and faint, and would have swooned away had not his servants removed -him. He could vent his excitement only in prayers and tears; and ever -afterwards he observed the 30th of January as a private fast. Matthew -Henry states that his eminently-godly father witnessed the execution, -and used to tell his children, at Broad Oak, of the dismal groan -amongst the thousands of the people when the axe fell--a groan the -like of which he had never heard before, and hoped he should never -hear again; and he would also mention the circumstance of one troop of -horse marching from Charing Cross to King Street, and another from King -Street to Charing Cross, to disperse the crowd as soon as the awful -deed was done.[662] - -The execution of Charles, however it may be deplored as mischievous, -criticised as impolitic, or condemned as unjust, was perhaps--looking at -the natural resentments and fears of men under the circumstances--only -such a sequel to the civil wars as became probable after long experience -of the King's invincible duplicity. Like Strafford, he had become too -dangerous to live; and now it was thought that, like Strafford, he must -die. Moreover, visions of republican bliss dazzled the imagination of a -few who believed that they would be nearer the attainment of their hopes -when the head of Charles should have rolled in dust.[663] One result, it -appears, they did not contemplate. They made a martyr of their victim, -and thus so deeply stained their cause in the estimation of the largest -portion of posterity, that all their patriotism and religious -consistency in other respects have not sufficed to wipe out the blot. - -[Sidenote: 1649, January.] - -The Presbyterians ought not to be reproached for the fate of Charles. -Their statesmen did what they could to prevent it; and their Divines -courageously protested against his being put to death, as a national -crime. Nor should the Independents, as a religious sect, be made -to bear the responsibility. It is true that some of them were -members of the High Court of Justice--Bradshaw, the president, and -Corbet, to mention no others, were in communion with Congregational -Churches[664]--but there were also Independent ministers who openly -declared against the sentence; and the silence of others upon the -subject is no more to be construed into approval than is the silence of -Episcopalians.[665] What extravagant things might be said by such a man -as the notorious Hugh Peters, or even by John Goodwin--a different sort -of person it is true--ought not to be charged upon the Independents in -general. Yet some amongst the best of them, it must be acknowledged, -approved of the deed. Lucy Hutchinson relates the conflicts of her -husband, shewing how a sense of duty decided him in the part he took -in the proceeding. Dr. Owen preached before Parliament the day after -the King was beheaded; and though he does not allude to the event of -the preceding morning, he preached in a strain not at all consistent -with any reprobation of it, as an act of injustice. Although, in our -opinion, it was a blunder, it has been vindicated even in the present -day by writers of undoubted piety and honour: no wonder that good men, -amidst a struggle which we can imperfectly imagine, were impelled to -do what good men in the serener atmosphere of two centuries later -deliberately justify. - -[Sidenote: _The Funeral._] - -[Sidenote: 1649, February.] - -The King was buried at Windsor on the 9th of February. Thither his -remains were conveyed by Mr. Herbert and others; some of his faithful -nobility, accompanied by Bishop Juxon, arriving at the Castle next day. -They shewed the Governor-General, Whitchcot,[666] an authority from -Parliament for their attendance at the funeral, and requested that the -body might be interred according to the rites of the Church of England. -The Governor refused, on the ground that the Common Prayer had been put -down. To their solicitations and arguments he replied it was improbable -that the Parliament would permit the use of what it had so solemnly -abolished, and thus virtually contradict and destroy its own act. To -which they rejoined: "There was a difference betwixt destroying their -own act and dispensing with it, or suspending the exercise thereof; -that no power so bindeth up its own hands as to disable itself in some -cases to recede from the rigour of their own acts, if they should see -just occasion." The plea proved unavailing. Whitchcot would not yield. -As the funeral procession moved from the great hall in the Castle, and -entered the open air, "the sky was serene and clear; but presently it -began to snow, and the snow fell so fast that by that time the corpse -came to the west end of the Royal Chapel, the black velvet pall was -all white." The soldiers of the garrison carried the body to its -resting-place under the choir. Over the coffin hung a black velvet -hearse-cloth, "the four labels whereof the four Lords did support. The -Bishop of London stood weeping by, to tender his service, which might -not be accepted. Then was it deposited in silence and sorrow in the -vacant place in the vault (the hearse-cloth being cast in after it) -about three of the clock in the afternoon."[667] - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] There is a document amongst the State Papers, headed "Proceeding -to the Parliament of the Most High and Mighty Prince, King Charles, -on Tuesday, the 3rd of November, 1640, from Whitehall by water -to Westminster Stairs, and from thence on foot." The document is -interesting in connection with Clarendon's statement: "The King himself -did not ride with his accustomed equipage, nor in his usual majesty, to -Westminster, but went privately in his barge to the parliament stairs, -and so to the Church, as if it had been to a return of a prorogued or -adjourned Parliament."--_Hist. of Rebellion and Life_ (in one vol.), -68. The paper exhibits the following programme: "Messengers; trumpets; -the Sergeant-trumpeter alone; Master of the Chancery; the King's Puisne -Sergeants-at-law; the King's Solicitor and the King's Attorney-General; -the King's two ancient Sergeants-at-law; Masters of the Requests, -two and two; Barons of the Exchequer; Justices of the Common Pleas; -Justices of the King's Bench; Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer: Master -of the Rolls; the two Lords Chief Justices; Pursuivants-of-Arms; Privy -Councillors; Heralds; Lord Finch, keeper of the Great Seal of England, -and many other lords and gentlemen." - -[2] See _Journals of the Lords_, to the words of which I have closely -adhered, and _Parliamentary History_. (Cobbett), ii. 637. - -[3] No one can see more clearly than myself the defectiveness of these -views of the state of parties. We must begin somewhere. To go very far -back is unsatisfactory, because the glimpses given of remote periods -must be indistinct and confused, and are apt to convey inaccurate -impressions. To commence with notices of what took place just before -our history opens, is also exposed to objection, because it leaves out -of sight so much which served to prepare for what followed. The history -of the Commonwealth requires a previous study of the history of the -Reformation, and that again the history of the Middle Ages. Notices of -the early Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists will be found in -subsequent chapters. - -[4] This oft-told story rests on the authority of his friend, Lord -Clarendon.--_Hist. and Life_, 928. - -[5] _Stat._ 1 _Eliz. C.Q._, lv. 3, 15. - -When the Bills of Supremacy and Uniformity were read a third time -in the House of Lords (April 26 and 28, 1558), the Bishops of York, -London, Ely, Wigorn, Llandaff, Coventry and Litchfield, Exon, Chester, -Carlisle, are mentioned in the Journals as dissentients from both the -Bills.--_Strype's Annals of the Reformation_, i. 87, (Oxford edition.) -In connection with the history of the Bill of Supremacy in _Strype's -Annals_ the student should read the history of convocation in _Strype's -Memorials_, Vol. i. Chap. xvii. An extraordinary paper in favour of the -King's supremacy, attributed to Gardiner, is given, p. 209. - -[6] 8 Eliz. c. 1, "declaring the manner of making and consecrating -of Archbishops and Bishops of the realm to be good, lawful, and -perfect."--_Strype's Life of Parker_, (Oxford edition) i. 109-121. -See also "paper of arguments for the Queen's supreme power in causes -ecclesiastical."--_Strype's Life of Whitgift_, iii. 213. - -[7] Selden says so in his _Table Talk_, 38. Mr. Bruce informs me, "I -have no doubt that Selden was right. Many great persons holding offices -in the State and Household were appointed Commissioners by reason of -their offices, but never attended. The business fell into the hands of -the Bishops (or rather some three or four of them) and a few civilians -from Doctors' Commons--the Judge of the Arches, the Judge of the -Prerogative Court, and a few other such persons. The sentences that I -have seen have been signed by from 15 to 20 persons, generally such as -I have indicated." - -[8] "Turning her speech to the Bishops, she gave them this admonition, -'That if they, the Lords of the clergy (as she called them), did not -amend, she was minded to depose them, and bade them therefore to look -well to their charges.'"--_Strype's Whitgift_, i. 393. - -[9] _Strype's Whitgift_, i. 391. Whitgift has been called an Erastian, -and Warburton (_Works_, xii. 386), on Selden's authority, attributes -to him the publication of the _De excommunicatione_, under fictitious -names of the place and printer. I do not know the ground of Selden's -statement. The proceedings of Whitgift were inconsistent with -Erastianism. The famous work of Erastus will be noticed hereafter. - -[10] _Strype's Whitgift_, i. 559. See Sir Francis Knolly's objection -to Bancroft's doctrine, reduced to a syllogistic form (560). Knollys -had encouraged Parker to oppose the use of burning tapers, and of the -cross, in the Queen's chapel.--_Strype's Parker_, i. 92. - -[11] Parker was kept up to the mark in enforcing uniformity by -the Queen, who in this and some other points was more decidedly -Anglo-Catholic than her Protestant prelates. See her letter to him -"roundly penned." _Strype's Parker_, ii. 76. - -[12] Strype, (in his _Annals_, i. 106,) says 177. He adds "In one of -the volumes of the Cotton Library--which volume seemeth once to have -belonged to Camden--the whole number of the deprived ecclesiastics -is digested in this catalogue: Bishops, 14; Deans, 13; Archdeacons, -14; Heads of Colleges, 15; Prebendaries, 50; Rectors of Churches, 80; -Abbots, Priors, and Abbesses, 6; in all, 192. Camden, in his _Annals_, -little varies, only reckoning 12 Deans and as many Archdeacons." - -[13] Paper endorsed--Dr. Bardesy; "Of my Daughter's Death, 1 April, -1641;" ¼ ho. _ante_ ho. 9, post Mer.--_State Papers. Charles I. -Domestic._ - -[14] _Mr. Bruce's Calendar of State Papers, Domestic_, 1633-4, p. 275; -_and Preface_, xviii. - -[15] _Lathbury's History of Convocation_, 253. - -[16] This is illustrated in the Tractarian movement, as appears in _Dr. -Newman's Apologia_. - -[17] Roger Ascham's application to Cranmer in the reign of Edward -VI., for a dispensation during Lent is very curious. So is the grant -of it in the King's name under the Privy Seal, at the Archbishop's -suggestion.--See _Strype's Cranmer_, i. 238, 240. - -[18] "Many choose to be wanton," it is said, "with flesh at that time, -rather than at others." February 13.--_State Papers, Domestic._ - -[19] See "_The Arminian Nunnery_, or a brief description and relation -of the late erected monastical place called the Arminian Nunnery at -Little Gidding, in Huntingdonshire." 1641. Compare _Walton's Lives_, -335. - -[20] _Rushworth's Historical Collection_, ii. 324. No doubt, sometimes -the charge of Popery was unjustly made, and there is force in what -Sanderson says in the Preface to his Sermons, p. 74. The passage is too -long for quotation. - -[21] See _Hale's Precedents and Proceedings in Ecclesiastical Courts_. -Introductory Essay, xxxiv. Compare _Hallam's Const. Hist._, i. 99. - -[22] See _New Canons_, iii. to xii., made in 1604. - -[23] Whitelocke, when Recorder of Abingdon, was accused and cited -before the Council Table because "he did comply with and countenance -the Nonconformists there, and refused to punish those who did not bow -at the name of Jesus, and to the altar, and refused to receive the -sacrament kneeling at the high altar, &c."--_Whitelocke's Memorials_, -23. - -[24] _Hale's Precedents in Criminal Causes_, xxxix., xliii.; compare -_Hallam's Const. Hist._, i. 180. The extracts from Court Books -in Hale are my authority for what follows. I may add here that, -soon after the accession of Elizabeth, the bishops complained of -interference with their office in discipline, and correction of evil -manners, by inhibitions obtained from the courts of the Archbishop of -Canterbury.--_Strype's Parker_, i. 161. - -[25] A clear account of compurgation, transferred from old -ecclesiastical courts to the Court of High Commission, is given by -Mr. Bruce in his _Preface to the Cal. Dom._ 1635-6, xxxi. A man was -restored "to his good name" by swearing to his own innocence when -objectors did not appear, and his neighbours, the compurgators, swore -that he was to be believed. - -[26] It is very remarkable that this Act, the only one which fixes the -authority for deciding what heresy is, vests that spiritual power in -the secular government, only with clerical "assent."--_Stat. 1 Eliz._, -c. 1, s. 36. - -[27] 1562, July 20. A commission was issued for ecclesiastical causes -in the diocese of Chester. - -1576, April 23. A commission was given to Grindal, Archbishop -of Canterbury, and other bishops, for exercising ecclesiastical -jurisdiction throughout the nation.--_State Papers_, cviii., No. 7. - -The "proceedings of the Archbishop of York" in 1580 are preserved in -the State Paper Office, cxli., No. 28. At a private meeting on the -2nd of August, 1580, held in Richmond, "the Court is informed that -Robert Wythes, of Copgrave, gentleman, made fast his doors against the -messenger; that a little damsel was set to attend at the door, who made -answer he was not at home, and refused to receive the process, so the -messenger waxed it to the door." Vol. cxli., No. 3. - -[28] _Neal_, i. 410, gives a copy of the commission from a MS. I -have sought in vain for the original. Mr. Bruce informs me it is not -preserved among the _State Papers_. - -_Neal_, i. 414, explains "all other means and ways they could devise" -as including the rack. Brodie (_British Empire_, i. 197) disputes -this, saying, "Besides that, the rack never was attempted; the other -clauses distinctly show that it never was contemplated." On carefully -examining the commission printed in Neal, it will be found that the -qualifying expressions "lawful," &c., are connected with the infliction -of _penalty_, not the business of _enquiry_. The penalties were to be -according to law, but that restriction would not necessarily apply -to the mode of examination. I do not see that Brodie's argument is -conclusive; still I do not think that the rack was used. The absence, -however, of the word "lawful" in connection with "ways and means" in -the first clause is remarkable. - -[29] _Brodie_, i. 198. He adds: "Though fines were _imposed_, not one -was _levied_ in Elizabeth's time by any judicial process out of the -Exchequer, 'nor any subject, in his body, lands, or goods, charged -therewith.'"--_Coke's 4th Inst._, 326, 332; _4th Inst._, 331. - -In various printed books the legality of the Court was questioned. The -_ex officio_ oath was objected to as a sinister practice of the Romish -clergy, and contrary to fundamental laws of liberty.--_Burn's High -Commission_ (a pamphlet published by J. Russel Smith, 1865), 14. - -[30] "To you, or three of you, whereof the Archbishop of Canterbury, -or one of the bishops mentioned in the commission, or Sir Francis -Walsingham, Sir Gilbert Gerard, or some of the civilians, to be -one."--_Neal_, i. 410. - -There are subsequent commissions for the diocese of Norwich, 1589; for -Manchester, 1596, 1597; for England and Ireland, 1600.--See _Rymer_, -Vol. vii. 173, 194; xvi. 291, 400. - -A commission was issued, 1629, to the Archbishop of Canterbury, &c., to -exercise all manner of jurisdictions, privileges, and pre-eminences, -concerning any spiritual or ecclesiastical jurisdiction within the -realm; also to enquire, hear, determine, and punish all incests, -adulteries, &c., and disorders in marriage, and all other grievous and -great crimes. - -[31] Four folio books of proceedings, from 1634 to 1640, are in the -State Paper Office. At Norwich there is a book of proceedings from -1595 to 1598, and at Durham two volumes of Acts and Depositions from -1626 to 1639. These are the only records known to exist.--_Burn's High -Commission_, 44 & 52. - -[32] See _Cal. Dom._, 1633-4, 1634-5. Lady Eleanor Davies alias -Douglas, (evidently insane) is mulcted to the extent of £3,000 for -certain fanatical pamphlets. Richard Parry has a fine of £2,000 for -disturbance of divine service and profane speeches, mitigated to -1,000 marks.--_Cal._ 1634-5, 176. A fine of £1,000, from Theophilus -Brabourne, for maintaining and publishing heretical and Judaical -opinions touching the Sabbath, is repeatedly mentioned, with notices -of respites, suspension of sentence, and mitigation. A silk weaver -was committed to the Gate House for fetching a parcel of schismatical -books. The most preposterous suspicions were entertained, leading -to outrageous injustice, as in the case of "two poor foolish boys, -taken amongst others, at Francis Donwell's house, the aleholder, at -Stepney," for "sitting at the table with Bibles before them." "They -were, by order of the court, discharged," but not till after many days' -imprisonment. "They were taken on Sunday last past was fortnight, the -1st of October, 1635." - -The following entry occurs relating to Richard Walker Clerk, prisoner -in the Gate House: "Defendant having lain a twelvemonth in prison for -preaching a scandalous and offensive sermon here in London, and having -promised by his subscription to carry himself peaceably and conformably -to the orders of the Church of England, he was ordered to be enlarged." -_Cal._ 1634-5, p. 544. - -[33] _Cal._ 1634-5, p. 177, 118, & 110. - -[34] Some strange specimens of puritan "faithfulness" are given; -(_Cal._ 1634-5, p. 319,) but the question arises, were the passages we -find correctly reported? - -[35] Some things appear in the Commission Records strangely -illustrating the state of society. Sir Richard Strode and Sir John -Strode, near kinsmen, quarrelled about the possession of an aisle in -the parish church of Cattistock. Sir Richard came with his lady on -Easter-day to receive the sacrament armed with a pistol charged with -powder and small shot, and directed his servant to carry a sword. He -was also accused of entertaining a degraded minister, who "pronounced -prayers extempore, and expounded a passage of scripture. On behalf of -Sir Richard, it was proved that he carried the pistol secretly, and -that no disturbance ensued."--_Cal._, 1634-5, p. 121. - -Since writing this Introduction I have been permitted to peruse the -_Rawlinson MS._, A., 128, which affords many new illustrations of the -proceedings of the High Commission and of the Star Chamber also. I -shall have occasion hereafter to notice some parts of this _MS._ The -whole will be published by the Camden Society. - -[36] The Court was threatened before the opening of the Long Parliament. - -"We are growing here at London into some Edinburgh tumults, for upon -Thursday last, the High Commission being kept at St. Paul's, there came -in very near 2,000 Brownists, and, at the end of the court made a foul -clamour: and tore down all the benches that were in the consistory, -crying out they would have no Bishops nor High Commission. I like not -this preface to the Parliament, and this day I shall see what the Lords -will do concerning this tumult."--_Laud's Letter_, 186. _Works_, vi. -585. Oxford edition. _Diary, Oct. 22, 1640_, iii, 237. - -[37] _Rushworth_, i. 423. After Worrall, Laud's chaplain, had signed -the Imprimatur to Dr. Sibthorpe's famous sermon, 1627, Selden told -him, "When the times shall change, and the late transactions shall -be scrutinized, you will gain a halter instead of promotion for -this book." Worrall withdrew his signature, but Laud appended his -own.--_Life of Selden_, p. 129. - -[38] _Rushworth_, i. 594. - -[39] See _Hallam's Constitutional History_, i. 456; and _Eliot's Life_, -by Forster, i. 246; ii. 398; 409; 450. - -[40] In _Rushworth_, ii. 77, is a full account of these ceremonies, -with notices of Laud's defence. The latter is found more fully in the -history of his _Troubles and Trial_. _Works_, iv. 247. He denied he -threw up dust, but leaves it to be inferred that he threw up ashes. -He also contradicted other statements made respecting this famous -consecration. Whatever exaggeration there might be, enough is proved to -show the extraordinary superstitiousness of the proceeding. - -[41] Bunsen's _Hippolytus_, iv. 197. - -[42] Wearing a cope in cathedrals at the Communion by the principal -minister, is, however, prescribed by Canon xxiv. - -[43] Southey says of Laud, "Offence was taken because the University -of Oxford, to which he was a most munificent and judicious benefactor, -addressed him by the titles of His Holiness, and Most Holy Father; and -because he publicly declared, that in the disposal of ecclesiastical -preferments, he would, when their merits were equal, prefer the single -to the married men."--_Book of the Church_, 448. Laud furnishes an -elaborate defence of some of the titles applied to him.--_Works_, iv. -157. - -See curious entry in _Laud's Diary_ of a dream he had that he was -reconciled to the Church of Rome.--_Works_, iii. 201. He afterwards -says (264), "I hope the reader will note my trouble at the dream, as -well as the dream." - -Zeal in crushing dissent, appears in a letter addressed to -justices of the peace, which probably Laud procured from the High -Commissioners:--"There remain in divers parts of the kingdom -sundry sorts of separatists, novalists [_sic_], and sectaries, as, -namely,--Brownists, Anabaptists, Arians, Traskites, Familists, and some -other sorts, who, upon Sundays and other festival days, under pretence -of repetition of sermons, ordinarily use to meet together in great -numbers, in private houses, and other obscure places, and there keep -private conventicles and exercises of religion, by law prohibited, to -the corrupting of sundry his Majesty's good subjects, manifest contempt -of his Highness's laws and disturbance of the Church. For reformation -whereof the persons addressed are to enter any house where they shall -have intelligence that such conventicles are held, and in every room -thereof search for persons assembled, and for all unlicensed books, -and bring all such persons and books found before the Ecclesiastical -Commission as shall be thought meet."--_Cal._ 1633-4, p. 538. - -At an earlier period, Laud says:--"We took another conventicle of -separatists in Newington Woods upon Sunday last, in the very brake -where the King's stag should have been lodged for his hunting next -morning." P.S. to letter of Laud, June 13, 1632.--_State Papers._ -Printed in _Laud's Works_, vii. 44. - -[44] Articles for Diocese of Winchester. _Laud's Works_, v. 419-435. -Numerous visitation articles, injunctions, and orders appear in this -volume, highly interesting as illustrations both of the Archbishop's -minute superintendence, and of the religious life of the period. - -[45] Reprinted in _Laud's Works_, v. 315, 370. - -[46] _Laud's Works_, v. 331. - -[47] See _Cal. Dom._, 1633-4, and Laud's Annual Accounts of his -province just referred to. - -[48] There is an extract of a letter in the State Paper Office (dated -1633, March 18, from the ambassador at the Hague) in the handwriting -of Laud's secretary, upon the uncanonical proceedings of the English -Congregation there. - -[49] These points receive abundant illustration in _Mr. Bruce's -Calendar_, 1633-4, and in his very interesting preface. - -[50] Laud's power extended even to America. In a special commission -for the colonies, "the Archbishop of Canterbury and those who were -associated with him, received full power over the American plantations, -to establish the government and dictate the laws, to regulate the -Church, to inflict even the heaviest punishments, and to revoke any -charter, which had been surreptitiously obtained, or which conceded -liberties prejudicial to the Royal prerogative."