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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) ECCLESIATICAL 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. Age 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. ECCLESIATICAL HISTORY OF ENGLAND, FROM THE OPENING OF THE LONG PARLIAMENT TO THE DEATH OF OLIVER CROMWELL. BY J O H N S T O U G H T O N . VOLUME I. THE CHURCH OF THE CIVIL WARS. London: JACKSON, WALFORD, AND HODDER, 27, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. MDCCCLXVII. UNWIN BROTHERS, GRESHAM STEAM PRESS, BUCKLERSBURY, LONDON, E.C. 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. [vi] [vii] [viii] 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 [ix] 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 O 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. INTRODUCTION. n 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 [xxiii] [xxiv] [1] [2] [3] [4] 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 [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] 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 [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] 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 [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]