--_Bancroft's United -States_, i. 407. - -[51] _Letter in State Paper Office_, Dec. 19, 1633. Most of Laud's -letters found amongst the State records are printed in the last volume -of the Oxford edition of his works. - -[52] Indications of his wonderful activity are to be seen in his -numerous letters, collected in the Oxford edition of his works, to -which my references apply. (Vols. vi. and vii.) Laud's enemies have not -done justice to his abilities. His diary reveals his mental weaknesses, -but his correspondence and theological writings exhibit his mind under -a different aspect. Many persons are too prejudiced against Laud to -think of looking into his _Conference with Fisher the Jesuit_; but -whoever will take the trouble of doing so, whatever he may think of -Laud's line of argument at times, must admit the learning and ability -displayed in the discussion. No book more clearly shows both the -resemblance and the difference between Anglo-Catholicism and Popery. - -[53] We are here reminded of what Dunstan's biographer said of -him--"Nec quisquam in toto regno Anglorum esset qui absque ejus imperio -manum vel pedem moveret."--_Angl. Sac._, ii. 108. Dunstan, too, like -Laud, descended to the notice and regulation of trivial matters. There -can be little doubt that Laud, as an ecclesiastical and political -statesman, was inferior to Dunstan. A man who grasps at such extensive -influence is sure to be unpopular in England. Sir John Eliot accused -Buckingham of this ambition, and in the memorable peroration to his -speech in that nobleman's impeachment, when he instituted a parallel -between him and the Bishop of Ely, in Richard II.'s reign, Eliot -included this point--"No man's business could be done without his -help."--See _Speech in Rushworth_, and _Parliamentary History_, and -from his own MS. in _Forster's Life of Eliot_, i. 551. - -[54] Diary, Tuesday, April 5, 1625.--_Laud's Works_, iii. 159. - -[55] _Strafford's Papers_, i. 365. - -[56] _Halliwell's Letters of the Kings of England_, ii. 180. - -[57] Coleridge ranks Jackson with Cudworth, More, and Smith as -_Plotinist_ rather than _Platonist_ divines.--See Note, _Literary -Remains_, iii. 415. - -[58] _Life of Southey_, v. 283. - -[59] See remarks on this in _Bancroft's United States_, i. 284. - -[60] Aylmer is supposed to be represented anagrammatically in the -Morell, and Grindal in the Algrind of _Spenser's Shepherd's Calendar_. - -[61] _Strype's Parker_, i. 300-345. For measures adopted to enforce -conformity, see _Strype's Parker_, i. 420-447. Parker had a hard time -of it when engaged in this unpopular business. He did not receive the -support he wished. The Puritans condemned him for doing too much, the -Queen for doing too little. "An ox," he exclaimed, "can draw no more -than he can."--_Ibid._, 451. - -[62] It appears from Foxe that some of the early Protestants were very -strong believers in predestination.--See the godly letters of John -Careless. _Foxe's Book of Martyrs_, viii. 187-192. Catley's edition. - -[63] _Neal_, i. 451. For his statement respecting bills for reformation -he gives MS. authority. _Strype's Whitgift_, i. 391, contains the -letter to the Queen, dated 24th of March, 1584-5. Parry says in -_Parliaments and Councils_, 1584, December 14, "three petitions are -read touching 'the liberty of godly preachers to exercise and continue -their ministry, and for the speedy supply of able and sufficient men -into divers places now destitute of the ordinary means of salvation.'" -Cobbett supplies a brief account of the debate.--_Parl. Hist._, i. 824. - -[64] Dr. Donne preached a sermon at Paul's Cross on the 14th September, -1622, in which he took occasion "for the publication of some reasons -which His Sacred Majesty had been pleased to give, of those directions -for preachers which he had formerly set forth."--_Works_, vi. 191. The -preacher declared the King was "grieved with much bitterness, that -any should so pervert his meaning as to think that these directions -either restrained the exercise of preaching or abated the number of -sermons."--_Ib._ 220. One is sorry to find such a man as Donne excusing -James's despotic interference with preaching, and to read the absurd -eulogium on his royal master's "books." "Our posterity shall have him -for a father--a classic father--such a father as Ambrose, as Austin -was."--_Ib._ 221. Such sycophancy on the part of Donne and others -greatly tended to prejudice the people against them and their teaching. - -[65] _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 362. - -[66] See _Cal. Dom._, 1633-4, p. 298. - -[67] _Cal._ 1633-4, p. 345.--The cases of Samuel Ward, Anthony -Lapthorne, and George Burdett, noted Puritan ministers, are largely -illustrated in the _Cal. Dom._ 1634-5, 361, 263, 537. Mr. Bruce notices -that Ward, who suffered so much from the High Commission Court, appears -himself as a complainant against certain persons at Ipswich holding -Antinomian opinions, 1635-6, _Pref._ xxxvii. - -Illustrations appear amongst the State Papers of the popularity of -Puritanism. Dr. John Andrewes writes to the Chancellor of Lincoln, -(dated June 5, 1634, Beaconsfield) acknowledging a request to preach -a visitation sermon:--"He is contented to show his obedience, howbeit -he knows that any other priest in those parts would be better accepted -both of laity and the generality of the clergy; and the main reason is, -because he is not of the new cut, nor anywise inclining to Puritanism, -wherewith the greatest number (both of priests and people) in those -parts are foully tainted, insomuch that he is called the most godly -who can and will be most disobedient to the orders of the Church. He -enumerates things out of order in his own parish. 1. No terrier of -Church lands. 2. Elections held in the church. 3. Gadding on Sundays -to hear Puritanical sermons in other parishes. 4. Few come to church -on holidays. 5. Many sit at service with their hats on, and some lie -along in their pews. 6. Many kneel not at prayers, nor bow at the name -of Jesus, &c. 7. The churchwardens do not levy the 12d. from those who -absent themselves from divine service."--_Cal. Dom._, 1634-5, _June 5_, -p. 64. - -Complaints were made of people forsaking the parish churches.--_Ibid._, -p. 149. - -[68] _Cal. Dom._, 1633-4, p. 450. - -[69] _Heylyn's Life of Laud_, p. 367. - -[70] While quite indisposed to attempt defending in the Puritans what -is indefensible, I would add, they inherited many of their faults from -the early Protestants. On the whole, I should say, the Puritans of the -seventeenth century will bear favourable comparison with their fathers -of the sixteenth, some of whose worst failings arose from the bad -education received in the Church of Rome before they abjured her errors. - -[71] Irreverence in worship is often regarded as an offence -characteristic of Puritanism. But popish priests, at the time of -the Reformation, then loudly complained of irreverence in their -congregations--irreverence such as their successors were not guilty -of.--_Strype's Memorials_, i. 213 - -[72] Neal follows Clarendon in this respect.--_History of Puritans_, -ii. 362. - -[73] This is Rapin's view.--_History of England_, ii. 652, adopted by -Godwin, in his _Commonwealth_, i. 64. - -[74] _Tanner MS._, quoted by Sanford.--_Studies and Illustrations of -the Great Rebellion_, p. 159. - -[75] _Strafford's Letters_, Vol. i. 463, quoted in _Forster's Life -of Vane_, p. 7, as written to the Lord Deputy. The letter is in the -State Paper Office, calendared as if written to Lord Conway.--See -_Calendar of Colonial Papers_, 1574-1660, p. 214. In the same Calendar, -p. 211, there is notice of a letter by Vane to his father, in which -he "requests his father to believe, though as the case stands he is -judged a most unworthy son, that however jealous his father may be of -circumventions and plots entertained and practised by him, yet he will -never do anything that he may not justify or be content to suffer for. -Is sure, as there is trust in God, that his innocence and integrity -will be cleared to his father before he dies. Protests his father's -jealousy of him would break his heart, but as he submits all other -things to his good God, so does he his honesty. The intention of his -heart is sincere, and hence flows the sweet peace he enjoys amidst his -many heavy trials." - -[76] _Forster's Statesmen of the Commonwealth_, Vol. iii. 49. - -[77] Clarendon (_Hist._ 75) says of Vane's father and mother, "they -were neither of them beautiful,"--a statement fully borne out by their -portraits. - -[78] _Clarendon_ (_Hist._ 454). - -[79] _Rushworth_, i. 647. - -[80] _Hist._ 74. - -[81] Compare _Nugent_ and _Forster_. - -[82] Hampden was reported at a Visitation for holding a muster in -Beaconsfield Churchyard, and for leaving his parish church. To avoid a -suit in the Ecclesiastical Court, he applied privately to Sir Nathaniel -Brent, and satisfied him by explanation and concession.--_State Papers -Cal._, 1634-5, p. 250. - -[83] "The Puritan would be judged by the Word of God; if he would speak -clearly he means himself; but he is ashamed to say so, and he would -have me believe him before a whole church, that has read the Word of -God as well as he." _Table Talk_, 160. - -Selden, in the same book (p. 13), while denying the divine right of -bishops, maintains they "have the same right to sit in Parliament as -the best Earls and Barons." Yet he signed the Covenant. - -[84] _Life_, 923. - -[85] _Life_, 936. - -[86] In the State Paper Office is a letter by Laud, July 20, 1634, -addressed to the King, in which the writer speaks of two daughters of -the late Lord Falkland being reconciled to the Church of Rome, "not -without the practice of their mother." He alludes to Lord Newburgh's -request that she would forbear working on her daughters' consciences, -and suffer them to go to their brother, or any other safe place. The -archbishop appears anxious to save them from Popery. The letter is -printed in _Laud's Works_, vii. 82, with illustrative notes. - -[87] He tells us he was stopped in Westminster Hall, and asked by a -root-and-branch man, "Art thou for us or for our adversaries?" but he -does not report his answer. - -[88] Mr. Bruce's interesting introduction to the volume of -_Proceedings, &c._, in connection with the Committee of Religion -appointed in 1640, (printed by the Camden Society,) gives a minute -history of the baronet's love adventures. - -[89] It is stated on the authority of a letter in the possession of the -Trevor family, that, "to escape detection the oppositionists resorted -to the place of rendezvous with disguised faces." _Johnson's Life of -Selden_, 30. - -[90] _Clarendon's Hist._, p. 69. - -[91] The appointment of a Committee of Religion was debated and delayed -in the first Parliament of this reign; One was appointed immediately -after the assembling of the second--and also on the meeting of the -third.--See _Journals_, June 25, 1625; Feb. 7, 10, 12, 1625-6; March -20, 1627-8. - -[92] The sentence on Leighton is given by _Rushworth_, ii. 56. - -_Neal_, ii., 218, follows Rushworth and states the particulars of -Leighton's punishment as being recorded in Laud's Diary. But in the -Diary, 4th November, _Works_ iii. 212, there is nothing beyond a -reference to Leighton's degradation in the High Commission Court. Neal -adds that Laud pulled off his cap, and thanked God for the sentence. - -For this anecdote, authority may be found in a curious book, by -Leighton, entitled _An Epitome of the great troubles he has suffered_. -In the course of his narration, after defending himself against the -charge of being a Conventicle keeper, a libeller, a schismatic, -a traitor, and a factious person, he says, in relation to his -trial.--"The censure was to cut my ears, slit my nose, to brand me in -the face, to whip me at a post, to stand on the pillory, ten thousand -pounds fine, and perpetual imprisonment; and all these upon a dying -man, by appearance - ---instant morientibus ursæ. - -The censure thus past, the prelate off with his cap, and holding up -his hands, gave thanks to God, who had given him the victory over his -enemies."--pp. 69, 70. - -"I being put thereafter on the pillory an hour and a half, in frost and -snow, they inflicted the rest, and would not let me have a coach of my -own to carry me to the Fleet; but I was forced to be carried by water, -for I was not able to go. I lay ten weeks under the canopy of heaven, -in the dirt and mire of the rubbish, having nothing to shelter me from -the rain and snow, in a very cold season."--p. 85. - -In connection with Leighton's statement, the following passage from the -Rawlinson MS. is worthy of notice:--"In the Court of High Commission, -19 April, 1632, the King's Advocate against Joseph Harrison, Clerk, -Vicar of Sustorke, 'the sentence was presently read by the Archbishop -of Canterbury, In Dei nomine, Amen, &c., &c., Deum præ oculis -preponentes, &c.,' at which words I marked some of the Bishops to look -upward, and put off their hats devoutly." From this passage it would -appear to have been a practice in the Court, when sentence was passed, -to pronounce it in the name of God, and for the Commissioners to take -off their hats in token of reverence when these sacred words were -uttered. The question arises, did Leighton mistake what was a customary -act for a special expression of Laud's feeling in this particular case? -or, did Laud really go out of his way to indicate his gratification -at the sufferings of Leighton? I must leave the reader to judge for -himself, who, however, ought to bear in mind Laud's character. Leighton -gives the following account of his sufferings:-- - -"The aforesaid censure was executed in every particular in a most cruel -manner and measure: the executioner was made drunk in the Fleet the -night before, and also was hardened the very same day with very strong -water, being threatened to do it with all rigour: and so he did, by -knife, whip, brand, and fire, insomuch that never a lash he gave with -a treble cord, but he brought away the flesh, which I shall feel to my -dying day." - -[93] Yet, looking at the persecution which the Puritans suffered, the -same plea will avail for them that has been urged on behalf of the -early Protestants. "It was, as they thought, like exhorting a Caligula -and a Nero to clemency, and advising the poor subjects to compliment -such tyrants, to remind them gently of their defects, and humbly to -entreat that they would be so good and gracious as to condescend to -alter their conduct."--_Jortin's Life of Erasmus_, i. 212. - -From a _Biographical Narration_, by Burton, it appears he had been -Clerk of the Closet to Prince Henry and to Prince Charles. The -narration contains many curious particulars. There is an important -letter about Burton, by Bishop Hall, in _Forster's Life of Eliot_, ii. -428. - -[94] _Hanbury's Historical Memorials_, ii., 52. - -[95] _Rushworth_, iv. 207. - -[96] _Forster's Life of Eliot_, ii. 84, 562. - -[97] _Forster's Life of Pym_, 96. - -[98] It was a charge against Burton that he carried the sacred elements -to the communicants on their seats.--_Dow's Innovations_, 186. -_Lathbury's History of Convocation_, 261. - -[99] _Forster's Life of Pym_, 99. - -[100] _Rushworth_, iv. 24. - -[101] _Quoted in Sanford's Illustrations_, 310. - -[102] _Clarendon_, 69. _Sanford's Illustrations_, 310. - -[103] Clarendon says Strafford did not come to the House at all -that day till after his impeachment. I attach little importance to -Clarendon's statements, when inconsistent with what is said by so -accurate a man as D'Ewes. From his journal it appears that Strafford -_did_ go to the House in the morning. _Sanford's Illustrations_, 310. - -[104] _D'Ewes Journal_, _Sanford's Studies and Illustrations_, 312. - -[105] _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, published by the Bannatyne -Club, 4to, i. 272. Other minute particulars are taken from the same -source. - -[106] See his _Journal_, 1640, Dec. 18. _Works_, iii. 238. - -[107] Burgess and Marshall preached on the occasion from Jeremiah l. 5, -and 2. Chron. xv. 2. The sermons were published, and may be found in -the library of the British Museum. They relate to covenanting with God, -but I do not see that the preachers make any reference to the Scotch -covenant, though Nalson charges them with having had their eye on that -symbol all the way through.--_Collection_, i. 530. - -[108] November 20. See _Commons' Journal_. - -[109] See Journals, February 9, 1625-6, and March 10, 1627-8. - -[110] It is so regarded by Neal and those who follow him.--_History of -Puritans_, ii. 362. - -[111] _History of England_, ii. 653. - -[112] _Journals_, November 20. A collection was made after the -communion, amounting to £78. 16. 2.--_Nalson's Collections_, 1. 700. - -[113] _Memorials of English Affairs, Whitelocke_, 38. _Journal of -Commons_, Nov. 25, 1640, and pamphlets of the period. - -[114] The minister complained of was John Squire, of whom Walker gives -an account in his _Sufferings of the Clergy_, Part i. 68.--These -illustrations are gathered from _Diurnals and other Tracts_ in the -Library of the Brit. Museum. - -[115] _Speech of Mr. Rouse in Rushworth_, iv. 211. See also _Speeches -of Sir Ed. Dering and Sir John Wray_. - -[116] These particulars, and many more, are found in _A Certificate -from Northamptonshire_, 1641. Brit. Mus. The "great scarcity of -preaching ministers" was early noticed, and a sub-committee appointed -to consider it.--See _Journals_, 19th December, 1640. Extracts from -the _Register of the Archbishop of Canterbury_, shew that the number -of benefices in England was 8,803, whereof 3,277 were impropriations, -and that the number of livings under £10 was 4,543; under £40, 8,659; -and that only the remainder, being 144, were of the value of £40 and -upwards.--_Cal. Dom._ 1634-5, p. 381. - -[117] _Lathbury's Hist. of Con._, 246. - -[118] _Nalson_, i. 545. - -[119] This oath "approved the doctrine and discipline of government -established in the Church of England, as containing all things -necessary to salvation;" and denied all "consent to alter the -government of this Church by Archbishops, Bishops, Deans, Archdeacons, -&c., as it stands now established." - -[120] _Journals of the Commons_, Dec. 16, 1640.--The matter came before -the House again on the 7th June, 1641. - -[121] The letter is in _Laud's Works_, Vol. vi. 584. - -[122] _Laud's Works_, vi. 589. - -[123] _Lathbury's Hist. of Convocation_, 267. - -[124] See _Letter to Bullinger by Sandys_, 1573.--_Zurich Letters_, 294. - -[125] _Fuller_, ii. 504-5. - -[126] It frequently appears in the records of that period. There is a -curious example in the introduction to the will of Humphrey Fen.--_Cal. -Dom._, 1633-4, p. 468. - -[127] They claimed as precedents the Protestants in Queen Mary's -time, and the exiles at Geneva, that used a book framed by them -there.--_Strype's Parker_, i. 480. - -There is at Horningsham, in Wiltshire, an old meeting-house, with a -large stone in the end wall, bearing date 1566. When the stone was put -there is not known, and whence it came I cannot learn, but the Rev. -H. M. Gunn, of Warminster, informs me that, according to tradition, -some Scotch Presbyterians, disciples of Knox, came over from Scotland -to build Longleat House for Sir John Thynne, in 1566. The building -went on for thirteen years, when Sir John died. They refused to attend -the parish church, and obtained a cottage in which to meet for Divine -service, with a piece of land attached for a grave-yard. This house, -Mr. Gunn says, turned into a chapel, has been preserved till now. -Though originally a Presbyterian, it long since became an Independent -place of worship. - -[128] Afterwards Mrs. Hazzard. - -[129] _Records of the Baptist Church_, Broadmead, Bristol, 10-18. See -also _Cal. Dom._, 1634-5, p. 416, for arguments by Dr. Stoughton, on -the duty of separation. - -As women were active in promoting Puritanism, so they had been a -century before in promoting Protestantism.--See numerous examples in -_Foxe's Book of Martyrs_. - -[130] _Dugdale's Troubles in England_, 36, 62, 65. - -_Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses_, ii. 347. - -[131] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 674. - -[132] Bagshawe's own account, in _Hanbury's Memorials_, ii. 141. - -[133] See _Cal. Dom._, 1633-4, p. 33 _et seq._; also _Preface_, viii. - -[134] _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, vol. i. 211-214. - -[135] _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, i. 271. - -_The Lords' Journals_, Dec. 10, 14, 1640, shew the sensitiveness of -the House upon what concerned the honour of the Scots and the English -lords, who favoured them, and in reference to all which indicated -popish sympathies. - -[136] The first night they tarried at lodgings, "in the Common Garden." -Baillie adds: "The city is desirous we should lodge with them, so -to-morrow I think we must flit." - -[137] Hallam says: (_Const. Hist._, i. 527) The petition was prepared -"at the _instigation_ of the Scotch Commissioners." Baillie's letters -do not support this statement. The Scots, however, were very early in -the field against Laud. _Lords' Journals_, January 2, 1641. - -[138] "At London we met with many ministers from most parts of the -kingdom; and upon some meetings and debates, it was resolved that a -committee should be chosen to draw up a remonstrance of our grievances, -and to petition the Parliament for reformation, which was accordingly -done."--_Clark's Lives_, page 8. - -[139] Cross-grained, twisted. _Baillie's Letters_, &c., i. 286. - -[140] _Rushworth_, iv. 135. - -[141] The Somersetshire churchmen expressed themselves in moderate -terms.--_Hallam's Const. Hist._, i. 527. - -From Cheshire came two petitions, one signed by Episcopalians, the -other by Puritans, calling prelates "mighty enemies and secret -underminers" of the church and commonwealth.--_Nonconformity in -Cheshire. Introduction_, xiv. - -[142] Amongst the petitions of that period was one by Master William -Castell, parson of Courtenhall, in the county of Northampton: "for -the propagating of the gospel in America and the West Indies." While -condemning the proceedings of Spaniards, and lamenting the indifference -of English, Scotch, French, and Dutch, the petition expresses the -desire of the petitioners, "to enlarge greatly the pale of the -Church;" to make the synagogues of Satan temples of the Holy Ghost; -"and millions of those silly, seduced Americans, to hear, understand, -and practise the mystery of godliness." A large number of names are -appended, approving the petition. The learned Edmund Castell, Robert -Sanderson (afterwards Bishop of Lincoln), Joseph Caryl, and Edmund -Calamy, appear in the list, and it is added that the petition had the -approbation of Master Alexander Henderson, and some worthy ministers of -Scotland. The union of such different men in this missionary endeavour -is worthy of notice.--_Anderson's History of the Colonial Church_, ii. -11. - -[143] Abridged from _Rushworth_, iv. 155.--Baillie says that, as to the -part about the bishops, there "was no hum; and no applause as to the -rest."--_Letters_, i. 292. - -[144] No traces of Pym's speech are found in _Rushworth_, _Nalson_, or -_Parliamentary Debates_. It is not mentioned in _Forster's Life of the -Great Statesmen_, or in _Sanford's Illustrations_. The extract I have -given is from _A Just Vindication of the questioned part of the reading -of Edward Bagshawe, Esq._, 1660, p. 2-4. The tract states that Pym's -speech was delivered when the petition was read and debated in the -House. _Hanbury's Memorials_, ii. 141. - -[145] _Rushworth_, iv. 170-187. - -[146] 9th Feb., 1641. - -[147] Quoted in _Studies and Illustrations, by Sanford_, 319. - -[148] Mr. Godwin, in his _History of the Commonwealth_, i. 58, -interprets the resolution as meaning "we are not yet decided to -maintain Episcopacy." The debate, and even the words themselves, seem -to me inconsistent with that view. - -[149] These particulars are taken from the _Journal of Sir Ralph -Verney_, a member of the Committee. Lord Nugent, in his _Life of -Hampden_, gives some account of this MS.; but Mr. Bruce has published -the entire notes in a volume of the Camden Society, with many valuable -remarks. - -[150] The following extract from the _Lords' Journals_ is an -illustration: - -"Mr. Etheridge, minister, and Mr. Carter, the curate, and William Till, -clerk of the parish, Ben Parsons, Tho. Chadwick, were examined at the -bar, concerning the riot lately committed in the church of Halstead, in -the county of Essex; as striking the Book of Common Prayer out of the -curate's hand as he was baptizing a child at the fount, and kicking it -up and down the church, and for taking the clerk by the throat, forcing -him to deliver unto them the hood and surplice, which they immediately -rent and tore in pieces; and other misdemeanours and outrages were -committed in the said church, on Simon and Jude's day last, in divine -service, by Jonathan Poole and Grace his wife." 10th December, 1640. - -Certain Nonconformists of St. Saviour's parish were complained of to -the House for illegally assembling for worship. The House directed they -should be left to the ordinary proceedings of justice, according to the -course of law. _Journals of the Lords_, January 16th. See also 19th and -21st. - -[151] As the accounts of this committee given by Fuller, Neal, and -Cardwell, are incomplete in consequence of the writers having neglected -to consult the Journals of the House of Lords, I subjoin the following -entries relating to this business:-- - -_10 die Martii, 1640-1._ - -After an order that the Communion-table in every church remain where -it is accustomed to be, it is ordered, "That these lords following are -appointed to take into consideration all innovations in the Church -concerning religion:--The Lord Treasurer, the Lord Chamberlain, -Earls of Bath, South'ton, Bedford, Hartford, Essex, Dorset, Sarum, -Warwick, March, Bristol, Clare, Berks, Dover, and Lord Viscount Say -and Sele; Bishops of Winton, Chester, Lincoln, Sarum, Exon, Carlile, -Ely, Bristol, Rochester, Chichester; and Ds. (Dominus), Strange, -Willoughby de Earseby, North, Kymbolton, Howard de Charlton, Grey de -Werk, Robarts, Craven, Pawlett, Howard de Escrick, Goringe, Savill, -Dunsemore, and Seymor. - -"_6 die Martii._ - -"That the Committee for Innovations in Religion do meet on Wednesday -next, and the committee to have power to send for such learned men as -their lordships shall please, to assist them. - -"_10 die Martii._ - -"That the Committee for Religion do meet on Friday next, in the -afternoon, and no other committee to sit that afternoon, and their -lordships to have power to send for what learned divines their -lordships shall please, for their better information: as the Lord -Archbishop of Armagh, Dr. Prideaux, Dr. Warde, Dr. Twiste (Twiss) Dr. -Hacket, who are to have intimation given them by the Lord Bishop of -Lincoln to attend the Lords' Committees." - -The following names, given by Fuller, Collier, and Neal must be taken -as a list of the sub-committee. Williams, Bishop of Lincoln; Ussher, -Archbishop of Armagh; Morton, Bishop of Durham; and Hall, Bishop of -Exeter; Drs. Ward, Prideaux, Twiss, Sanderson, Featley, Brownrigg, -Holdsworth, Hacket, Burgess, White, Marshall, Calamy, and Hill. Morton -of Durham does not appear on the list of the Lords' Committee. Cardwell -places in the list the name of Montague, but I find it mentioned by no -one else. He is not a likely person to have had anything to do with -the Committee, and he is probably confounded by Cardwell with Hall, -who succeeded him in the bishopric of Norwich, being translated, on -Montague's death, to that see from Exeter. - -[152] Quoted in _Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors_, iii. 187. - -[153] _Hacket's Memorial of Williams_, Part ii. 147. - -Sir N. Brent, in a paper dated September 9, 1634, gives an account of -his "metropolitical visitation" of Williams's diocese. He describes the -Communion-table at Lincoln as not decent, and the rail worse; organs -old and nought; copes and vestments embezzled; ale-houses, hounds, -and swine kept in the churchyard; Hitchin church and churchyard out -of order; curate of Stowe accustomed "to marry people with gloves and -masks on."--_Cal. Dom._ In another paper, probably pertaining to 1634, -Boston seeks to free itself from the suspicions of Puritanism by saying -that there were 2,000 communicants at church, who, for want of room to -kneel, were compelled to receive the Lord's Supper standing.--_Ibid._ -p. 422. - -[154] _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 415. - -[155] _Laud's Works_, iii. 241. - -[156] The following letter (without signature) illustrates this point: -"A new Committee for Religion was appointed to have sat on Monday in -the afternoon last, but there being neither meeting nor adjournment, -it was left _sine die_: yet, on Thursday in the afternoon, the Bishops -of Lincoln, Durham, Winchester, and Bristol met, where the assistants, -attended by some threescore other divines of inferior rank, were -present, and many temporal Lords; and many points of doctrine and -Church service being questioned, among the rest one Lord said, that it -ought to be put out of the creed '_that Christ descended into Hell_,' -which he did not believe. Yesterday in the forenoon, without any -intimation or notice given to the other committees, the same spiritual -Lords and divines met at the Bishop of Lincoln's lodging, where, in -less than two hours, they condemned, (as I am informed by the Bishop -of Bristol, present), about fifty points in doctrine, what they had -met with in several treatises and sermons of late printed amongst us. -They had culled out a passage of my Lord of Canterbury in his Star -Chamber speech, which they say is, that _Hoc est corpus meum_, is more -than _Hoc est verbum meum_: which the Bishop of Lincoln censured, for -that _verbum_ did make _corpus_; but would not further hear, because -his grace was likely to answer it shortly elsewhere."--April 10, 1641. -_State Papers, Chas. I. Dom._ - -[157] I say _almost_, because the practice of sitting, while singing -hymns, which was common in Nonconforming places of worship when I was -young, may still linger in some quarters. - -[158] The following query appears respecting marriage:-- - -"Whether none hereafter shall have licences to marry, nor be asked -their banns of matrimony, that shall not bring with them a certificate -from their Minister that they are instructed in their Catechism." - -[159] The specified alterations are: "I give thee power over my body;" -"knowing assuredly that the dead shall rise again;" and "I pronounce -thee absolved;" instead of the well-known forms so often objected to. - -I have gone fully into an account of what was proposed to this -Committee, not only because it may have a particular interest for those -who are active in promoting a revision of the Prayer Book, but because -there are such diversified statements in relation to the subject in -our historians. Compare Fuller, Collier, and Neal. Neal presents his -condensation of the papers with inverted commas, as if placing before -the reader the original documents. (In other cases, too, he gives -his own abridgment in this fashion, so as to mislead the student.) -An entire copy of the proceedings of the Committee may be found in -_Cardwell's Conferences_, p. 270, taken from _Baxter's Life and Times_, -Part i. 369. - -[160] _Neal_, ii. 465. - -[161] See _Journals_ for March 9th, 10th, 11th, and 22nd. _May_ -says, "Doctors and parsons of parishes were made everywhere Justices -of Peace, to the great grievance of the country, in civil affairs, -and depriving them of their spiritual edification."--_Hist. of Long -Parliament_, 24. - -[162] _Rushworth_, iv. 206. This Bill was under discussion in the -Lords, in October, 1641.--_Nalson_, ii. 496. - -[163] _Journals._ - -[164] _Clarendon's Hist._, 94. - -[165] July 1.--"The Lords, upon the reasons offered by the Commons, -were satisfied to consent to pass the Bill to take away the High -Commission Court both here and at York, but argued to have the Star -Chamber Court not quite taken away, but bounded, limited, and reduced -to what power it had in Henry VII's time."--_Rushworth_, iv. 304. Both -Bills received the royal assent, July 5. - -[166] The writers were: Stephen Marshall, Edmund Calamy, Thos. Young, -Matt. Newcomen, and Wm. Spurstow. - -[167] _The Reduction of Episcopacy_, which bears Ussher's name, was not -published till after his death, in 1656. Baxter says in reference to -it, "I asked him (Dr. Ussher) whether the paper be his that is called, -_A reduction of Episcopacy to the form of Synodical Government_; which -he owned, and Dr. Bernard after witnessed to be his."--_Life and -Times_, part ii. 206. - -I may here observe that the Archbishop, according to his biographer, -Elrington, appears always to have spelt his name with a double s. - -[168] _Baillie_, i. 351. - -[169] May 3, 1641. _Parl. Hist._, ii. 776. - -I have here and elsewhere, in giving the substance of speeches, adhered -to the quaint phraseology employed by the speakers. - -[170] For the protestation, see _Parl. Hist._, ii. 777. Alterations -were made which throw light on the fears of returning popery.--_Verney's -Notes_, published by the Camden Society, 67-70. - -[171] Instances of the taking of it are numerous. In the _Register -Book of Wansted_ it is found with the names of the principal -inhabitants.--_Lyson's Environs of London_, iv. 243. - -Whitaker, in his _History of Richmondshire_, mentions an endorsement on -the Return Roll for the parishes and townships of Bentham, Ingleton, -Thornton, Sedberg, Dent, and Garsdale:--"The names of those persons who -refused to make protestation within Garsdale parcell of the township of -Dent, viz: George Heber Gent, Abraham Nelson, chapman, who publiquely -refused before the whole Dale in the Church."--vol. ii. 363. - -[172] See _Journals of the Commons_, May 12th. - -[173] August 2nd. _Parl. Hist._ ii, 895. Compare _Nalson_, ii. 414-417. - -[174] _Baillie_, i. 351. He refers here to the Commons. - -[175] _Hallam's Const. Hist._, i. 524. The sagacious author justly -remarks--"And thus we trace again the calamities of Charles to their -two great sources; his want of judgment in affairs, and of good faith -towards his people." The Lords passed the Bill on the 8th; the royal -assent was given on the 10th. - -[176] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 778. - -[177] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 783. May 5. D'Ewes gives another amusing -version of the story, (under date May 19).--_Sanford's Illustrations_, -373. Baillie's account is somewhat different. - -[178] _Maitland's London_, i. 338. - -[179] The bitter Presbyterian feeling against Strafford is plain enough -in Baillie's letters. - -It belongs not to the scope of this ecclesiastical History to enter on -the details of the trial, but I cannot resist the temptation to insert -in the Appendix two letters found in the State Paper Office, giving an -account of the way in which the bill of attainder was introduced. - -[180] See Speeches by Lane and St. John (_Rushworth's Trial of -Strafford_, 671, _et seq._); then read what follows: - -"It certainly does astonish us that men, however they may have -condemned the conduct of Strafford, could bring themselves to believe -that he was guilty of the crime of high treason; for they could hardly -have been deceived by the wicked sophistry of St. John that an attempt -to subvert the fundamental laws of the kingdom was high treason at -common law, and still remains so, or by the base opinion delivered by -the judges--that this amounts to high treason under the Statute of -Edward III."--_Campbell's Lives of the Chancellors_, iv. 15. - -[181] Ussher of Armagh, Juxon of London, Morton of Durham, Potter of -Carlisle, and Williams of Lincoln. - -[182] Slightly abridged from _Elrington's Life of Ussher_, 213. - -[183] That such a distinction was suggested seems generally admitted. -Clarendon attributes it to Williams, (_Rebellion_, 140.) This, -considering the historian's prejudice respecting the Archbishop, is not -perfectly conclusive against Williams, any more than the silence of -Hacket (_Life of Williams_, pt. II., i. 161,)--who only speaks of the -advice given in common, founded on the distinction between facts and -law--is conclusively in his favour. - -Clarendon is corroborated by the circumstance, that Ussher and Juxon -were freed from the charge by the King himself (according to the report -of Sir Edward Walker), and of the remaining prelates Williams was the -most likely to give such advice as Clarendon mentions. - -[184] _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 421. - -The author says he copied what he gives of Hacket's speech out of his -own papers. _Nalson's Report_ (ii. 240) seems to be an amplification -of what is contained in _Rushworth_, iv. 269. Verney entirely agrees -with Fuller (_Verney Papers--Camden Society_, 75), but only in a few -particulars with Nalson. Nalson is also wrong in saying Hacket answered -Burgess. Hacket spoke first. Burgess answered him. - -[185] _Fuller_, iii. 422. According to _Verney's Notes_, Burgess speaks -of "Choristers and officers as fellows that are condemned for felons, -and keep ale-houses, and so they may still," 77. - -[186] _Rushworth_, iv. 276. - -[187] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 773. - -[188] _Sanford's Illustrations_, 363. - -[189] _Nalson_, ii. 248. - -[190] _Parry's Parliaments and Councils of England_, 353. - -[191] _Sanford's Studies and Illustrations_, 364. - -[192] Dering published an apology in 1642. - -[193] The following letter by Sydney Bere, secretary to Sir Balthazar -Gerbier, afterwards to Sir H. Vane, is preserved in the State Paper -Office. - -"Whitehall, 17th June, 1641. - -"You will surely have heard that the utter abolishing of the bishops -and all titular ecclesiastics, with the dependents, hath been agreed -upon in the House of Commons, and met with less noes in the debate -than the business of the Earl of Strafford had. This day they voted it -again, and now it is to be engrossed, a draft of the Act goes herewith. - -"The business of the bishops will be of dangerous consequence, they -being violent and passionate in their own defence, and having engaged, -as it were, the Lords, by their late votes in their favour, to the -maintenance of their cause; whereas the Commons seem as resolute to -pass the Bill for their utter extirpation, and so transmitting it to -the Lords, according to the custom; and then it may be justly inferred -the city will prove as turbulent as they were on Strafford's cause." - -Sidney Bere became under-secretary upon the appointment of Nicholas, in -November, to the chief secretaryship of state. - -[194] _Rushworth_, iv. 279. - -[195] _Nalson_, ii. 529. - -[196] _Journal_, June 7, 1641. - -_Verney's Notes_ bear evidence that the same day the feeling of the -House was unfavourable to Episcopacy. Monday, 7th June:--"Sir John -Griffin, the elder, said, I see it is distasteful to this House to -speak for the government of the Church."--_Verney Papers_, 83. - -On the same day, in the course of a debate, the subject of -ecclesiastical canons came again under consideration. Mr. Maynard -"transmitted the votes about the canons." According to _Verney's -Notes_, (84) in which this appears, the debate touched generally on the -power of the clergy to make canons. No formal resolution or vote is -recorded. - -[197] _Sanford's Illustrations_, 365. - -[198] _Clarendon's Hist._, 110. - -[199] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 822-826. - -Sir Ralph Verney notices the debate on the 12th, but his notes are -unfortunately very brief, and run thus:-- - -"Actions constant at all times to men of one order, 'tis a great sign -of their malignity. - -Oil and water may be severed, but oil and wine never. - -Pledwell's arguments might have been used for the pope as well as for -other bishops. - -Vaughan.--Three things considerable in bishops: election, confirmation, -consecration. - -_Os Episcopi_ is a chancellor. - -_Oculus Episcopi_ is the commissary. - -_Consilium Episcopi_ is the dean."--_Verney Papers_, 94. - -Letters in the State Paper Office show the excitement produced by the -Commons' proceedings. Slingsby says, 10th June, "The discourse of all -men is they must now strike at root and branch, and not slip this -occasion." - -[200] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 828. _et seq._ - -[201] _Rushworth_, iv. 295. - -[202] _Nalson_, ii. 245. - -[203] White was grandfather of Susannah Annesly, the mother of the -Wesleys. - -[204] For cases which came before Dering, see "_Proceedings principally -in the County of Kent, &c._" Edited by the Rev. L. B. Barking, with -preface by John Bruce, Esq. _Camden Soc._ - -[205] _Rushworth_, iv. 113-123. - -[206] _Rushworth_, 194, 195. - -See _Laud's Journal_, March 1, p. 240. - -March 1, Monday.--"I went in Mr. Maxwell's coach to the Tower. No noise -till I came into Cheapside. But from thence to the Tower I was followed -and railed at by the 'prentices and the rabble, in great numbers, to -the very Tower gates, where I left them, and I thank God he made me -patient!"--_Laud's Diary._ - -[207] _Rushworth_, iv. 122-351. - -Widdrington's speech on presenting the impeachment is a curiosity in -its way. Amongst other odd things he says of Wren: "Without doubt he -would never have been so strait-laced and severe in this particular -(_i. e._, his hatred of extempore prayer), if he had but dreamed of -that strait which a minister, a friend of his, was put into by this -means. The story is short. A butcher was gored in the belly by an ox; -the wound was cured; the party desired public thanksgiving in the -congregation; the minister, finding no form for that purpose, _read the -collect for churching of women_."--_Parl. Hist._, ii. 888. - -[208] _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 418. See also _Worthies_, ii. 359. - -[209] _Hanbury's Historical Memorials_, ii. 97-100. - -Thomas Wiseman, in a letter (July 1, 1641) _State Papers_, says of the -Scotch, "God send us well rid of them, and then we may hope to enjoy -our ancient peace both of Church and Commonwealth, for till they are -gone, whatever they pretend, we find they are the only disturbers of -both." - -[210] _Rushworth_, iv. 368. - -[211] _State Papers, Dom., 1641._ Letter of Sidney Bere, August 18. - -[212] _Idem._ Letter of Sidney Bere, August 22. - -[213] _Letter of Bere._ August 30th. - -In a manuscript diurnal, also preserved among the _State Papers_, it is -remarked: "Mr. Henderson is in great favour with the king, and stands -next to his chair in sermon time. His Majesty daily hears two sermons -every Sunday, besides week-day lectures." - -[214] Baillie's notices are to the same effect as Bere's: "Mr. -Alexander Henderson, in the morning and evening before supper, does -daily say prayers, read a chapter, sing a psalm, and say prayer again. -The King hears all duly, and we hear none of his complaints for want of -a liturgy or any ceremonies." _Letters_, i. 385. - -[215] _Nalson_, ii. 683. - -[216] _Parry's Parliaments and Councils_, 365. - -[217] On the 8th September, "upon Mr. Cromwell's motion, it was -ordered, that sermons should be in the afternoon in all parishes of -England, at the charge of the inhabitants of those parishes where -there are no sermons in the afternoon."--_D'Ewes' Journals. Sanford's -Illustrations_, 371. - -[218] _Commons' Journals. Parl. Hist._, ii. 907. - -[219] _Nalson_, ii. 483. _Parl. Hist._, ii. 910. - -[220] An attempt was made in the Lower House to revise the Prayer Book, -but it failed.--_Rushworth_, iv. 385. - -[221] London was in a very troubled state that autumn, as appears from -a letter by Thomas Wiseman, dated October 7th.--_State Papers Dom._ - -"The city is full of the disbanded soldiers, and such robbing in and -about it that we are not safe in our own houses, yet this day there is -an order come from the Committee of Parliament to send every soldier -away upon pain of imprisonment, and leave granted to any of them that -will to transport themselves for the low countries into the service -of the States. On Tuesday last the post was robbed between this and -Theobalds, and the letters to the King and other Lords in Scotland, -from the Queen and the Lords of the Council, were taken away by fellows -with vizors on their faces; such an insolence hath not been, however, -before, and who they were, or who set them to work is suspected, but -not yet discovered. We have the most pestilent libels spread abroad -against the precise Lords and Commons of the Parliament, that they -are fearful to be named. And the Brownists and other sectaries make -such havoc in our churches by pulling down of ancient monuments, glass -windows, and rails, that their madness is intolerable; and I think -it will be thought blasphemy shortly to name Jesus Christ, for it is -already forbidden to bow to his name, though Scripture and the practice -of the Church of England doth both warrant and command it." - -[222] _May's History of the Long Parliament_, 113-115. - -[223] See his speeches in _Rushworth_, iv. 392-394. - -[224] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 924. - -[225] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 919, 920. - -[226] _Rushworth_, iv. 438-451. - -[227] Sidney Bere says in a letter dated 25th Nov., 1641 (_State Papers -Dom._): "For the business of the Houses of Parliament, they have been -in great debates about a Remonstrance, which the House of Commons -frames, shewing the grievances and abuses of many years past. The -contestation now is, how to publish it, whether in print to the public -view, or by petition to his Majesty--it was so equally carried in a -division of opinion, that there were but eleven voices different. This -day is a great day about it, but what the event will be I shall not be -able to write you by this ordinary. It seems there are great divisions -between the two Houses, and even in the Commons House, which, if not -suddenly reconciled, may cause very great distractions amongst us. It -is the fear of many wise and well-meaning men, who apprehend great -distempers, which I pray God to direct." - -[228] _Memoirs by Sir Philip Warwick_, 201. - -[229] _Forster's Grand Remonstrance_, 324. I refer the reader to this -valuable work for minute particulars respecting this debate. - -[230] _Clarendon. Hist._, 125. Compare _Carlyle's Cromwell_, i. 161. - -[231] So Queen Henrietta Maria was then commonly called. - -[232] _Nalson_, ii. 679-681. - -[233] _Nicholas' Correspondence. Evelyn's Diary_, iv. 82. - -[234] "I observe since my coming to town, a very great alteration of -the affections of the City, to what they were when I went away. They -say a great present is to be presented to the King after dinner, and -a petition such as he will be glad to receive, the contents I hear -not yet, only one clause for the maintenance of Episcopacy and the -suppression of schism."--_Robert Slingsby, State Papers Dom., Nov. 25._ - -Respecting the King's reception, Wiseman says, "I confess it was a -great one every way, and so acknowledged beyond the precedent of any -made to former Kings, that history makes mention of, which well suits -with the goodness, sweetness, and meritorious virtues of so gracious -a King as ours is. The present mean estate of the Chamber denied the -form of a gift, but this of the hearts of the citizens and those of -the better sort, and at this tune so seasonably expressed, was of -greater import to His Majesty than, for my part, I dare take upon me to -value."--_2nd Dec., 1641. State Papers, Dom._ - -[235] _Nalson_, ii. 681. _Rushworth_, iv. 432. - -[236] Letter of Thomas Wiseman, addressed to "Sir John Pennington, -Admiral of his Majesty's fleet for the guard of the Narrow -Seas."--_State Papers Dom._, 9th Dec., 1641. - -[237] In the same letter to Sir John Pennington, Wiseman says, -"His Majesty was pleased, with a return of many thanks for his -entertainment, to set a mark of his favour by knighting the seven -aldermen, whereof your cousin the alderman was none, whose ways, as -you partly know, are rather to please himself than to strive to do any -acceptable service for the king, if it stand not with the sense of the -preciser sort of the House of Commons." - -[238] Sir Ralph Hopton gave a report to the House of the -interview.--_Parl. Hist._, ii. 942. - -[239] _Rushworth_, iv. 452. - -[240] _State Papers Dom._ Letters of Robert Slingsby, dated (by -mistake) 6th Dec., 1641, and properly placed under Jan. 6th, 1641-2. -Slingsby is not perfectly accurate in his account of what took place in -the House. - -[241] The High Church Lord Mayor Gourney would not accompany them. - -[242] _Nalson_, ii. 764. - -[243] There were other disturbances in London. - -"For the proceedings of the Parliament, you have them here enclosed -until Monday, which day there happened some disorder concerning -the prisoners in Newgate, who being to suffer, and understanding -the priests condemned with them were not, but in hope of reprieve, -they found means to seize the jailor's keys, and so made themselves -master of the prison, but the train bands coming up that same day -forced them to surrender, and the next they were hanged, not without -great murmuring of the common people. The saving of the priests is -yet a point debated in Parliament, and, as I am told, will hardly be -obtained. In the meantime, these intervenient things add much to the -distractions and distempers of the time, which I pray God to give a -better end unto than at present there is any great appearance for to -hope it." * * * - -"I am told the House did yesternight vote the printing of the -Remonstrance."--_State Papers._ Letter of Sidney Bere, 16th Dec., 1641. - -[244] _Bramston's Autobiography_, published by the Camden Society, 82. - -[245] _Rushworth_, iv. 463. - -Cutting the hair short was a Puritan reaction, occasioned by the -opposite Cavalier fashion of wearing locks profusely long. It is worth -notice, that the nickname given to Elisha by the boys at the town gate, -as they watched the prophet passing by, was just the same as that -given to the Parliamentarians. "Baldhead," is really "_roundhead_," in -allusion to shortness of hair at the back of the head.--_Ewald_, iii. -512.--_Smith's Dict. of the Bible_, i. 537. - -[246] The following letter by Captain Slingsby relates to this -disturbance. It will be noticed that the writer says, "none were -killed;" but Fuller states one man died of the injuries he received. - -"I cannot say we have had a merry Christmas, but the maddest one that -I ever saw. The prentices and baser sort of citizens, sailors, and -watermen, in great numbers every day at Westminster, armed with swords, -halberds, clubs, which hath made the King keep a strong guard about -Whitehall of the trained-bands without, and of gentlemen and officers -of the army within. The King had upon Christmas-eve put Colonel -Lunsford in to be Lieutenant of the Tower, which was so much resented -by the Commons and by the City, that the Sunday after he displaced him -again and put in Sir John Biron, who is little better accepted than the -other. Lunsford being on Monday last in the Hall with about a dozen -other gentlemen, he was affronted by some of the citizens, whereof the -Hall was full, and so they drew their swords, chasing the citizens -about the Hall, and so made their way through them which were in the -Palace Yard and in King's Street, till they came to Whitehall. The -Archbishop of York was beaten by the prentices the same day, as he was -going into the Parliament. The next day they assaulted the Abbey, to -pull down the organs and altar; but it was defended by the Archbishop -of York and his servants, with some other gentlemen that came to -them; divers of the citizens hurt, but none killed. Amongst them that -were hurt one knight, Sir Richard Wiseman, who is their chief leader. -Yesterday, about fifteen or sixteen officers of the army, standing -at the Court gate, took a slight occasion to fall upon them and hurt -about forty or so of them. They, in all their skirmishes have avoided -thrusting, because they would not kill them. I never saw the Court so -full of gentlemen. Every one comes thither with their swords. This day -500 gentlemen of the Inns of Court came to offer their services to the -King. The officers of the army, since these tumults, have watcht and -kept a Court of guard in the presence chamber, and are entertained upon -the King's charge. A company of soldiers put into the Abbey for defence -of it."--_State Papers_, December 30th, 1641. - -[247] "There has been great store of the scum of the people who have -gone this holidays to Westminster, to have down Bishops, and against -Lunsford, who is now dismissed from being Lieutenant of the Tower, the -King having given him £500 pension per annum, and hath invested one -Sir John Biron in that place. All things are in much distemper, and I -fear that they yet will grow worse."--_State Papers._ Letter of Capt. -Carterett to Sir J. Pennington, dated London, 29th Dec. - -[248] I drew up this account from documents in the Record Office, dated -the last few days of December, 1641, when I had no opportunity of -consulting what Mr. Forster says of the disturbances, in his careful -history of the _Arrest of the Five Members_. - -[249] See _Rushworth_, iv. 695, for examples of exaggeration in the -royalist statements. This disturbance became a subject of controversy -between the King and Parliament.--_Rushworth_, iv. 710. - -[250] "Here," says Mr. Forster, "and not in any dispute as to whom the -powers of the militia should reside with, really began the Civil War." -_Arrest of the Five Members_, 66. - -[251] _Hall's Works for Hard Measure_, xiii. - -[252] _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 431. He gives a copy of the -protest. - -[253] See his speech on the 4th of March--_Parl. Hist._, ii. 1111. - -[254] _Bishop Hall's_ account in his _Hard Measure_ would seem to -imply that the King had not seen the paper before it was brought under -the notice of the Upper House by Lord-keeper Littleton, but it is -clearly stated (_Parl. Hist._, ii. 993) that what Littleton did in -this matter was by his Majesty's command. "The Jesuitical faction," -says a letter of the day, "according to their wonted custom, fomenting -still jealousies between the King and his people, and the bishops, -continually concurring with the Popish lords against the passing any -good Bills sent from the House of Commons thither; and their last plot -hath been their endeavour to make this Parliament no Parliament, and so -to overthrow all Acts past, and to cause a dissolution of it for the -present, which hath been so strongly followed by the Popish party, that -it was fain to be put to the vote, and the Protestant Lords carried -it to be a free and perfect Parliament as ever any was before. This -did so gall the bishops that they made their protestation against the -freedom of the vote, and the Parliament; and in their protestation -have inserted such speeches as have brought them within the compass of -treason, and thus the Council of Achitophel is turned into foolishness. -The Earl of Bristol and his son have been chief concurrents with them -in this and other evil councils, for which they have been impeached and -branded in the House of Commons."--_State Papers_, Letter of Thomas -Smith to Sir J. Pennington, dated York House, 30th Dec., 1641. - -There are allusions to these proceedings in other letters (_State -Papers_) which all blame the bishops for want of wisdom. - -[255] Hall says, "On January the 30th, in all the extremity of frost, -at 8 o'clock in the dark evening, are we voted to the Tower. The -news of this our crime and imprisonment flew over the city, and was -entertained by our well-wishers with ringing of bells and bonfires." -_Hard Measure._ - -[256] "This day the bishops have made a protestation against the -proceedings of this Parliament, declaring it no free Parliament. This -makes a great stir here. The favourers of them think it done too soon, -the other side do seem now to rejoice that it is done, having thereby -excluded themselves from it." _Slingsby to Pennington. State Papers_, -30th Dec., 1641. - -[257] _Collier's Ecclesiastical History_, ii. 819. - -[258] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 1206. The bishops were: Dr. John Williams, -Archbishop of York; Dr. T. Moreton, Bishop of Durham; Dr. J. Hall, -Bishop of Norwich; Dr. Robert Wright, Bishop of Coventry and Lichfield; -Dr. John Owen, Bishop of St. Asaph; Dr. William Piers, Bishop of Bath -and Wells; Dr. John Coke, Bishop of Hereford; Dr. M. Wren, Bishop of -Ely; Dr. Robert Skinner, Bishop of Oxon; Dr. G. Goodman, Bishop of -Gloucester; Dr. J. Towers, Bishop of Peterborough; Dr. M. Owen, Bishop -of Llandaff. - -In _Parl. Hist._, ii. 998, Warner is mentioned as Bishop of -Peterborough, but he was Bishop of Rochester. See list of the thirteen -impeached in August. - -[259] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 1080. - -[260] _Lords' Journals_, Feb. 16th. - -[261] It is related of this eccentric person that, as master of a -household, he never allowed the presence of a female servant.--See -_Worthies of Sussex, by Mark Antony Lower_. - -[262] _Harl. MSS._ in _Lysons_, iii. 56. - -[263] There is a curious letter from Towers, then Dean of Peterborough, -dated December 30, 1633, in which he seeks to make interest with Sir -John Lambe, Dean of the Arches, for the succession of the bishopric. He -says he should be almost as glad to see his friend Dr. Sibthorpe in the -deanery as himself in the palace. _State Papers Dom., Chas. I._ - -[264] _Walker's Sufferings of the Clergy_, part ii. 78. The few -particulars we have given respecting the bishops rest chiefly on his -authority. - -[265] _Hacket's Memorial_, ii. 226. - -[266] The following _State Papers Dom._, (_Chas. I._), was written at -the same time:-- - -"Sir--What passeth in Scotland I presume you have already understood -from Mr. Bere, so that I shall only say, that I believe the great plot -there may prove much ado about nothing. Howsoever I am advertised that -all the distractions thereupon have suddenly composed, which gives -great hope of his Majesty's return ere it be long. Our Parliament, I -mean the House of Commons, were very hot in getting the Lords to pass -a bill which they had voted, and sent up against the bishops; but the -news of a rebellion in Ireland made them cast that by, and ever since -Saturday last both Houses have bestowed their time upon this business, -and at length have concluded to send away the Lord Lieutenant speedily -with 1,000 men and £50,000 in money, which is to be taken up of the -city, if they can get it there, for the citizens of the best rank are -at this time much discontented with the Parliament about protections, -whereby they are stopped from getting in their debts to their great -prejudice.... - -"H. COGAN. - -"_Charing Cross, 4th Nov., 1641._" - -[267] Letter of Thos. Wiseman, dated 4th Nov., 1641. (_State Papers -Dom., Chas. I._) - -This letter discloses to us facts which were the subject of many -a letter, and many a conversation in the autumn of 1641. Public -indignation was awakened by these atrocities in a way resembling that -with which we were all sadly familiar at the period of the Indian -massacre. - -[268] _Mant's History of the Church of Ireland_, i. 467, 470. - -[269] _Bramhall's Works_, i., _letters_, p. 79. The Lord Deputy's -letter in 1634 also gives a lamentable description.--_Strafford's -Letters_, i. 187. See also _Petition of Irish Convocation_.--_Collier_, -ii. 763. - -[270] _Mant's Church of Ireland_, i. 548. - -[271] _Rushworth_, iv. 406. - -[272] For the Roman Catholic view of the case, see _Lingard's History -of England_, x. 41. - -[273] _Lister's Autobiography_, 7. The places named are on the great -highway from South Lancashire to Halifax. - -[274] _Calamy's Ejected Ministers_, i. 45. - -[275] _Nalson_, ii. 647-688. Cogan (servant to some one addressed by -Nicholas as Rt. Honble.) in a letter dated Charing Cross, November -18, 1641, after relating the story told by the tailor of White Cross -Street, continues--"he went with all speed to the House of Commons, -unto whom being with great importunity admitted, he at large related -all the aforesaid passages, and withal shewed in how many places of -his cloak and clothes he was run through; and after long examination -of him they sent him up unto the Lords, who in like manner questioned -him a long time, and ever since there hath been a great coil about the -finding out of this matter, by searching of Recusants' houses, as my -Lord of Worcester's in the Strand, St. Basil Brooke's, and others. Now, -whether this be a truth or an imposture, time will resolve." - -[276] _Nalson_, ii. 673. Dering's subsequent history does not belong to -our pages. It is enough to say he was expelled the House, his published -speeches were burnt by the hangman, he joined the King, and served in -the army; and then, after all, made his peace with the Parliament. - -[277] _Clarendon_, 433. - -[278] _Macaulay's Essays_, i. 160. - -[279] Quoted in _Forster's Grand Remonstrance_, 172. - -[280] As to Royalists of the mean and selfish class, see _Brodie_, iii. -344-354. - -[281] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 990. - -[282] _Nalson_, ii. 673. - -[283] _Letters_ of the 13th and 14th of January, in the State Paper -Office, indicate the excitement of the period, and the uncertainty felt -about the King's movements. - -[284] _State Papers Dom._, under date January 13, 1642. Parts of this -letter, of which I have not transcribed the whole, are inserted by -Mr. Forster in his _Arrest of the Five Members_. I had intended to -introduce other interesting letters of that date, but as they are -already printed by him, I refer the reader to his pages. - -[285] March 28, 1642.--A conference was held respecting a petition from -Kent, which prayed for a restoration of the Bishops, and the Liturgy, -&c., &c. Some parts of the petition were voted scandalous, dangerous, -and tending to sedition.--_Lords' Journal._ - -April 21.--Both Houses made a curious order against -counter-petitions--"As no man ought to petition for the Government -established by law because he has already his wish; but they that -desire an alteration cannot otherwise have their desires known, and -therefore are to be countenanced." - -April 28.--The Commons, by Mr. Oliver Cromwell, acquaint the Lords -"that a great meeting is to be held next day on Blackheath, to back the -rejected Kentish petition." 30--"The Men of Kent come to the House, -and again present their petition formerly burnt. Several are committed -to the Gate House and Fleet."--_Parry's Parliaments and Councils of -England_, 385, 386. - -[286] This appears from a letter by Slingsby.--_State Papers_, December -2, 1641. - -[287] _Rushworth_, iv. 498. - -[288] See also _Neal_, ii. chap. xii., and _May_, 247-265. - -[289] July 28, 1642--The Lords give judgment against John Marston, -Clerk, who had said--"The Parliament set forth flams to cozen and -cheat the country and get their money, &c. He is deprived of all -ecclesiastical preferments; made incapable hereafter to hold place or -dignity in Church or Commonwealth; imprisoned in the Gatehouse; and -ordered to give sureties."--_Parliaments and Councils of England_, 396. - -[290] The Royalists sometimes appealed to Scripture.--There is amongst -the _State Papers_, one containing texts of Scripture relating to royal -authority:--1. Pray for the King; 2. Speak not evil of the King; 3. -Exalt not thyself against the King; 4. The King's confidence in God; 5. -The King loveth judgment; 6. The King ought to be feared; 7. God's care -of his anointed; 8. Punishment of his adversaries; 9. Exhortation to -obedience; 10. His triumph and thanksgiving. - -There is also a paper of arguments in defence of taking up arms in -maintenance of the true reformed religion:--From the law of nature. -From Divine authority out of God's word. From human authority; -Citations from fathers, &c. From reason. From practice of Reformed -kirks, France, Holland, Germany, Bohemia, Switzerland, Hungary, and -Sweden, which had all taken up arms for defence of religion against -authority. From the custom of Kings in Reformed kirks--Elizabeth -against Spain--James, in his _Basilicon_, approves reforming of -Scotland--Charles sent a naval force to help French Protestants. - -[291] I may add the following sentence from _Hook's Lives of the -Archbishops of Canterbury_, iii. 291:--"The first lawyer whose writings -we possess, Bracton, asserts, '_Lex omnium Rex_.' A king not less than -a subject may be a traitor." - -[292] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 1168. - -[293] These papers are given in full by _Rushworth_, iv. 624, 722. They -are also to be found in _Neal_, ii. 553, 556, 563, as extracts from -_Rushworth_, though much condensed. - -[294] _Rushworth_, iv. 733. - -[295] In the _Weekly Intelligencer_, October 18, 1642, mention is made -of a woman called Moll Cutpurse, who wore both, saying she was for King -and Parliament, too. - -[296] "_Powers to be resisted_, or a dialogue arguing the Parliament's -lawful resistance of the powers now in arms against them, and that -archbishops, bishops, curates, neuters, all these are to be cut off -by the law of God, therefore to be cast out by the law of the land, -etc."--London, 1643. p. 13. - -See also John Goodwin's _Anti-cavalierisme_. - -That the people have a right to resist their rulers when they do wrong -was a common opinion amongst Reformers in Mary's reign. See _Maitland's -Essays on Reformation in England_, vi. - -[297] All these particulars are mentioned in pamphlets of the King's -collection.--British Museum, years 1642, 1643. Marvels and Monsters -were rife at the time of the Reformation.--_Maitland's Essays_, 184. - -[298] A list of contributors is printed in _Choice Notes, Historical_, -p. 55. - -[299] Such a contribution from William Bridge and his family is -described in the _Yarmouth Corporation Records_. - -[300] Baxter assigns a number of reasons which induced godly people -to take side with the Parliament.--_Life and Times_, part i. 33. Mrs. -Hutchinson, in the _Memoirs_ of her husband, gives amusing sketches of -some who joined that party for sinister ends, pp. 105-116. _The Life of -Adam Martindale_, p. 31, indicates how Royalists sought shelter amidst -Parliamentarians. - -[301] It is worthy of remark that Cromwell began his military course -at about forty, the same age as that at which Cæsar commenced his -victories. Cæsar, however, when a young man, had served in the army, -which Cromwell had not. It is a curious parallel that both should have -been such successful soldiers after so long an engagement in peaceful -occupations. Both died at the age of about fifty-five. - -[302] _Rushworth_, v. 39. - -[303] A small volume was published containing portions of Scripture, -and was entitled _The Souldier's Pocket Bible_. - -[304] As to the presence of Roman Catholics in the two armies, the -following passages from Baxter and Hallam should be considered:-- - -Baxter, whose prejudices against the army must be borne in mind when -he refers to the subject, only expresses suspicion. "The most among -Cromwell's soldiers that ever I could _suspect_ for Papists were but a -few that began as strangers among the common soldiers, and by degrees -rose up to some inferior offices, and were most conversant with the -common soldiers; but none of the superior officers _seemed_ such, -though seduced by them."--_Life and Times_, part i. 78. - -Hallam leans to the idea that the common reports had some foundation. -He remarks: "It is probable that some foreign Catholics were in the -Parliament's service. But Dodds says, with great appearance of truth, -that no one English gentleman of that persuasion was in arms on their -side.--_Church History of England_, iii. 28. He reports, as a matter -of hearsay, that out of about 500 gentlemen who lost their lives for -Charles in the civil war, 194 were Catholics. They were, doubtless, a -very powerful faction in the court and army."--_Hallam's Const. Hist._ -i. 587. - -[305] _Hibbert's History of Manchester_, i. 210. - -[306] "_Some Special Passages from Warwickshire._" _King's Pamphlets, -Brit. Mus. Acts and Orders_, i. 124. - -[307] _King's Pamphlets, Brit. Mus. Acts and Orders_, ii. 124. - -[308] _Rushworth_, iv. 783. - -[309] These were commenced by Mr. Case, of St. Mary Magdalen, Milk -Street, and afterwards circulated from church to church for the -convenience of the citizens.--_Neal_, ii. 592. - -[310] Letter of Nehemiah Wharton, dated Aylesbury, August the 16th, -1642. Addressed to his much honoured friend, Mr. George Willingham, -Merchant, at the Golden Anchor, Swithin Lane.--_State Papers, Chas. I., -Dom._ - -[311] In a letter, dated September 7, Wharton says of Northampton, for -situation, circuit, stateliness of buildings, it exceeds Coventry, but -the walls are miserably ruined though the country abounds in mines -of stone. He also complains of certain soldiers of his regiment who -discovered their base ends by declaring they would surrender their arms -unless they received five shillings a man, which they said was promised -them monthly by the committee. He alludes further to dissensions -between foot and horse soldiers. In another letter he mentions a -soldier's winter suit made for him, "edged with gold and silver lace," -which he hoped he should never stain but in the blood of a cavalier. - -[312] Letter of William Harrison, Berwick, dated 7th Sept., 1642, to -his good friend Mr. Thomas Davison, at London.--_State Papers, Chas. -I., Dom._ - -[313] _Whitelocke's Memorials_, 65. - -[314] _Rushworth_, v. 35. _Baxter's Life and Times_, part i. 43. - -[315] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 1495-1504. - -[316] _Whitelocke_, 65. _Sanford's Illustrations_, 535. - -[317] _Rushworth_, v. 81. - -[318] November 26th.--_Rushworth_, v. 69-71. - -[319] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 59. - -[320] The speech is printed in the _Harleian Miscellany_, v. 224. - -[321] _Calamy's Continuation_, ii. 737. - -[322] Edmund Calamy, the popular clergyman of the Commonwealth, was -grandfather to the historian of that name. - -[323] _The Loyal Satirist.--Somers' Tracts_, vii. 68. - -[324] August 3, 1642.--_Rushworth_, v. 388. - -[325] _Parl. Hist._, ii. 1465. - -[326] On the 20th of January Maynard "spoke very earnestly that we -should not abolish the jurisdiction of bishops until we had replaced -another government in the Church: which he thought would not be very -soon agreed upon, some being for a presbytery, some for an independent -government, and others for he knew not what."--_Harl. MSS._, clxiv. p. -1078, A. B. _Sanford's Illustrations_, 550. - -[327] See _Commons' Journal_ and _Lords' Journal_. - -[328] _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, ii. 58. - -[329] _Rushworth_, v. 399-406. The papers were presented in February, -1642-3. The petition bears date 4th of January. - -[330] _Memorials_, 67. The safe conduct bears date 28th of January, -1642-3. - -[331] _Rushworth_, v. 166-169. - -[332] _Hist._, 962. - -[333] _Rushworth_, v. 459. - -[334] _Baillie's Letters_, ii. 66, 67. - -[335] _Letters and Journals_, i. 287. - -[336] _Nalson_, ii. 766. Thomas Fuller advocated the calling of a -synod.--_Life, by Russell_, 124. - -[337] _Rushworth_, v. 337. _Husband_, 208. - -"There must be some laymen in the synod, to overlook the clergy, lest -they spoil the civil work; just as when the good woman puts a cat into -the milk house to kill a mouse, she sends her maid to look after the -cat, lest the cat should eat up the cream."--_Selden's Table Talk_, 169. - -[338] Hacket, Bishop of Lichfield; Morley, Bishop of Winchester; -Nicholson, Bishop of Gloucester; Prideaux, Bishop of Worcester; -Reynolds, Bishop of Norwich. - -[339] _Calamy's Continuation_, i. 28.--Bancroft, on the authority of -Winthrop, says that the colonial Churches of America were invited to -send deputies to the Westminster Assembly. But Hooker, of Hartford, -"'liked not the business,' and deemed it his duty rather to stay in -quiet and obscurity with his people in Connecticut, than to turn -propagandist and plead for Independency in England."--_United States_, -i. 417. Did Philip Nye seek to strengthen the Independents in the -Assembly by inviting brethren from America? - -[340] "It was almost implied in the meaning of the word. An 'Œcumenical -Synod,' that is an 'Imperial gathering,' from the whole οἰκουμένη, -or empire (for this was the technical meaning of the word, even -in the Greek of the New Testament) could be convened only by the -emperor."--_Stanley's Lectures on the Eastern Church_, 80. The first -council of Arles, inferior only to a General Council, was called by the -Emperor Constantine.--_Euseb. Hist._, _lib._ x. _c._ v. - -[341] The Divines were allowed by the Parliamentary ordinance four -shillings a day. - -[342] Perhaps some one better versed in the controversy touching powers -of Convocation than I am might shew that, after all, the power of -decision, and the liberty of discussion in the two Houses, do not far -exceed what was allowed to the Westminster Assembly. It is admitted -on all hands that Convocation cannot meet without a royal writ, nor -make canons without licence, nor publish them without confirmation by -the Great Seal, and some contend that Convocation may not even discuss -any matters _without royal licence_.--See _Lathbury's History of -Convocation_, 112. - -While I am revising this book for the press, I find the following in -to-day's _Times_, January 11th, 1866: "Convocation is nothing more -whatever than a general commission of enquiry into the affairs of the -Church empowered to report its opinions to the Crown." Change "Crown" -into "Parliament," and this passage describes the Westminster Assembly, -so far as its power was concerned. - -[343] _Rushworth_, v. 339. It does not appear clearly whether the -sermon was delivered in the abbey or the chapel. Rushworth, after -mentioning the sermon and the presence of the two Houses, says of the -Divines, "After which they assembled in the said chapel:" as if the -"Houses" had heard the sermon in some other part of the abbey. - -I do not find any notice of Twiss's sermon in the list of his works. - -[344] The Upper House of Convocation met in Henry the Seventh's Chapel -both in 1572 and in 1640.--_Gibson's Synodus Anglicanus._ - -[345] Washington Irving. - -[346] _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 448. - -[347] _Neal_, iii. 60. - -[348] _Journal of the Assembly. Lightfoot's Works_, xiii. 3. - -[349] This was Mr. John White, of Dorchester, great grandfather of John -and Charles Wesley.--See _Kirk's Mother of the Wesleys_, 18. - -[350] _Lightfoot_, xiii. 7-9. _Hetherington's History of the -Westminster Assembly_, p. 114. - -[351] This will be inserted in the Appendix. - -[352] _True and faithful Narrative of the Death of Master Hampden_, -quoted in _Nugent's Life of Hampden_, 363. - -[353] Scarborough church was stormed in 1644 by the Parliament -soldiers, and afterwards fortified by them. It is remarkable to find -church towers so constructed, as to shew they were intended for warlike -purposes. Melsonby and Middleham, in Yorkshire, and Harlestone, in -Northamptonshire, are examples.--_Poole's Ecclesiastical Architecture_, -358. - -[354] _Joseph Lister's Narrative_, 23. Bradford was taken on the 2nd of -July. - -[355] _Hist._, 416. - -[356] _Rushworth_, v. 287. - -[357] _Rushworth_, v. 290. _Calamy's Account_, ii. 675. _Palmer's Non. -Con. Mem._ ii. 467. - -[358] _Rushworth_, v. 344. - -[359] _Sanford's Illustrations_, 575. - -[360] _David's Annals of Nonconformity in Essex_, 535. - -[361] _Vol._ ii. 103, &c. - -[362] Instructions given are inserted in _Parl. Hist._, iii. 151. - -[363] _Baillie_, ii. 88, 97. - -[364] _Baxter's Life and Times_, p. i. 48.--He adds that this public -explication was given by Mr. Coleman, when preaching on the Covenant to -the House of Lords: "That by prelacy we mean not all Episcopacy, but -only the form which is here described." - -On the 12th of September, the Solemn League and Covenant was proposed -to the Parliament, who, on the 21st, ordered it to be printed. - -On the 20th, the Lords declared that none shall have command till they -have taken the Covenant. - -[365] _II. Chron._ xv. 12, 14, 15.--The 15th verse is printed with -two other texts on the title page of the Solemn League and Covenant, -published Sept. 22nd, 1643. - -[366] _Cunninghame's History of the Church of Scotland_, i. 315, ii. 81. - -[367] The Solemn League and Covenant will be inserted in the Appendix. - -[368] _Nye's Exhortation_ was published, and a portion of it, extolling -the Covenant, may be seen in _Hanbury's Memorials_, ii. 215. - -[369] Gouge was a Puritan divine who died in 1653, after being minister -of Blackfriars nearly forty-six years. - -[370] In the State Paper Office is the following letter written by -Falkland in the spring of the year. - -"Sir,--If my health were not so ill as yours, with all my business to -boot, I should not hope to be excused for being so slow in giving you -thanks for two so great favours. I heartily wish we were in a condition -of being able to make use of any good inclinations to us beyond sea, -and perhaps they are the kinder, because they find it safe to be -so, whilst we are as we are, that is, unable to take them at their -words, and make use of their kindness. Of Mr. Wightman's commitment I -never heard before I read your letter: the petition for him is in Mr. -Secretary's hands, but I will assist it to my power; though I conceive -it indiscreetly done of the Company to send so obnoxious a person, and -yet more indiscreetly done of him to be sent, who could not but know -that he was such. My desire of peace, and my opinion of the way to it, -agree wholly with yours, for which I congratulate with myself, and wish -the second followed (but both sides must then contribute) that the -first might be obtained, and I might then have occasion to congratulate -with the kingdom too. His Majesty hath commanded me to let you know -that he is very sensible of your present condition, and that he is -sorry for nothing more than that his friends (especially so honest and -deserving a man) should be in danger for being so, and be not able to -protect them, but that if retiring of yourself hither out of their -power would stand with your occasions, he assures you, you shall be -very welcome, but what to advise you, if you stay, I find he knows not, -and I am sure I know as little. I wish, whether you stay or come, it -might be in my power to serve you. I assure you, Sir, if there were -any occasion of doing it by my readiness to catch at, and my diligence -in pursuing it, you should find what I must now desire you to believe, -that I am, Sir, your very really humble Servant, - -FALKLAND. - -"18th April." - -(Addressed) "For the Right Honourable Sir Thomas Rowe, Knight, one of -His Majesty's most honourable Privy Council."--_Dom. Car._ i., April -18, 1643. - -[371] _Rushworth_, v. 486. - -[372] _Perfect Diurnal_, 2nd of Sept., 1643. - -[373] _Baillie's Letters_, ii. 99, 113-115. - -[374] _Rushworth_, v. 358. - -[375] "Horses have stood ready in several stables, and almost -eaten out their heads, for those that were to go with the news to -Oxford."--_Parliament Scout._ - -[376] The Diurnals which supply these statements are not trustworthy. - -[377] Amongst the _State Papers_ is the following programme, or, as it -is entituled, "The proceeding" of Mr. Pym's funeral:-- - -Two Conductors. Servants in Cloaks. Friends in Cloaks. Esquires. -Knights. Baronets. Divines. The Preacher. _The Pennon borne by_ Mr. -Faulconer. Rouge Dragon _Helm and crest_. Lancaster _Coat of arms_. -+---------+ | | | The | Supporters | | to the Pal | Body. | | | Mr. -Anth. Rous, _supporter_. | | Mr. Chas. Pym, _supporter_. +---------+ -Mr. Alex. Pym, _chief mourner_. Mr. Simons and Mr. Nicholls. Mr. Askew. -Mrs. Symons and Mrs. Katherine Pym, and other Ladies and Gentlemen. -Then the Lords. Then the Speaker of the House of Commons. - -An endorsement shews that the three officers of arms allowed by the -committee for this funeral were appointed £20 apiece, making a sum of -£60. The following names also appear on the back of the document: Mr. -Solicitor, Sir Arthur Haslerigge, Sir John Clotworthy, Mr. Knightley, -Sir Gilbert Gerard, Sir Harry Vane, Mr. Stroud. Probably all these were -present. - -[378] Pym defended himself against imputations on his religious -character, by saying that he had ever been a faithful son to the -Protestant religion, without the least relation in his belief to the -gross errors of Anabaptism or Brownism. He had sought a reformation of -the Church of England--but not its overthrow. Neither envy nor private -grudge against the bishops, who were personally inimical to him, made -him averse to their functions, but only his zeal for religion, which he -saw injured by the too extended authority of the prelates, who should -have been upright and humble, "shearing their flocks and not flaying -them."--_Rushworth_, v. 378. - -Marshall in his _Sermon_ and Baxter in his _Saint's Rest_ would not -have spoken of Pym as they did, had they not been satisfied that -charges against his moral character were utterly untrue. Marshall -includes chastity in the catalogue of his virtues. I can find no proof -of anything improper in his intimacy with the Countess of Carlisle. For -extracts from _Marshall's Sermons_, and the _Diurnals_, see _Forster's -British Statesmen_, vol. ii. 294-302. - -[379] Baillie says: "The plottings are incessant."--_Letters and -Journals_, ii. 132. - -[380] This is stated in a curious book, called _Magnalia Dei Anglicana; -or, England's Parliamentary Chronicle_, by John Vicars, part iii., -entitled _God's Ark Overtopping the World's Waves_, 135. A full account -of these plots is given from the writer's own point of view. Vicars was -a violent Presbyterian, and his book is full of party prejudice and -curious information. Baillie notices these plots pretty fully, ii. 137. - -[381] Mr. Nye and Mr. Goodwin entered into conference with Ogle only -that they might entrap him. In the Journal of the House of Commons, -January 26th, 1643-4, it is recorded "that Mr. Goodwin, Mr. Nye, with -the privity of my Lord General and some members of the House, had -conference with Ogle--Resolved, 'that it doth appear upon the whole -matter, that the King and his council at Oxford do endeavour and -embrace all ways to raise and ferment divisions betwixt us and our -brethren of Scotland, and amongst ourselves under the fair pretences -of easing tender consciences; that during these fair pretences their -immediate design was the ruin of the kingdom by the destroying and -burning the magazines thereof; that thanks be returned to Mr. Nye and -Mr. Goodwin from both Houses.'" We learn from Baillie, ii. 137, that -_John_ Goodwin is the person here intended. - -[382] _State Papers_, April 13, 1651. Bundle 646. Ogle is here styled -"Colonel." - -[383] _Vicars' Chronicle_, iii. - -[384] _Vicars' Chronicle_, iii. 128, _Baillie_, ii. 134, and _Perfect -Diurnal_. In the _Perfect Diurnal_ of Thursday, June 19th, 1645, there -is an account of another City feast. After dinner, and grace said by -Mr. Marshall, both Houses of Parliament, the Assembly of Divines, the -Aldermen of the City, and all the rest being assembled in the hall, -they sung the 46th Psalm, and after that they departed. - -[385] Mr. Bruen, of Tarvin, in the Deanery of Chester, an eminent -Puritan (born 1560, died 1625) "the phœnix of his age," distinguished -himself as an iconoclast. Finding in his own chapel superstitious -images, and idolatrous pictures in the painted windows, and they so -thick and dark that there was, as he himself says, "scarce the breadth -of a groat of white glass amongst them," took orders to pull them down, -indeed by the Queen's injunctions utterly to extinguish and destroy all -pictures, paintings, and other monuments of idolatry and superstition, -so that there might remain no memory of the same in the walls, glass -windows, or elsewhere within their churches and houses. The Bible -and ecclesiastical history are appealed to as further authorities. -_Theodosius abscondit simulacra gentium, omnes enim cultus idolorum -cultus ejus abscondit; omnes eorum ceremonias obliteravit. Ambrosii -Orat. in Mort. Theo._--See _Hinde's Life of Bruen_. - -[386] _Rushworth_, v. 358. - -[387] _Oct 3. P. Diurnal._ "The Commons, for the better taking away -of superstitious ceremonies in churches, as in wearing the surplice -and the like; which they had noticed (notwithstanding all former -orders) was still used in sundry places--especially at the Abbey of -Westminster--agreed in a further order, for the taking away of all -copes and surplices, belonging to the said Abbey of Westminster, and to -forbid the wearing of them in that or any other church or cathedral in -England." - -[388] Laud was at work upon the restoration of St. Paul's in 1640, "the -whole body was finished with Portland stone excellent against all smoke -and weather, and the tower scaffolded up to the top with purpose to -take it all down and to rebuild it more fair." After his apprehension -"the scaffolds were taken away and sold, with some of the lead which -covered this famous structure."--_Chamberlayne's Anglica Notitia_, part -ii. 155. - -In the State Paper Office there is a document by Montague, Bishop of -Chichester, containing an exhortation to the clergy of his diocese, -giving thirteen reasons for their contributing to the fund for -repairing the Cathedral of St. Paul. He dwells upon the dignity of St. -Paul's as, in a sort, the mother church of the kingdom, and stimulates -the persons addressed to liberality by a consideration of what was done -by their predecessors.--_Calendar_, 1633-4, 384. - -[389] _1643, May 27._--Resolved, an ordinance for borrowing the plate -in all cathedrals superstitiously used upon their altars. - -_1644, April 24._--Ordered, the mitre and crosier staff found in St. -Paul's Church to be forthwith sold, and the brass and iron in Henry the -Seventh's Chapel.--_Parry's Councils and Parliaments._ - -Whatever was now done in St. Paul's, worse things had been done -there and elsewhere at the time of the Reformation.--See _Strype's -Cranmer_, i. 251. Besides spoiling, embezzling, and taking away -ornaments, he says, "they used also commonly to bring horses and mules -into and through churches, and shooting off hand guns." It should be -recollected, that the Puritans of the seventeenth century were familiar -with such memories, and that reverence for sacred places had long been -on the decline. - -[390] Corporation Records in the Guildhall. - -[391] _Hard Measure_, prefixed to _Hall's Works_, p. xviii. The -proceedings at Norwich were of an infamous description, yet more -shameful acts had been perpetrated by the Roman Catholic fathers of -these very citizens. In 1272, we are told "_Quam plures de familia, -aliquos subdiacanos, aliquos clericos, aliquos laicos in claustro -et infra septa monasterii interfecerunt; aliquos extraxerunt et in -civitate morti tradiderunt, aliquos incarceraverunt. Post quæ ingressi, -omnia sacra vasa, libros, aurum, et argentum, vestes et omnia alia quæ -non fuerunt igne consumpta depradati fuerunt: monachos omnes, præter -duos vel tres, a monasterio fugantes._"--_Anglia Sacra_, i. 399. - -[392] The following appears in the records of the Norwich Corporation: -"Ordered that the churchwardens shall demolish the stump cross at St. -Saviour's, and take the stones thereof for the use of the city." - -[393] _Calamy's Abridgment of Baxter_, 24. - -[394] _Memoirs of Colonel Hutchinson_, p. 80. - -[395] This was in spite of orders "to do no injury to the church." -Before these wars the cathedral suffered through neglect, as appears -from a draft letter written by Archbishop Laud to the dean and chapter, -in the name of the King, complaining that the dotations and allowances -were very mean, and that there was "little left to keep so goodly a -fabric in sufficient reparation."--_State Papers, Domestic_. (undated) -vol. cclxxxi. 57. - -[396] Mr. Britton asserts that numbers were removed when the cathedral -underwent repairs in 1786. Two tons of brass were taken to the -brazier's shop.--_Winkle's Cathedrals_, iii. 43. - -[397] _Poole's History of Ecclesiastical Architecture_, p. 260. - -All the mutilation of statues must not be put down to the Puritan -account, nor the destruction of the mosaic pavement in the choir. "One -half of its eastern border was entirely destroyed when the altar-piece -was put up at the commencement of the last century." The rest but -narrowly escaped.--_Neale's History and Antiquities of Westminster -Abbey_, p. 20. - -Oliver Cromwell has been charged with despoiling the tomb of Henry V., -but we read in _Stowe's Annals_: "A royal image of silver and gilt was -laid upon his tomb, which Queen Catherine his wife caused to be made -for him; but about the latter end of King Henry VIII., the head of the -king's image being of massy silver, was broken off and conveyed clean -away, with the plates of silver and gilt that covered his body." p. 363. - -It is a common story amongst cathedral vergers, that Cromwell turned -churches into stables. Like stories are told in the East, with -judgments superadded. "It was related to us by our Tartar, that about -fifty years ago, Tamr Pasha turned the church into a stable, _and next -morning all his horses were found dead_."--_Badger's Nestorians_, i. 68. - -[398] It appears from the following entry that when the wars were over, -the cathedral was desecrated by being made a prison. "That a letter be -written to the Mayor of Salisbury, to let him know that the Council are -informed that the Dutch prisoners who were lately sent to the town, to -be kept there, have done much spoil upon the pillars of the cloisters, -and to the windows of the library there, being committed to custody in -that place, and also that by reason that due care hath not been had -over them, some of them have escaped, &c." _October 10, 1653._--_State -Papers, Order Book of Council._ - -[399] Again we may remark that like excesses had been committed in -Roman Catholic times. In the annals of Rochester, 1264, we find: -"_Portæ, siquidem, ejus circumquque exustæ sunt, chorus ejus in luctum, -et organa ejus in vocem flentium sunt concitata. Quid pluras, loca -sacra, utpote oratoria, claustra, capitulum infirmaria, et oracula -quæque divina, stabula equorum sunt effecta; et animalium immunditiis -spurcitiisque cadaverum ubique sunt repleta._"--_Anglia Sacra_, i. 351. - -After the Reformation Ridley was prevented from giving Grindal a -prebend in St. Paul's by the King's Council, who had bestowed it on -the King, for the furniture of his stable.--_Blunt's History of the -Reformation_, 244. - -In 1561, according to Strype, the south aisle of the cathedral was used -for a horse fair. - -[400] _Rushworth_, v. 476. - -Instructions were given for the taking of the Covenant throughout the -kingdom, "the manner of the taking it to be thus:--The minister to read -the whole Covenant distinctly and audibly in the pulpit, and during the -time of the reading thereof the whole congregation to be uncovered; and -at the end of his reading thereof, all to take it standing, lifting up -their right hands bare, and then afterwards to subscribe it severally -by writing their names (or their marks, to which their names are to be -added) in a parchment roll or a book, whereinto the Covenant is to be -inserted, purposely provided for that end, and kept as a record in the -parish."--_Husband's Collection_, 421. - -[401] _Husband's Coll._, 416. - -[402] _Neal_, iii. 81. - -[403] _Husband's Coll._, 404. - -[404] In the State Paper Office are additional instructions, (dated -March 6th, 1643-4,) to the Earl of Rutland, Sir W. Armyn, Bart., Sir -H. Vane, and others, to declare to our brethren of Scotland that the -Parliament have settled a course for taking the late Solemn League and -Covenant throughout this kingdom and dominion of Wales, "we do hereby -give you full power and authority by yourselves, or such as you shall -appoint, to cause the said League and Covenant to be taken throughout -the several places and counties where you shall come." - -Vane, on the scaffold, said, respecting the Covenant: "The holy -ends therein contained I fully assent to, and have been as desirous -to observe; but the rigid way of prosecuting it and the oppressing -uniformity that hath been endeavoured by it, I never approved." - -Wood states, (_Ath. Ox._, ii. 84), that Strode made a motion to the -effect, "that all those that refused the Covenant, (being certain -ill-wishers to the laws and liberties of this kingdom,) might, -therefore, have no benefit of those laws and liberties." He adds, "that -motion being somewhat too desperate, was waived for the present, and -took no effect." - -[405] See _Sermon on Solemn League and Covenant, by -Saltmarsh_.--_Tracts in Brit. Mus._, vol. 253. - -[406] These also are in the British Museum; I think in the same volume -as the former. - -[407] Bishop Hall went on ordaining Episcopal clergymen in spite of -the Covenant. He says: "The synodals both in Norfolk and Suffolk, and -all the spiritual profits of the diocese were also kept back, only -ordinations and institutions continued awhile. But after the Covenant -was appointed to be taken, and was generally swallowed of both clergy -and laity, my power of ordination was with some strange violence -restrained; for when I was going on in my wonted course, which no law -or ordinance had inhibited, certain forward volunteers in the city, -banding together, stir up the mayor, and aldermen, and sheriffs, to -call me to an account for an open violation of their Covenant."--_Hard -Measure, Hall's Works_, p. xvii. - -[408] _Memoirs of the Life of Col. Hutchinson_, 143-191. - -[409] _Mant's History of the Church of Ireland_, i. 580. - -[410] Eusebius observes, in his Epistle respecting the Nicene Creed, -that he and his friends did not refuse to adopt the word ὁμοούσιος, -"_peace being the end in view_, as well as the not falling away from -sound doctrine." He excused the damnatory clause, simply on the -ground that it aggrieved none by prohibiting the use of unscriptural -phraseology.--_Socrates' Ecc. Hist._, b. i. c. 8. - -[411] "Epistle" by John Canne, quoted in _Hanbury's Memorials_, iii. -380-386. - -The following passage occurs in a paper by the Dissenting Brethren -in 1646, also quoted in _Hanbury_, iii. 62:--"This Covenant was -professedly so attempered in the first framing of it, as that we of -different judgments might take it, both parties being present at -the framing of it in Scotland." "It is as free for us to give our -interpretation of the latitude or nearness of uniformity intended, as -for our brethren." - -[412] The following passages illustrate the state of public feeling in -reference to the Covenant:-- - -"Men cry shame on the Covenant. Those that took it down cast it up -again, and those that refuse it have given a world of arguments that -it is unreasonable, which arguments our Assembly, like dull, ignorant -rascals, never answered. I know, my Lords, many of our friends never -took this oath, but they refused it out of mere conscience." ... "I -hold the Covenanters extremely reasonable. Though some malignants take -it, yet many refuse it; and, as some who love us do hate the Covenant, -so some who hate us do take it. Yet our friends who hate it do love to -force others to it, for their hatred to malignants is more than to the -Covenant; and, as the one takes it to save his estate, so do others -give it to make him lose his estate. They both love the estate, and -both hate the Covenant."--_A learned Speech spoken in the House of -Peers by the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery upon the 28th July last, -taken out of Michael Ouldsworth's own Copy. State Papers, 1647._ - -"All this while I did not take the National Covenant, not because I -refused to do, for I would have made no bones to take, swear, and -sign it, and observe it too, for I had then a principle, having not -yet studied a better one, that I wronged not my conscience in doing -any thing I was commanded to do by those whom I served. But the truth -is, it was never offered to me, every one thinking it was impossible -I could get any charge, unless I had taken the Covenant either in -Scotland or England."--_Sir James Turner's Memoirs of his own Life and -Times, published by the Bannatyne Club_, 16. - -Turner was a Royalist. - -[413] _Journals._, Sept. 21st.--It was resolved by the Commons: That -the Assembly of godly Divines, who, by Ordinance, July 1st, 1643, met -in King Henry the Seventh's Chapel, shall, in respect of the coldness -of the said chapel, have power to adjourn themselves to the Jerusalem -Chamber, in the College of Westminster. - -[414] For some of this information I am indebted to the kindness of the -Dean of Westminster. - -[415] _Baillie's Letters_, ii. 108, 109. - -[416] This is stated on the authority of _Brook's Lives_, iii. 15. His -account of Twiss's illness is confused, so is _Clark's_ (_Lives_, p. -17,) to which Brook refers. - -[417] As Erastianism is a word vaguely used, I subjoin the principal -theses in the _Book on Excommunication_, by Erastus, and his own -account of the occasion of his writing it. - -"Excommunication is nothing else but a public and solemn exclusion from -the sacraments, especially the Lord's Supper, after an investigation by -the elders."--Thesis viii. - -"In the Old Testament none were debarred from the sacraments on account -of immorality of conduct."--Thesis xxiii. - -"Christ did not hinder Judas, who betrayed Him, from eating the paschal -lamb."--Thesis xxviii. - -"It is not the will of Christ that His kingdom in these lands should be -circumscribed within narrower limits than He appointed for it anciently -amongst the Jews."--Thesis xxxi. - -"As in the account given of the celebration of the sacraments we see -no mention is made of excommunication, so neither in the history -of their institution can anything warranting that practice be -discovered."--Thesis xxxvii. - -"'Tell it to the church' means nothing else than tell it to the -magistrate of thy own people."--Thesis lii. - -"I see no reason why the Christian magistrate at the present day should -not possess the same power which God commanded the magistrate to -exercise in the Jewish commonwealth."--Thesis lxxii. - -"If then the Christian magistrate possesses not only authority -to settle religion according to the directions given in the Holy -Scriptures, and to arrange the ministries thereof, but also, in like -manner, to punish crimes, in vain do some among us now meditate the -setting up of a new kind of tribunal, which would bring down the -magistrate himself to the rank of a subject of other men."--Thesis -lxxiv. - -According to Erastus, an ignorant man, a heretic, or an apostate should -be excluded from the sacraments. But sins were to be punished by the -civil magistrate. - -The theses were handed about in MS., and not published till 1589--six -years after the death of the author--with only the fictitious name -"Pesclavii," 1589. The work was reprinted at Amsterdam, in 1649. Two -old English translations exist, published in 1659 and 1682. There is a -modern one by Rev. R. Lee, D.D., Edinburgh, 1844. - -The occasion of writing the theses, Erastus says, was a proposition -that a select number of elders should sit in the name of the whole -church, and judge who were fit to be admitted to the Lord's Supper, -which he thought would introduce dangerous divisions. - -Theodore Beza wrote a reply, published at Geneva, 1590. Selden's views -of excommunication in his _Table Talk_ (p. 56) are similar to those of -Erastus, though not so full. - -Hobbes wrote his _Leviathan_ in 1651, in which he says (pt. iii., ch. -42, p. 287, London edition), "The books of the New Testament, though -most perfect _rules_ of Christian doctrine, could not be made _laws_ by -any other authority than that of kings or sovereign assemblies." His -doctrine with regard to Christianity is, that socially considered it is -"good and safe advice," but not obligatory law till the government of a -country shall make it so. This part of the philosopher's theory runs on -the same line with Erastianism, only it is pushed further. - -[418] Altogether there were ten or eleven Independents in the Assembly. -Baillie mentions Goodwin, Nye, Burroughs, Bridge, Carter, Caryl, -Philips, and Sterry.--_Letters, &c._, ii. 110. - -[419] His works have been recently republished. His _Commentary on the -Epistle to the Ephesians_ illustrates what is said here. - -[420] See _The Wounded Conscience Cured, &c.,_ by William Bridge, -1642. - -[421] Baillie remarks: "Liberty of conscience, and toleration of all -or any religion, is so prodigious an impiety, that this religious -Parliament cannot but abhor the very naming of it. Whatever may be the -opinions of John Goodwin, Mr. Williams, and some of that stamp, yet Mr. -Burroughs, in his late _Irenicum_, upon many unanswerable arguments, -explodes that abomination."--See _Tracts on Liberty of Conscience_, 270. - -[422] Neal says he died of consumption (_Hist._, iii. 377), but -the following appears in the _Perfect Occurrences_, 13th November, -1646:--"This day Mr. Burrows, the minister, a godly, reverend man, -died. It seems he had a bruise by a fall from a horse some fortnight -since; he fell into a fever, and of that fever died, and is by many -godly people much lamented." - -[423] P. 190. - -[423] I do not attempt to vindicate this great man against the charge -of inconsistency. One side of a subject was everything to him while -he gazed at it. He had no faculty for harmonizing apparently opposite -truths, and was apt, as ardent men are, to fall into errors, from which -his clearly expressed opinion on certain points ought to have saved -him. Mr. Hallam (_Literature of Europe_, iii. 112), in whose severe -judgment of Taylor's inconsistency I cannot coincide, thinks that one -inconsistent chapter, (the seventeenth) was interpolated after the -rest of the treatise was complete. This is possible, but it is also -possible that Taylor when first writing his book might suddenly swing -from one side to the other, and then come round again. It has been -said that Taylor forgot his liberality when he became a bishop. His -biographer, Bishop Heber, attempts to meet this charge.--_Works_, i. -30. It may be added, that the _Dissuasive from Popery_, published in -1664, proceeds on the same principles as the _Liberty of Prophesying_. -See _Dissuasive_, part ii. book i.--_Works_, x. 383. - -How Taylor's work was regarded by a Royalist and an Episcopalian may be -seen in _Mrs. Sadleir's Letter to Roger Williams_. "I have also read -Taylor's book of the _Liberty of Prophesying_, though it please not me, -yet I am sure it does you, or else I know you would not have wrote to -me to have read it. I say, it and you would make a good fire. But have -you seen his 'Divine Institution of the Office Ministerial?'" _Life of -Roger Williams_, 99. Mrs. Sadleir was daughter of Sir Edward Coke. A -writer in the _Ecclesiastic_, April, 1853, p. 179, remarks: "Whatever -Taylor may have been thought of since, certainly his contemporaries -amongst the Church party had no very high opinion of him." - -[425] Sermon preached before the House of Commons, March 31st, 1647. - -[426] _Ward's Life of Henry More_, 171. I have here confined myself to -those in the Church of England who advocated toleration, pointing out -the grounds which they adopted as distinguished from those occupied by -the Independents. Others, who proceeded in the same advocacy on the -broadest principles of justice, will be hereafter noticed, _i.e._, John -Goodwin, Leonard Busher, and Sir Henry Vane. Of the last of these it -may be remarked that so early as 1637 he used this memorable language, -in New England: "Scribes and Pharisees, and such as are confirmed in -any way of error, all such are not to be denied cohabitation, but are -to be pitied and reformed; Ishmael shall dwell in the presence of his -brethren." (_Bancroft's United States_, i. 390.) The most thorough -advocate of intellectual liberty in the New World was Roger Williams, -who, though in many respects an impracticable man, and wanting in -catholicity of spirit, appears to have been an original and intrepid -champion for the political independence of theological opinions, as -well as a noble minded and disinterested leader in colonial enterprise. -Milton advocates toleration in his _Areopagitica_, a speech to the -Parliament of England for the liberty of unlicensed printing, 1644. -Harrington's _Political Aphorisms_, in which liberty of conscience -is justly placed on a political basis, was not published until 1659. -Episcopius and Crellius were early advocates for toleration. See -Hallam's Introduction to _Literature of Europe_, iii. 103, 104. - -[427] _Const. Hist._, i. 612. - -[428] The petition is largely quoted by Waddington in his _Surrey -Congregational History_, p. 32, and the pamphlet, entitled _Queries of -Highest Consideration_, is quoted in _Hanbury_, ii. 246. - -[429] For proofs and illustrations of this we refer to our second -volume. In the meanwhile we may observe that in _An Attestation_, -published by the Cheshire ministers in 1648, allusion is made to some -of the Independents as "averse in a great measure to such a toleration -as might truly be termed intolerable and abominable"--meaning by that -universal toleration.--_Nonconformity in Cheshire._ Introduction, xxvi. - -[430] _Life of Goodwin, by Jackson_, 93. - -[431] _A Reply of Two of the Brethren to A. S._, 1644. Quoted by -Jackson, p. 116. Goodwin states "that the part which treats of -religious liberty was the production of his own pen."--_Jackson_, 57. - -[432] Baillie, writing to Mr. Spang, May 17th, 1644, (_Letters_, -ii. 184,) says: "The Independents here, finding they have not the -magistrate so obsequious as in New England, turn their pens, as you -will see in M.S.," (which he had before identified as Goodwin's, of -Coleman Street,) "to take from the magistrate all power of taking -any coercive order with the vilest heretics. Not only they praise -your magistrate who for policy gives some secret tolerance to diverse -religions, wherein, as I conceive, your Divines preach against them -as great sinners; but avows that by God's command the magistrate is -discharged to put the least discourtesy on any man--Jew, Turk, Papist, -Socinian, or whatever, for his religion." "The five will not say this, -but M.S. is of as great authority here as any of them." Yet, though -this sentiment is by Baillie confined to Goodwin, and expressly said -not to be shared by the five, it has by some been put into the lips of -Nye. - -[433] As I have already observed, Harrington also did this. One of his -political aphorisms on the subject is admirable, "When civil liberty, -is entire it includes liberty of conscience. When liberty of conscience -is entire, it includes civil liberty." - -[434] _Letter from Grindal to Bullinger, June 11th, 1568. Zurich -Letters, First Series._ - -[435] This is extracted from p. 12 of a small volume entitled -_Historical Papers, First Series, Congregational Martyrs_, published by -Elliot Stock. The document bears internal signs of genuineness, but it -is not said where the original may be found. - -[436] _Ecce Homo_, 16. - -[437] April 21st, 1581. - -[438] _Fuller's Church Hist._, iii. 62. - -[439] _Strype's Annals_, vol. iii. part i. 22-30. - -[440] _Fuller's Church Hist._, iii. 65. - -[441] _Lansdowne M.S._, 115, art. 55. Lord Keeper Bacon had a chaplain -of Puritan tendencies. See _Strype's Parker_, ii. 69. Lady Bacon -shewed her learning and Protestant zeal by translating _Jewel's -Apology_,--_Ibid._, i. 354. - -The Rev. Thomas Hill, late of Cheshunt, informs me:--"It is undeniable -that there was a congregation of Separatists as early as the days -of Elizabeth, in the neighbourhood of Theobalds. One or more of the -ministers suffered persecution and imprisonment, but I do not think -it improbable that the influence of Cecil, Lord Burleigh, who then -resided at Theobalds, may have afforded some degree of protection to -the Nonconformists of the neighbourhood." - -[442] _Hanbury_, i. 38. _Harl. Miscellany_, ii. 21. - -[443] _Strype's Annals_, iv. 245. _Hanbury_, i. 85. - -[444] Published by Camden Society. - -[445] This is the name written in the MS., no doubt intended for -_Greenwood_. - -[446] Letter from Thomas Phillips to William Sterrell, April 7, 1593. -_State Papers, Dom._ The bracketed portions are underlined in the -original, the writer desiring, in a postscript, that the passages so -marked, should be "disguised with cipher." - -[447] _Strype's Annals_, iv. 186. _Hanbury's Mem._, i. 90. The -Archbishop referred to was Whitgift. Rippon died in 1592. - -[448] "He was a person most excellently well read in theological -authors, but withal was a most zealous Puritan, or, as his son Henry -used to say, the first Independent in England."--_Wood's Ath. Oxon._, -i. 464. - -[449] Jacob's book, printed at Middleburgh, 1599, was entitled: _A -Defence of the Churches and Ministry of England. Written in two -Treatises against the Reasons and Objections of Mr. Francis Johnson -and others of the Separation called Brownists._ Johnson replied in an -_Answer to Master H. Jacob, his Defence, &c._ 1600. - -[450] _Hanbury's Mem._, i. 226. - -[451] See _Hanbury's Mem._, i. 227. - -[452] His name is spelt in different ways. - -[453] The church of which Lathrop was minister is said to have -been formed in Southwark; if so, the fact of its now assembling in -Blackfriars shews how, in times of persecution, the places of meeting -were changed according to circumstances. As they had no chapels, and -were proscribed by law, they met where they could. - -[454] His name was ordinarily spelt "_ten_," although it stands "_tin_" -in the MS. He was Judge of the Prerogative Court, and father of Henry -Mart_e_n. - -[455] Dr. Thomas Rives was the King's Advocate. - -[456] In an interesting volume, just published by Dr. Waddington, -entitled _Surrey Congregational History_, the following entries taken -from the records of the High Commission in relation to Lathrop and -Eaton, at a later date, are inserted, p. 20:--"June 12, 1634. John -Lathrop, of Lambeth Marsh. Bond to be certified, and to be attached, if -he appear not on the next Court-day.--June 19, 1634. Bond ordered to be -certified, and he to be attached for non-appearance.--October 9. Samuel -Eaton and John Lathrop to be attached for non-appearance, and bonds to -be certified.--February 19, 1634-5. Samuel Eaton and John Lathrop, for -contempt, in not appearing to answer articles touching their keeping -conventicles. Their bonds ordered to be certified, and they attached -and committed." - -[457] _The Brownist's Synagogue_, 1641. - -[458] Henry Jacob, probably, is the first who used the term independent -in relation to a Christian Church. "Each congregation," he says, "is -an entire and _Independent_ body politic, and endowed with power -immediately under and from Christ, as every proper Church is and ought -to be."--_Declaration and Plainer Opening of Certain Points, &c._, -1611, p. 13. - -[459] I am indebted for this and other extracts from the Yarmouth -Corporation Records to a MS. history of the Yarmouth Church, compiled -by my friend, the late Mr. Davey, of that town. - -[460] The words printed in italics are underscored in the copy from -which these extracts are transcribed. - -[461] This Confession is described, and extracts from it are given in -_Hanbury_, i. 293. It is attributed to Henry Jacob. - -[462] _Hanbury's Memorials_, ii. 279-281. - -[463] _Ibid._, ii. 409. - -In a pamphlet by Katherine Chidley, it is asserted the Separatists -supported their own poor.--_Hanbury's Memorials_, ii. 112. - -[464] The whole account of Congregationalism in Yarmouth is drawn up -from the records of the Corporation, and of the Independent Church -there. - -[465] See _Oxoniana_, iv. 188; and copy of the woodcut in _Knight's Old -England_. - -The Parliamentarians made a great mistake in not planting a garrison -at Oxford, as they might have easily done when the war broke out.--See -_Whitelocke's Memorials_, 63. The shrewd lawyer was not destitute -of military insight, and justly blames Lord Say, who was opposed -to the Parliament's taking possession of the city, because of the -"improbability, in his opinion, that the King would settle there." - -[466] _Macaulay's Hist._, iii. 18. - -[467] _Life of Chillingworth, by P. Des Maizeaux,_ 277. - -[468] _Rushworth_, v. 354. - -[469] A year afterwards, we find the following statement in _Perfect -Occurrences_ (June 17, 1644), where after describing the cruel -spoliation of Abingdon and Worcester by fire by the Cavaliers, the -news-writer thus continues:--"I could here insert the platform of all -their projects, had I room to bring it in, set forth in a picture, -intended to be sent to Seville, in Spain, and to be hanged in the -great cathedral there, this day brought before the Parliament, where -the Queen directs the King to present his sceptre to the Pope, and all -the Cavaliers with him, and popish leaders with her, rejoicing to see -it, he having a joyant, [this means perhaps, _joyan_, _a jewel_] to -resemble his Majesty and she the Virgin Mary, and this motto upon the -cases: '_Para Sancta Aña de Sevilla_.' This picture is to be hung up -for public view, and is enough to convince the strongest malignant in -England." - -[470] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 236. - -[471] _Meditations on the Times_, xvii. - -[472] _Rushworth_, v. 346. - -[473] _Ussher's Life, by Elrington_, 238. - -[474] _Life_, by Heber prefixed to his _Works_, i. 21, and another, by -_Willmott_, 112. - -[475] _Memorials of Fuller, by Russell_, 142, 148, 151, 153. - -[476] He however maintained that Episcopacy was Apostolic. _Life_, 299, -300. - -[477] There are several papers relating to Chillingworth in the Lambeth -MSS. Nos. 943, 857-935. - -[478] Yet Cheynell says, while some thought him uncharitable, -others were of opinion he had been too indulgent in suffering Mr. -Chillingworth to be buried like a Christian.--See _Life of William -Chillingworth, by P. Des Maizeaux_, for the particulars we have given. - -It has been stated that Cheynell was deranged, and certainly his own -account of his conduct towards Chillingworth would indicate that at -least he was touched. But then, after all this, we find him sent down -as a visitor to Oxford, and made President of St. John's. Hoadly -says he was as pious, honest, and charitable as his bigotry would -permit. Eachard refers to him as a man of considerable learning and -great abilities.--_Neal_, iii. 470. We have introduced this type of -character, not as common, but as one without which an account of the -religious phases of the time would be incomplete. - -In 1658, Hartlib, writing to Pell, observes: "Cheynell is not shot as -was reported, but certain that he is fallen distracted, and is sent to -Bedlam."--_Letters in Vaughan's Protectorate of Cromwell_, ii. 462. - -[479] _Life of the Rev. John Barwick, D.D._, written in Latin by his -brother Dr. Peter Barwick, Physician in Ordinary to King Charles II., -and translated into English by the editor of the Latin life. Though a -fierce royalist production, and, in some respects, untrustworthy, yet -it relates several curious facts not elsewhere found. - -[480] 1st April, 1643.--_Husband's Collection_, 13. - -[481] May 16th, and June 10th, 1643. _Husband's Collection_. Laud gives -a detailed account of this business in the History of his _Troubles and -Trials_.--_Works_, iv. 16. The Vicar General was Sir Nathaniel Brent, -who, when he saw the Presbyterians begin to be dominant, sided with -them. _Wood's Ath. Oxon._, ii. 161. - -[482] A case of this kind is mentioned in _Blomefield's History of -Norfolk_, ii. 424, in a note relating to John Peck, A.M., of Hingham. - -[483] _Commons' Journals_, 27th of July, 1643. _Husband's Collection_, -311. Persons accused were to have timely notice, in order that they -might make their defence. - -[484] The following illustrations are from the volumes in the Record -Office.--_Dom. Inter._, 1646. - -[485] In the State Paper Office I find a case submitted to Lord Chief -Justice Heath, in March, 1644, relative to sueing for tithes, in which -his lordship gives opinion "that where the bishop, or other inferior -judge, will not, dare not, or cannot do justice, the superior Court may -and ought to do it." _State Papers, Dom._, 1643, March 22nd. - -[486] See _Scobell_ (1644), 45; (1647), 85; (1648), 110. - -[487] The Parliamentary Journals testify to various kinds of -ecclesiastical affairs which came under the notice of the whole -House, such as allowances to ministers, the collecting of pew-rents, -contributions in churches for those who suffered in the wars, -appointments to livings, &c., &c.--See Entries, August 26th, Sept. 7th, -11th, 19th, October 14th, and Dec. 16th, 1644. - -[488] Parliament conferred powers on Lord Fairfax in February, 1644, -whilst he was in the north, and the next month, commissioners there -received the following warrant:-- - -"Whereas we are credibly informed that many ministers in the -several counties of Nottingham, York, bishopric of Durham, -Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland, the town and county of -Newcastle-upon-Tyne, the city and county of the city of York, and the -town of Nottingham, are not only of scandalous life and conversation, -but leaving their charges and cures, have withdrawn themselves -wilfully from the same, and have joined with such forces as are raised -against Parliament and Kingdom, and have aided and assisted the said -forces, and that many that would give evidence against such scandalous -ministers are not able to travel to London, nor bear the expenses of -such journeys, you have therefore hereby full power and authority -to call before you, &c., &c., and to eject such as you shall judge -unfit for their places, and to sequester their livings and spiritual -promotions, and to place others in their room, such as shall be -approved, godly, learned, and orthodox divines, &c., &c. And further, -you shall have power to dispose a fifth part of all such estates as you -shall sequester for the benefit of the wives and children of any the -aforesaid persons, &c., &c."--_State Papers, Dom._, March 6th, 1643-4. - -With the sword of Fairfax, a real Andrea Ferrara, and other relics -of the Commonwealth, there is preserved at Farnley Hall, Yorkshire, -the silver matrix of a seal for the licensing of preachers. It shews -within a circlet of leaves an open Bible, inscribed "The Word of God," -with the words running round the edge, "The Seal for the Approbation -of Ministers." It is engraved in _Scott's Antiquarian Gleanings in the -North of England_. - -See Resolutions in Journals, August 29th, 1644. - -[489] _Rushworth_, vi. 212. - -[490] _Great Fight in the Church at Thaxted_, 1647. Quoted in _Davis's -Nonconformity in Essex_. - -[491] _Rushworth_, iv. 113-123. - -These articles, charging him with introducing Popish innovations into -Scotland, are given by Laud, together with his replies, in the _History -of his Troubles_. _Works_, iii. 301. Laud's answers are not those of a -Papist, but those of a thorough Anglo-Catholic. Another set of charges -was presented against the bishops generally. _Works_, iii. 379. How -the thing was talked about in Scotland appears in the _History of the -Troubles in England and Scotland_ (Ballatyne Club), 275. - -[492] Laud, in his Diary, March 24, 1642-3, alludes to plots to send -him and Wren to New England.--_Works_, iv. 19. - -[493] _Neal_, iii. 176. Laud says, under date January 22, -1643-4:--"This day the Thames was so full of ice that I could not go by -water. It was frost and snow, and a most bitter day. I went, therefore, -with the Lieutenant in his coach, and twelve wardens, with halberts, -went all along the streets." "So from the Tower-gate to Westminster I -was sufficiently railed on and reviled all the way. God, of his mercy, -forgive the misguided people! My answer being put in, I was for that -time dismissed; and the tide serving me, I made a hard shift to return -by water."--_Works_, iv. 45. - -[494] It has been justly remarked that the Greek orators were careful -to impress upon their audience that, in bringing a charge against any -one, they were actuated by the strongest personal motives. Æschines, -in his oration against Ctesiphon, expresses his intense personal spite -against Demosthenes. Christianity has taught us a different lesson, and -happily the authority of that lesson is acknowledged, and its spirit -generally exemplified by the English bar, and in the British Senate. - -With regard to Prynne, let me add that, though his prejudices might -warp his judgment, he shewed himself throughout his whole life to be -an honest man. Of his learning, there cannot be two opinions. His -great work on Parliamentary writs, in four volumes, is pronounced by -a competent judge to be so admirable, that "it is impossible to speak -of it in terms of too high commendation."--_Parry's Parliaments and -Councils_, Preface, 21. See also _Spilsbury's Lincoln's Inn_, 283. - -[495] See _Rushworth_, v. 763-780. A fuller account of the trial may be -found in _Neal_, iii. 172-242. - -[496] This is taken, not from Rushworth's report (v. 777), but from -Laud's own copy of his speech. They differ somewhat.--_Works_, iv. 60. - -[497] Quoted in _Neal_, iii. 239. - -[498] Laud said in his defence: "The result must be of the same -nature and species with the particulars from which it rises. But 'tis -confessed no one of the particulars are treason, therefore, neither is -the result that rises from them. And this holds in nature, in morality, -and in law."--_Works_, iv. 380. - -In reply to Serjeant Wylde's argument, that the misdemeanours together, -by accumulation made up treason, Laud's advocate wittily observed: "I -crave your mercy, good Mr. Serjeant, I never understood before this -time that two hundred couple of black rabbits would make a black horse." - -[499] _Walton's Lives_, 390. - -[500] Heylyn says, in his _Life of Archbishop Laud_ (527), that Stroud -was sent up to the Lords with a message from the House of Commons, to -let them know that the Londoners would shortly petition with 20,000 -hands to obtain that ordinance. - -The arguments of the Commons in support of the attainder, as presented -to the Lords, are given in the journals of the latter, under date, _Die -Sabbati, 4 die Januarii_. - -Heylyn (528) states, that only seven Lords concurred in the sentence; -Clarendon (519), that there were not above twelve peers in the House -at the time. In the Journals the names of nineteen appear at the -commencement of the minutes of the sitting. - -[501] _Lives of the Chancellors_, iii. 204; _Const. Hist._, i. 577; -_Hist. of Commonwealth_, i. 428. - -[502] _Life of Pocock, by Dr. Twells_, 84. See also a curious tract -respecting Laud in _Harleian Miscel._, iv. 450. - -[503] _Rushworth_, v. 781. "Let us run with patience that race that is -set before us, looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, -who for the joy that was set before him, endured the cross, despising -the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God." - -[504] _Rushworth_, v. 785. - -[505] A newspaper notices that:--Whereas he had been the archpatron of -those who branded honest men with the name of roundheads more than hath -been usual, his own head when cut off, though sawdust had been laid -about the block, "did tumble once or twice about like a ball." - -[506] Henry Rogers. - -[507] See _Bruce's Account of Laud's Berkshire Benefactions_. - -Mr. Bruce, who has had ample means of judging of Laud's character, -observes:--"A winking at a little finesse designed to accomplish some -end, supposed to be for the good of the Church, is all that may be -brought home to him--his hands were never defiled by the touch of a -bribe."--_Calendar of State Papers, Dom., 1635. Preface._ - -[508] Overstrained parallels between Laud and Wolsey were drawn in the -pamphlets of the day.--See _Harl. Miscell._, iv. 462. - -I may add that Dunstan and Laud were alike _insular_ men, if that -term may be used to distinguish them from Becket and Wolsey, both of -whom had large intercourse with the Continent. Dunstan and Laud were -narrower in their feeling and character than the other two. I have -before noticed the resemblance between Dunstan and Laud in point of -influence. - -[509] _Journals of the Lords_, January 4th, 1645. - -[510] _An Anatomy of the Service Book, by Dwalphintramis. Southey's -Common-place Book_, iii. 40. - -[511] See _Christ on the Throne_. 1640. - -[512] A letter by George Gillespie, on the Directory, being -forwarded to Scotland, shews the difficulty there was in getting it -passed.--_Baillie_, ii., _App._ 505. He says, May 9th, 1645: "I pray -you be careful that the Act of the General Assembly, approving the -Directory, be not so altered as to make it a straiter imposition." -"Sure I am, the Directory had never past the Assembly of Divines, if it -had not been for the qualifications in the preface. This is only for -yourself, except ye hear any controversy about it in your meeting." - -[513] _Baillie's Letters_, ii. 271. - -[514] _Scobell_, 97. - -[515] The following should be recorded to Whitelocke's credit. 1646. -Oct. 26. "Indictment in Bucks for not reading the Common Prayer -complained of. Ordered that an ordinance be brought in to take away -the statute that enjoins it, and to disable malignant ministers from -preaching. This was much opposed by me and some others, as contrary -to that principle which the Parliament had avowed of liberty of -conscience, and like that former way complained of against the bishops -for silencing of ministers."--_Memorials_, 226. The diarist here shews -that the use of the Prayer Book was not considered by the Royalists to -be legally abolished. - -I may here add that Whitelocke was not a party man. He sympathized -with Presbyterian leaders in wishing to save the monarchy, but he -co-operated with Independents in advocating religious liberty. - -[516] _Mant's History of the Church of Ireland_, i. 587-594. - -[517] _Lathbury's History of Convocation_, 497. - -[518] _Clarendon's Hist._, 515. - -[519] While the Oxford Lords were in London on the embassy, there was, -according to the Diurnal, entitled _Perfect Occurrences_, December 28, -a great auditory to hear the chaplain preach and read prayers. After -the sermon, it is said, the people were very merry, and a young lady -and gentleman went dancing by the river side, and fell in--"good for -them to cool their courage in frosty weather." - -[520] _Whitelocke_, 112. The entire propositions for peace may be seen -in _Parl. Hist._, iii. 299. - -[521] _King's Cabinet opened._--_Neal_, iii. 250. - -[522] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 339. - -[523] _Memorials_, 127. - -[524] All the documents during the attempts at a treaty are given by -Dugdale in his _Short View of the late Troubles_. - -A full account is also given by _Rushworth_, v. - -[525] _Clarendon's Hist._, 521. - -Secretary Nicholas writes to the King, 5th of February, 1644: "This -morning we are to observe the fast, according to your Majesty's -proclamation; but it must be done here in the inn, for we cannot be -permitted to have the Book of Common Prayer read in the church here, -and we resolve not to go to any church where the Divine service -established by law may not be celebrated." "You have done well, but -they barbarously," Charles writes in the margin. But in the prayer -appointed by the King the war is described as "unnatural," and the -Almighty is entreated "to let the truth clearly appear, who those are -which, under pretence of the public good, do pursue their own private -ends." It was not likely the Parliament would allow that prayer to be -used.--_Nicholas' Correspondence, Evelyn_, iv. 136. - -[526] The other chief subjects were the militia and Irish affairs. - -[527] _Rushworth_, v. 818. - -[528] _Evelyn_, iv. 137. - -[529] In the British Museum there is a petition, presented in the year -1647, complaining of many hundreds of towns and villages destitute of -any preaching ministry, by occasion whereof ignorance, drunkenness, -profaneness, disaffection, &c., abound. - -[530] _Husband's Col._, 645. - -[531] See ordinance dated November the 8th, 1645, in _Rushworth_, vi. -212, and _Baillie's Letters_, ii. 349. - -[532] _Letters and Journals_, ii. 145. - -[533] _Letters and Journals_, ii. 146. - -[534] _Neal_, iii. 309. - -[535] _Lives_, 380. - -[536] _Baillie's Letters_, ii. 157. - -[537] The religious feelings of the two armies are thus stated by an -eyewitness:--"Consider the height of difference of spirits; in their -army the cream of all the Papists in England, and in ours, a collection -out of all the corners of England and Scotland of such as had the -greatest antipathy to Popery and tyranny."--_Sanford_, 597. He gives a -careful account of the battle. - -For the state of feeling in general after the victory, see _Baillie_, -ii. 201, _et seq._ - -[538] I adopt some of the words quoted by Sanford. - -[539] There was one of the Royalist soldiers at Marston Moor wounded in -the shoulder by a musket ball, who afterwards became Archbishop Dolbon, -of York, 1683-1686. The following incident is interesting:--"Mary, -daughter of Sir Francis Trappes, married Charles Towneley, of Towneley, -in Lancashire, Esquire, who was killed at the battle of Marston Moor. -During the engagement she was with her father at Knaresborough, where -she heard of her husband's fate, and came upon the field the next -morning in order to search for his body, while the attendants of the -camp were stripping and burying the dead. Here she was accosted by a -general officer, to whom she told her melancholy story. He heard her -with great tenderness, but earnestly desired her to leave a place -where, besides the distress of witnessing such a scene, she might -probably be insulted. She complied, and he called a trooper, who took -her _encroup_. On her way to Knaresborough she enquired of the man -the name of the officer to whose civility she had been indebted, and -learned that it was Lieutenant-General Cromwell."--_Sanford_, 610. - -[540] See _Lightfoot's Journal_, September 9, 1644. - -[541] Here we may mention that it is probable that John Bunyan was at -that time in the Royalist army, and that while he was fighting for the -King the incident occurred so often related of his post being occupied -by a comrade who could handle a musket better than he could do, and -who, on account of his superior skill and bravery, unfortunately -received a fatal carbine shot which otherwise might have killed our -matchless dreamer. Nobody can say what the world lost by that poor -fellow's death, but everybody knows what the world gained by John -Bunyan's preservation. - -[542] For a full account of the battle of Naseby see _England's -Recovery, by Joshua Sprigg_, 1647. It is he who reports the complaints -we have noticed. See p. 6 of his interesting narrative. - -[543] There is an interesting letter by Cromwell, dated July 10, 1645, -giving an account of the Naseby fight, reprinted in _Sanford_, p. 625, -from pamphlets in Lincoln College, Oxford. As the letter is not in -_Carlyle_ (2nd edition), I give the following extract:--"Thus you see -what the Lord hath wrought for us. Can any creature ascribe anything to -itself? Now can we give all the glory to God, and desire all may do so, -for it is all due unto Him. Thus you have _Long Sutton_ mercy added to -_Naseby_ mercy; and to see this, is it not to see the face of God? You -have heard of Naseby; it was a happy victory. As in this, so in that, -God was pleased to use His servants; and if men will be malicious, and -swell with envy, we know who hath said--'If they will not see, yet they -shall see and be ashamed for their envy at his people.' I can say this -of Naseby, that when I saw the enemy draw up, and march in gallant -order towards us, and we a company of poor ignorant men, to seek how -to order our battle, the general having commanded me to order all the -horse. I could not (riding alone about my business) but smile out to -God in praises, in assurance of victory, because God would, by things -that are not, bring to nought things that are, of which I had great -assurance, and God did it. Oh, that men would therefore praise the -Lord, and declare the wonders that He doth for the children of men!" - -[544] Nevertheless, Royalist hopes were unquenched as late as the month -of September, 1645. - -"If you consider," it is said in an anonymous letter of that date, in -the State Paper Office, "the strange extremities we were then in, the -progress which we have made, and our wonderful success at last in the -relieving of Hereford and chasing away the Scots, at a time when, in my -conscience, within one week there had been a general revolt of South -Wales (which is now likely to be entirely settled), you will think that -it promises to us and portends to the rebels a strange revolution in -the whole face of affairs; and if to this you add the miracles done by -the same time by my Lord Montrose, in Scotland (who hath made himself -entirety master of that kingdom), you will have reason to join with -me in the confidence, that we shall have, by God's blessing, as quick -a progress to happiness as we have had to the greatest extremities. I -must confess, for my part, that these miracles, besides the worldly joy -they give me, have made me even a better Christian, by begetting in me -a stronger faith and reliance upon God Almighty, than before; having -manifested that it is wholly His work, and that He will bring about His -intended blessings upon this just cause, by ways the most impossible to -human understanding, and consequently teach us to cast off all reliance -upon our own strength." - -This letter is dated September the 9th, 1645, and is addressed to Lord -Byron. - -[545] _Life of Dod._--_Brooks' Lives_, iii. 4. - -[546] _Brook_, iii. 80. - -[547] _Wood_, ii. 89, says this was _Aulkryngton_, commonly called -Okerton, near Banbury, in Oxfordshire; but I cannot find in -Topographical Dictionaries any mention of such a place. - -[548] _Brook's Lives_, iii. 10. See also p. 63. - -[549] _Walker's Sufferings_, part ii. 183-185, 193. - -I have lighted on the following scraps in newspapers of the day:-- - -Mr. Bullinger, of Lincolnshire (sometime chaplain to a Regent of the -King), grandchild to the old bishop, being newly returned from France, -where he hath lately been, is sent up by the Committee of Dover, very -poor, in a gray suit, and neither cloak to his back nor money in his -purse; and yet he scruples the taking of the Covenant, and desires time -to consider of it. His examinations were this day taken.--_Perfect -Occurrences_, 18th of December, 1646. - -A story is told of a singing man from Peterborough, who went to -Wisbeach, as clerk, and then read the burial service, when he was -insulted in the rudest manner, and knocked down, the poor fellow crying -out, "I am a Covenanter."--_Moderate Intelligence_, January, 1647. - -[550] _Letters_, ii. 274. - -[551] _Letters_, ii. 298, 299. - -Baillie complains of the growing influence of the Erastians.--_Ibid._, -311, 318, 320. - -[552] These rules are given in _Rushworth_, vi. 210. - -[553] _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, ii. 362, _et seq._ - -[554] _Ibid._, 344. - -[555] _Godwin_, ii. 10. - -[556] _Neal_, iii. 311. - -[557] See _Letter to Parliament_, in _Rushworth_, vi. 234. - -[558] _Baillie_, ii. 367. For the Parliament's notice of what the Scots -had said, see _Declaration_, in _Rushworth_, vi. 257. The notice is -only in the way of general allusion. - -[559] _Froude's History of England_, vii. 340. - -[560] _Neal_, iii. 330. - -[561] _Neal_, iii. 381. _Hetherington's History of the Westminster -Assembly_, 300. - -[562] _Rushworth_, vii. 1035. At a conference between the Lords and -Commons, on March 22nd, 1648, the latter declared their consent to -the doctrinal parts, with the desire that the same be "made public, -that this kingdom and all the reformed Churches of Christendom may -see the Parliament of England differ not in doctrine." It is added, -"particulars in discipline are recommitted." Of the confession of -faith the title was altered to "_articles of faith_, agreed upon by -both Houses of Parliament, as most suitable to the former title of -the Thirty-nine Articles." The Covenant was legally enforced, but the -Westminster Confession never was. Only part of it, under the title of -_Articles_, ever became law at all. - -[563] _Baillie_, iii., _Appendix_, 537, _et seq._ A full account is -there given of Rouse's revised version, 1646, in connexion with the -present Scotch version, published in 1650, p. 549. - -[564] _Prose Works_, vol. ii., 40. - -[565] _Life and Times_, part i. 73. - -[566] Hallam speaks of the Assembly as "perhaps equal in learning, good -sense, and other merits, to any Lower House of Convocation that ever -made a figure in England."--_Const. Hist._, i. 609. - -[567] _Sprigg's England's Recovery_, 326. - -[568] _Opera_, iii. 466. - -[569] _Life and Times_, part i. 53-56. - -[570] _Owen's Works, edited by Russell_, xv. 96. - -[571] I find the following reference to Peters in the State Papers:-- - -"Dec. 10.--The fifteen articles and covenant of Hugh Peters, minister -of the English congregation in Rotterdam, stated in an indorsement, -which is in the handwriting of Sir William Boswell, to have been -proposed to that congregation before their admission to the communion. -The following are examples of these articles: '1. Be contented with -meet trial for our fitness to be members. 2. Cleave in heart to the -truth and pure worship of God, and oppose all ways of innovation and -corruption. 3. Suffer the Word to be the guider of all controversies. -10. Meditate the furthering of the Gospel at home and abroad, as -well in our persons as with our purses. 11. Take nearly to heart our -brethren's condition, and conform ourselves to these troublesome times -in our diet and apparel, that they be without excess in necessity. 14. -Put one another in mind of this covenant, and as occasion is offered, -to take an account of what is done in the premises.'"--_Calendar of -State Papers, Domestic_, 1633-4, p. 318. - -[572] The imputations on Peters's moral character were no doubt -malicious falsehoods.--_Brook's Lives_, iii. 350. - -[573] Abridged from _Life of Colonel Hutchinson_, 151. - -[574] _Ath. Oxon._, ii. 287. - -The Westminster Assembly condemned certain positions in Saltmarsh's -writings, as well as in the writings of Dr. Crisp, and Mr. John Eaton, -for their Antinomian tendencies.--See _Neal_, iii. 68. Neal does not -say what the passages were. Edwards, in his _Gangræna_, part i., 25, -26, gives a list of their tenets, but we place little dependence on -his accusations. It is very likely, however, that Saltmarsh might lay -himself open to the charge of Antinomianism. We have not seen his book -on _Free-grace_, in which perhaps the dangerous tenets he was charged -with are to be looked for. - -[575] As an example of the kind of preaching by these officers we may -mention a tract entitled "_Orders given out--the word Stand fast_, as -it was lately delivered in a farewell sermon, by Major Samuel Kem, to -the officers and soldiers of his regiment in Bristol, November 8th, -1646." The discourse is full of military allusions. - -[576] _Journal of the Swedish Embassy_, 1653-4. - -[577] _Neal_, iii. 330. - -[578] This is the account in _Ashburnham's Narrative_, ii. 72. -Rushworth says the King came to Brentford and Harrow, and then went to -St. Albans, vi. 267. Ashburnham's is, no doubt, the correct story. - -Hacket tells the following story in the _Life of Archbishop Williams_: -"His Majesty, unwilling to stay to the last in a city begirt, by the -persuasion of Mons. Mountrevile, went privily out of Oxford, and -put himself into the hands of his native countrymen and subjects at -Newcastle. 'What,' says Mr. Archbishop, when he heard of it, 'be -advised by a stranger, and trust the Scots; then all is lost.' It was -a journey not imparted to above ten persons to know it, begun upon -sudden resolution against that rule of Tacitus: '_Bona consilia morâ -valescere_.'"--_Memorial of Williams_, ii. 222. - -[579] There is an important memorandum for Lord Balcarras "anent the -King's coming to the Scots' army," in _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, -ii. 514. _Appendix._ - -[580] _Charles I. in 1646._ Letters published by the Camden Society. - -[581] _Neal_, iii. 336-347. - -[582] _Rushworth_, vi. 319. - -[583] _Rushworth_, vi. 309. - -[584] _Mercurius Civicus_, Oct. 8-15, 1646. - -"By letters from Scotland we were this day advertised that the Estates -of Edinburgh have sent up their determination to the Commissioners at -Worcester House. One, 'That Presbyterian government be established, as -that which will suit best with monarchy.'" - -It was commonly said at Newcastle, that his Majesty would take the -Covenant. - -[585] _Charles I. in 1646_, 63, 86. - -[586] _Charles I. in 1646_, 6, 11. See also Ogle's letter, printed in -this volume, p. 306. - -[587] _Ibid._, 24. In reading Charles's correspondence we observe that, -whatever may be said of fanatical ideas of providence entertained by -Puritans, ideas equally fanatical were entertained by the King.--See -_Mr. Bruce's Introduction to the volume of Letters_. - -[588] See Journals under date. Godwin, in his _Commonwealth_, ii. 66, -236, 246, after a careful examination of the Journals on the subject, -explains distinctly the series of enactments with regard to the -establishment of Presbyterianism. - -[589] _Baillie_, ii. 357. "They have passed an ordinance, not only for -appeal from the General Assembly to the Parliament, for two ruling -elders, for one minister in every church-meeting, for no censure, -except in such particular offences as they have enumerat; but also, -which vexes us most, and against which we have been labouring this -month bygone, a court of civil commissioners in every county, to whom -the congregational elderships must bring all cases not enumerat, to -be reported by them, with their judgment, to the Parliament or their -Committee. This is a trick of the Independents' invention, of purpose -to enervate and disgrace all our Government, in which they have been -assisted by the lawyers and the Erastian party. This troubles us -exceedingly. The whole Assembly and ministry over the kingdom, the body -of the city, is much grieved with it; but how to help it, we cannot -well tell. In the meantime, it mars us to set up anything; the anarchy -continues, and the vilest facts do daily encrease." - -[590] _Husband_, 919. - -[591] _Neal_, iii. 385. - -[592] _Scobell_, (1647-8,) 139, 165. - -[593] 1646. October the 8th.--On the question in the Lords for passing -the ordinance, "the votes were even, so nothing could be resolved on -at this time." Only nine earls and five barons were present. October -the 9th.--"And the question being put, 'Whether to agree to the said -ordinance as it was brought up from the House of Commons?' Audit -was agreed to in the affirmative." Seven earls and five barons were -present.--_Lords' Journals._ - -[594] _Husband's Collection_, 922. - -[595] _Husband_, 934. - -[596] Printed in _Harleian Miscellany_, iv. 419. - -[597] This information respecting wills is drawn from Sir H. Nicholas' -_Notitia Historica_, 144-205. In the month of November, 1644, an -ordinance of Parliament appointed Sir Nathaniel Brent a Presbyterian -master or keeper of the Prerogative Court of Canterbury, in the room of -Dr. Merrick, a Royalist Episcopalian.--_Husband_, 582. - -In the Windsor churchwardens' accounts an instance occurs of money -paid in 1651-2 for searching the Prerogative Court for the Countess of -Devonshire's will, then lately deceased.--_Annals of Windsor_, ii. 267. - -[598] We shall describe this law in the next volume. It should be -noticed that the ordinance of 1646, respecting bishops, said nothing -about deans and chapters, or archdeacons. How they were afterwards -dealt with will also be seen hereafter. - -[599] _Scobell_, 129. - -[600] _Ibid._, 146. - -[601] In September, 1647, the certificate of certain Cheshire -justices touching a refusal to pay tithes to a Puritan, Mr. Smith, of -Tattenhall, came before the committee. Some Royalist Episcopalians -took encouragement, in their refusal, from two petitions of the -sequestered clergy to the King and Sir Thomas Fairfax. It is -certified, "from the said justices, that they conceive the ordinance -of Parliament for payment of tithes cannot be put by them into -execution without bloodshed." The Serjeant-at-Arms is commissioned -to bring these delinquents "in safe custody to answer their said -contempt."--_Nonconformity in Cheshire_, 472. - -The objections to paying tithes at that period went much further -than such objections as are urged by Paley.--_Moral and Political -Philosophy_, book vi., iii. A corn-rent, as he suggests, or such -commutation of tithes as is now adopted, would not have met the -objections. A fixed and uniform stipend paid by the State was widely -desired. - -[602] _Scobell_, 139. - -"1646, 15th December.--It is ordered that Mr. Tooley, &c., shall treat -with the dean and prebends about mending the windows and repairing -the cathedral church, and to consider whether it be fit to remove -the pulpit to the former place where it stood or not, and to examine -whether there be £100 a year appointed for the repairing of the church, -and how much thereof is in arrear." - -"1647.--8th November. It is ordered that the sheriffs shall give -entertainment to the preachers who come to preach at the cathedral -in such manner as the former sheriffs did, and that they shall give -like allowance for the same as they did."--Extracted from the _Norwich -Corporation Records_. - -[603] _Husband_, 758. The following minutes are extracted from a MS. -volume of proceedings in the library of Sion College, London. - -December, 1644. At a meeting of the governors of the school and -almshouses of Westminster:-- - -Whereas the governors of the schools and almshouses of Westminster, -have, by their former order, nominated and appointed Mr. Strong to be -minister of the Abbey Church, Westminster, in the room and place of Mr. -Marshall, and in regard Mr. Marshall cannot well perform the service -any longer, without inconveniency to him; it is ordered that the said -Mr. Strong be desired to undertake the service so soon as possibly he -can, and he is to have the allowance of £200 and a house; being the -same allowance as the said Mr. Marshall had for his pains, to be taken -therein. And the trustees are to pay him the same £200 and quarterly by -even and equal portions. The first payment to commence from the time he -shall begin the service, and to continue till he shall leave it. - -At a committee of the Lords and Commons for the College of Westminster, -sitting in the dean's house, the 3rd March, 1645-6:-- - -After reciting the ordinance of the 18th of November the committee "do -nominate and appoint Mr. Philip Nye, minister of God's Word, to preach -the term lecture in the said collegiate church, and receive the yearly -stipend and allowance for the same. And the Reverend General of the -said College for the time being is hereby authorized and required to -pay the same unto the said Mr. Philip Nye, at such time as the same -hath been heretofore usually paid, and we do further nominate and -appoint the said Mr. P. Nye to preach the lecture upon every Lord's -day in the morning, at seven of the clock, for which he shall receive -such allowance as hereafter shall be settled and appointed by this -committee." - -9th July, 1646.--By an order of this date, Mr. Nye was to have £50 a -year, to be paid quarterly. - -_Same day._--Mr. Marshall, Mr. Palmer, Mr. Herle, Dr. Staunton, Mr. -Nye, Mr. Witaire (?), and Mr. Strong, were appointed to the morning -lecture constantly to be performed every day of the week. - -July 13th.--Mr. John Bond, preacher at the Savoy in the Strand, was -appointed one of the seven morning lecturers for the Abbey on the week -day. - -[604] _Commons' Journals_, December 2nd, 1643. - -[605] _Annals of Windsor_, ii. 205. - -[606] _Hist. of the University of Cambridge_, 233. "The Colleges have -already sent to the King £6,000, and are now about to send their plate -to make shrines for Diane's temple. Magdalene College plate, beginning -the march, was seized on by Parliament authority, and is deposited in -the Mayor's custody. St. John's College conceived a better secrecy by -water, and that way conveyed their plate; but having intelligence of -discovery, they landed it in the night into a dung-cart, and returned -it to the College. It is said now they expect a convoy of horse. King's -College refused to send plate, the Master affirming that it is directly -against their oath, binding them in express words, not to alienate the -plate of the College. If he be not deceived in his judgment, it will -be a problem for the rest of the masters."--_Tanner MSS._ 63, p. 116. -_Sanford's Illustrations_, 514. - -[607] _Husband's Collections_, 415, 416. - -"The Masters of Queen's, Jesus, and St. John's, were sent up to London, -and led through the midst of Bartholomew Fair in a leisurely manner, to -the endangering of their lives, up as far as Temple Bar, and so back -through the City to the Tower, on purpose that they might be hooted -at and stoned by the rabble."--_Coles' MSS._, vol. vii., quoted in -_Akerman's Hist. of University_, i. 260. - -The Master of Queen's, and some others, are said to have been put on -board a ship at Wapping, where they suffered much, and were then sent -to prison. It is impossible to determine the exact truth amidst the -exaggerated statements by Walker. Hot-headed party men always overshoot -the mark, and bring discredit even on the truths they tell. - -[608] _Hist. of Cambridge_, 236. Sancroft did not take the Covenant. -The following extract from a letter of his to Dr. Holdsworth, Master -of Emmanuel, is very curious:--"Ah! Sir, I know our Emmanuel College -is now an object of pity and commiseration. They have left us like -John Baptist's trunk when his head was lopped off, because of a vow -or oath (or Covenant, if you will) that went before, or like Pompey's -carcase upon the shore; so _stat magni nominis umbra_. For my part, -_tædet me vivere hanc mortem_. A small matter would prevail with me -to take up the resolution to go forth any whither where I might not -hear _nec nomen, nec facta Pelopidarum_. Nor need we voluntarily give -up our stations. I fear we cannot long maintain them. And what then? -Shall I lift up my hand? I will cut it off first. Shall I subscribe my -name? I will forget it as soon. I can at least look up through this -mist and see the hand of my God holding the scourge that lashes; and -with this thought I am able to silence all the mutinies of boisterous -passions, and to charm them into a perfect calm. Sir, you will pardon -this disjointed piece: it is the production of a disquieted mind; -and no wonder if the child resembles its parent. My sorrow, as yet, -breaks forth only in abrupt sighs and broken sobs."--_D'Oyley's Life of -Archbishop Sancroft_, i. 32. - -[609] _Strype's Life of Parker_, i. 390. - -[610] _Fuller's History of Cambridge_, 205. - -[611] _Thorndike's Works_, vol. vi., Oxford edition. Note by Editor, -170. _Pure_ Emmanuel occurs in Corbet's satirical poem, 1615. It was -commonly so styled. - -[612] _Halley's Life of Goodwin_, prefixed to _Works_, vol. ii. of -Nichol's edit., p. 23. But Brownrigg, in 1645, was put out of the -Mastership of Trinity Hall. - -[613] Cartwright, Travers, Calamy, Seaman, Doolittle, S. Clarke, and -W. Jenkyns, came from Cambridge. Out of seventy-seven Puritan names -in _Brook_, I find forty-seven belonging to Cambridge, and thirty to -Oxford. - -[614] The four were Goodwin (Catherine), Burroughs, Bridge (Emmanuel), -and Sydrach Sympson. Nye was an Oxford man. - -[615] _Cooper_, quoted in _Notes to Thorndike_, vol. vi. 177. - -[616] _Calendar of State Papers, Chas. I._, 1633-4, _Domestic_, July -22, p. 150. - -[617] _Thorndike's Works_, vi. 169. - -[618] Cooper gives 2,091 University residents in 1641, but says it does -not include the whole.--_Thorndike_, vi. 165. Walker reports nearly 200 -masters and fellows as ejected, besides inferior scholars. Some of the -ejected heads of houses were men of moderate opinions.--_Neal_, iii. -116. - -Newcome, in his _Autobiography_, Cheetham Society, speaks of the -bitter feuds between the new and the old fellows in 1645. He judged -the supporters of the Parliament to be the most religious, "religion -being as little favoured" by many of their opponents as the Puritans -themselves were (p. 7). - -[619] They are far too numerous and varied for me to classify or -indicate. See historical account of all material transactions relating -to University.--_Laud's Works_, vol. v., part I. - -The following scrap of a newspaper shews the care taken by the -Parliament for the support of the University, and also the feeling -existing at Oxford against the Parliament:-- - -"Ordered that the Committee for the Ordinances of regulating the -University shall consider of a fitting maintenance for the masters -and heads of houses in both Universities. They also ordered that a -committee should sit constantly for giving a competent maintenance to -the late bishops until they had despatched that business. - -"The House being informed that there were monuments standing in Christ -Church, in Oxford, on which were epitaphs engraven abusive to the -Parliament, and giving just cause of distaste to many good men well -affected to it, as particulary on the monument of Sir Henry Gage and -Sir William Penniman, it was ordered that the epitaphs on the said -monuments should be razed and effaced."--_Weekly Intelligencer_, April -15th, 1647. - -[620] In the autobiography of Arthur Wilson, an Oxford student, -in 1631, this passage occurs relative to the moral state of the -University:-- - -"That which was most burdensome to me in this my retirement was the -debauchery of the University. For the most eminent scholars of the -town, especially of St. John's College, being of my acquaintance, did -work upon me by such endearments as took the name of civilities, (yet -day and night could witness our madness), and I must confess, the whole -time of my life besides did never so much transport me with drinking as -that short time I lived at Oxford, and that with some of the gravest -bachelors of divinity there."--_Peck's Desiderata Curiosa_, ii. 470. - -[621] _Walker_, part i. 127; _Neal_, iii. 446-453. - -[622] _Walton's Lives_, 388. Morley wrote in the following dignified -manner to Whitelocke, acknowledging friendly interposition on his -behalf: "Pray God he, whosoever he be that succeeds me in it, may -part with it at his death as cheerfully as I do now, and that my -judges may not have cause to be more sorry for their sentence than -I am. It is glory enough for me that Mr. Selden and Mr. Whitelocke -were of another opinion, for being absolved by you two, and mine own -conscience, I shall still think myself in a capacity of a better -condition."--_Whitelocke's Memorials_, 250. - -[623] _Wood's Ath._, ii. 215. - -Walton, so called (though he wrote his name Wauton), married Cromwell's -sister Margaret, and was one of the Commissioners of the High Court of -Justice.--_Noble's Protectorate House_, ii. 224. - -[624] _Neal_, iii. 456. - -[625] _Scobell_, (1647), 116. - -[626] _Neal_, iii. 438. - -[627] The following sentence appears in a newspaper of the period:-- - -"There are many amongst us who are called Independents, but what some -say of them, I doubt not that they will prove honest men and peaceable -for ought that I can see--experience gives them a better report than -rumour."--_Papers from the Scotch Quarters._ - -[628] The following letter, dated September 25th, 1645, was addressed -to the mayor and aldermen of Norwich:-- - -"Gentlemen--The Parliament being desirous above all things to establish -truth and righteousness in these kingdoms, towards which the settlement -of a church government is very conducible, hath resolved to settle -a presbyterial government in the kingdom. For the better effecting -whereof you are required, with the advice of godly ministers and -others, to consider how the county of the city of Norwich may be -most conveniently divided into distinct classical Presbyteries, and -what ministers and others are fit to be of each classis, and you are -accordingly to make such divisions and nominations of persons for -each classical Presbytery. Which divisions and persons so named for -every division you are to certify to the House with all expedition. W. -Lenthall, Speaker."--_Blomefield's History of Norwich_, i. 391. - -[629] This appears from a petition presented by the Presbyterians -to the mayor, in April, 1648, for a more thorough reformation, and -complaining that faithful ministers were slighted, ejected ministers -of the Church of England preferred, old ceremonies and the service -book constantly used, and the directory not observed. The petitioners -also prayed for a more thorough execution of the ordinances against -superstition and idolatry, and specified as needing to be defaced a -crucifix on the cathedral gate, another on the roof inside by the west -door, and a third upon the free-school, as well as an "image of Christ -upon the parish house of St. George's of Tombland."--_Blomefield's -History of Norwich_, i. 393. - -[630] _Vox Norwici_, or the city of Norwich vindicating their -ministers, wherein the city of Norwich, viz., the court of mayoralty -and common council, by their act of assembly, the rest of the -well-affected citizens and inhabitants by the subscription of their -names hereunto, do vindicate their ministers, Master Thornebacke, -Master Carter, Master Stinnett, Master Fletcher, Master Bond, Master -Stukeley, Master Test, and Master Mitchell, from the foul and false -aspersions and slanders, which are unchristianly thrown upon them in a -lying and scurrilous libel lately come forth, entitled "_Vox Populi_, -or the People's Cry against the Clergy," or rather the voice of a -schismatic, projecting the discouragement and driving away of our -faithful teachers, but we hope his lies shall not so, effect it. Jer. -viii. 30. London, 1646. - -[631] See _Godwin's Commonwealth_, ii. 211-220, _Memoirs of Edmund -Ludlow_, i. 172. - -[632] _Baillie's Letters and Journals_, ii. 512, Appendix. Gillespie -says, March 30th, 1647:--"In sum, the Independent party is for the -present sunk under water in the Parliament, and run down." - -[633] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 475. - -[634] _Journals._ - -[635] _Neal_, iii. 365. The following is an extract from the -Petition:--"That an ordinance be made for the exemplary punishment of -heretics and schismatics, and that all godly and orthodox ministers may -have a competent maintenance, many pulpits being vacant of a settled -minister for want of it; and here (say they) we would lay the stress of -our desires, and the urgency of our affections." They complain further -of the "undue practices of Country Committees, of the threatening power -of the army, and of some breaches in the Constitution, all of which -they desire may be redressed, and that his Majesty's royal person and -authority may be preserved and defended, together with the liberties of -the kingdom, according to the Covenant." - -[636] _Neal_, iii. 388. - -[637] See full account, with authorities, in _Baker's Northamptonshire_, -i. 201. - -[638] "The kingdom shall have peace and truth, the Churches uniformity -and concord, almost quite lost, Ireland hopes of speedy reduction, -sectaries and blasphemers shall be bridled if not extirpated, and -church government with the religion established."--_Welcome of the King -to Holmby_ (Holdenby). - -[639] _State Papers, Dom., Chas. I._ 1647. The latter is without date. - -[640] _History of Rebellion_, 610. - -[641] The funeral of the Earl of Essex, on the 22nd of October, 1646, -presented a grand display of military pomp. The Speaker, many Aldermen -of the City, and Assembly of Divines also followed in the procession -to the grave. "When they came to the Abbey Church, the effigy of the -Earl was carried in and laid upon the standing hearse, where it was to -remain during the pleasure of the House, or as many days as intervened -between his death and burial. The effigy was roughly handled one night. -The Abbey being broken into, the head of the image was broken, the buff -coat was slit, the scarlet breeches were cut, the boots were slashed, -the bands were torn, and the sword broken."--See _Perfect Relation of -the Funeral_. - -Mr. Vines, in his sermon at the interment, compared Essex to Abner, -and observed: "The funeral, for the state of it, overmatches the -pattern. Here are the two Houses of Parliament, the map of all England -in two globes, pouring out their sorrows, and paying their kisses of -honourable farewell to his tutelar sword." - -[642] _History of Rebellion_, 610. - -[643] After leaving Holdenby, during the three days the King tarried -at Childerley, many doctors, graduates, and scholars of the University -repaired thither, "to most of whom the King was pleased to give his -hand to kiss; for which honour they returned their gratulatory and -humble thanks with a _Vivat Rex_." He was also visited by Fairfax, -Cromwell, Ireton, Skippon, Lambert, Whalley, and other officers of the -Parliament army, some of whom kissed his hand.--_Wood's Ath. Oxon._, -ii., _fasti_ 81. - -[644] _Clarendon_, 613. - -[645] _Ludlow's Memoirs_, vol. i. 240. - -[646] _Ludlow_, vol. i. 207. - -[647] _Clarendon_, 616. - -[648] _Blomefield's Hist. of Norwich_, i. 394, 395. - -[649] _Journals of Lords_, May the 19th. _Rushworth_, vii. 1119. At -Bury, the cry was "For God and King Charles." - -[650] 1648, 26th of April.--"It is thought fit and agreed that Tuesday -next shall be set apart and kept as a solemn day of thanksgiving for -God's deliverance of this city from the rebellious company of people -that did rise against them upon Monday last, and that Mr. Carter be -desired to preach in the forenoon, and Mr. Collings in the afternoon, -both at the Cathedral, and that they shall have 20s. a piece, and -that the great guns shall be shot off, and that the aldermen shall be -in scarlet and attended with the livery, and that the churchwardens -and overseers of every parish do go from house to house to take the -benevolence in writing of every person that will give for the relief of -the poor who are in want, to be delivered unto the Court of Mayoralty, -to be by them distributed."--_Corporation Records._ - -[651] _Scobell_, 149. - -[652] _Vindication of the Ordinance against Heresies, &c._, 1646.--In -which the example of Geneva in putting Servetus to death is cited with -approval, and is adduced as an argument in defence of the ordinance.-- - -The _Scottish Dove_ defends the _Ordinance against Heresies, &c._, as -a great work, very necessary, heresy being of the flesh, and therefore -to be punished by the magistrate. A complaint is made in a pamphlet -entitled, _Oaths unwarrantable_, (June, 1647,) that multitudes of men -well-affected to the Parliament were indicted and punished for not -coming to their parish churches, though there were no statutes to -authorize punishment for such neglect, except the act of uniformity, -which had been repealed. "Though I stay seven years from church," -says the writer, "and constantly meet in private houses, there is -by Parliament's principles neither law nor ordinance in force for -any judge or justice of the peace to indict me, or any other, or any -otherwise to molest or trouble me." - -[653] The following prayer for the King was used at Paris, September, -1648:-- - -"O Almighty and most gracious Lord God, the Ruler of princes when they -are on their thrones, and their Protector when they are in peril, look -down mercifully from heaven, we most humbly pray Thee, upon the low -estate of thine anointed, our King. Comfort him in his troubles, defend -him in his danger, strengthen him in his good resolutions, and command -thine angels so to pitch their tents round about him, that he may be -defended from all those that desire his hurt, and may be speedily -re-established in the just rights of his throne, through Jesus Christ -our Lord. Amen." Made by Dr. Steward, 1648. MS. copy in _Pamphlets_, -vol. xxxv. - -[654] See _Short's Sketch of the Church_, ii. 154. - -[655] _Rushworth_, vii. 1302, 1321. Godwin, in his _History of the -Commonwealth_, ii. 481, has exposed with unsparing justice the -duplicity of Charles at this moment in the treaty which he was then -forming with the Scotch. - -[656] _Rushworth_, vii. 1334. - -It is unnecessary to do more than indicate that the Commissioners -replied to this document, (November the 20th, 1648,) still urging the -three points, but explaining the Directory, as setting down the matter -of prayer, only leaving words to a minister's discretion. To this -Charles gave a final reply, November the 21st, adhering to Episcopacy -and the inalienability of church lands. As to the Directory--having -observed its latitude according to their explanation--he was willing -to waive his objections. The King's final reply is not given in -_Rushworth_, but it may be found in the _Parl. Hist._, iii. 1130. - -[657] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 1077. - -[658] The speech is given in _Parl. Hist._, iii. 1152-1239; the pages -are closely printed. Though so very long it is well worth reading. - -[659] _Memoirs of the Two Last Years of K. Charles I., by Sir Thomas -Herbert_, 124. - -[660] _Whitelocke_, 375. It has been stated that Juxon's spiritual -assistance was permitted at the intercession of Hugh Peters--a thing -in itself very unlikely. Godwin asserts it, and refers generally to -Whitelocke and Rushworth as his authorities; I suppose p. 370 of the -_Memorials_ is intended. Rushworth ascribes the intercession to a -member of the army.--Vol. vii. 1421. In most accounts of the last days -of Charles, the references are unsatisfactory. - -[661] Prefixed to _Ussher's Letters_, p. 72. - -[662] _Life of Philip Henry_, by his son. There is amongst the Harleian -MSS. in the British Museum an affecting letter on the subject, by Dr. -Sanderson, written a few days after the King's execution. - -[663] It must be remembered that Vane, St. John, and Algernon Sidney, -were of opinion that to depose Charles would be better than to behead -him. - -[664] Bradshaw was a member of the Church under the pastoral care, -first of Mr. Strong, and then of Mr. Rowe, ministers of Westminster -Abbey. Miles Corbet was member of the Church at Yarmouth, under the -pastoral care of William Bridge. - -[665] _Neal_, iii. 537. See what he says, 547-554, respecting the -authors of the King's death. - -[666] The Governor's name is spelt in at least six different ways by -various historians. We have adopted the spelling of Clarendon. - -[667] See _Fuller's Church History_, iii. 502; Herbert, in _Wood's -Ath. Oxon._, ii. 705; _Clarendon's Hist. of Rebellion_, 692; and -_Gentleman's Magazine_, vol. xlii. - - -Transcriber's Note: - -1. Spelling errors have been silently corrected. - -2. 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