PUBLICATIONS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER
HISTORICAL SERIES, No. XI.
A Biography of Thomas Deacon
SHERRATT & HUGHES
Publishers to the Victoria University of Manchester
Manchester : 34 Cross Street
London: 33 Soho Square, W.
Agents for the United States
LONGMANS, GREEN & Co.
443-449 Fourth Avenue, New York
THOMAS DEACON
A Biography
OF
THOMAS DEACON
The Manchester Non-Juror
BY
HENRY BROXAP, M.A.
1
MANCHESTER
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
1911
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER PUBLICATIONS
No. LIX.
To
MY FATHER AND MOTHER
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface ... ix
List of Authorities - - xv
Chapter I. Introduction -
II. Thomas Deacon's Birth and Early Life; his
Ordination and Connection with the '15 - i
III. Deacon and the "Usages" Controversy; The
New Communion Office of 1718 - - 25
IV. Deacon's Removal to Manchester ; Short
Account of Manchester in 1720; JohnByrom's
"Private Journal and Literary Remains" - 51
V. Deacon's Social Life in Manchester, 1720-45 - 61
VI. Deacon's Medical Career - 81
VII. Deacon as Non-juror 1720-44; His Consecration
as Bishop - - 89
VIII. Manchester and the '45; Execution of T. T.
Deacon; The Controversy of 1746-8 : "Man-
chester vindicated " - 105
IX. Deacon's last days and death ; An Estimate of
his Life and Character -137
X. Postscript ; Deacon's Successors Natural and
Spiritual - - - 151
Appendix A. A Review of Deacon's Published Works - 1 59
B. Quotations from the "Byrom-Owen" Con-
troversy of 1746-8 - 187
C. Synopsis of Deacon's Letters quoted in
this work - 201
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Thomas Deacon Frontispiece
(From, the Portrait in the Reading Room of the Chetham Library).
Copy of Thos. Podmore's "Letter of Orders" - face page 157
(From the original MS. in possession of the Manchester Free Reference
Library)*
PREFACE.
THE subject of the Non-jurors, their principles, their
writings, and their complete disappearance as a separate
ecclesiastical organisation will probably be regarded by
the great majority of people as of little more than
antiquarian interest. The point of view from which the
movement may be regarded will indeed vary in accord-
ance with the prepossessions under the influences of
which we approach the consideration of the subject.
We may approve the sentiments of Dr. Johnson 1 who,
Tory as he was, had no kind things to say of the non-
jurors, and indeed, "never knew a non-juror who could
reason." We may possibly sympathize with Macaulay 2
in his statement that "the non-jurors sacrificed both
liberty and order to a superstition as stupid and degrading
as the Egyptian worship of cats and onions." And if
the unusual conjunction in the literary firmament of the
two Whig and Tory luminaries leaves any possibility of
further choice we may perhaps adopt the standpoint of
Professor J. E. B. Mayor in his introduction to "The
Life of Ambrose Bonwicke." 3 * Perhaps the time has
come when we may venture without offence or loss of
intellectual caste to challenge the vulgar verdict upon
the non-jurors, and at least call on their censors to name
any English sect so eminent, in proportion to its numbers,
alike for solid learning and for public as well as private
virtues.' Whether we adopt any of these varying points
of view, or any modification of them, there will still
remain in many minds the conviction that the subject has
1. Boswell's "Johnson," June 9th, 1784, in conversation at Pembroke
College.
2. " History of England," Chapter 14.
3. "Life of Ambrose Bonwicke," by his father; edited, in 1870, by
Professor J. E. B. Mayor, with " introduction to the reader," quoted by
Overton.
PREFACE
received sufficient attention and may be left to oblivion.
It is indeed a matter of surprise to find that the appella-
tion of non-juror conveys no idea whatever to so many
fairly well-educated people. Millions of devout people
have sung Bishop Ken's Morning and Evening Hymns
and a smaller number have found delight and stimulus
in Law's "Serious Call," but it would be interesting to
know what proportion had ever heard of the non-juring
movement, or that Ken and Law are to be accounted two
of the most saintly figures in the history of the non-
jurors. I do not of course forget that Ken and Law
were non-jurors of a very different stamp from such men
as Hickes, Collier or Brett, and still more so from the
man whose life is to be related in these pages, yet it
remains true to say that they were among that "high-
minded group who could not stretch passive obedience
to cover a transfer of allegiance." *
If we come nearer home it certainly would not occur
to the Manchester man of the 2Oth century that his city
was likely to have been noted for obstinate adherence to
lost causes, and yet it may be well to remember that less
than 200 years ago Manchester was the most Tory and
Jacobite town in England. The number of those who
pass daily by the tombstone at the north-east corner of
St. Ann's Churchyard may probably be calculated to a
fair degree of accuracy ; but it would be a much more
difficult task to express the infinitesimal proportion of
the passers-by who pause and read the memorial to the
"greatest of sinners and most unworthy of primitive
bishops," who lies buried under the very pavement
trodden daily by so many busy feet. 2
There is only one argument to be pleaded in justifica-
tion of yet another attempt at relating this curious and
half forgotten phase in the religious history of England,
1. " Cambridge Modern History," Vol. vi., " The 18th Century," p. 808.
2. Deacon's tombstone is not, since the alterations in St. Ann's Church-
yard, directly over the place of interment, which is actually under the
pavement in St. Ann's Street.
PREFACE xi
and that is to be found in the short passage which has
already been quoted from Professor Mayor's " Introduc-
tion to the Reader" in his edition of the Life of Bonwicke.
It is a simple statement of fact to say "that in proportion
to its numbers no English sect has been so eminent alike
for solid learning and for public as well as private
virtues." It is the hope of the present writer to be able
to prove that all that has been said of the non- jurors as a
body may be specially applicable to Thomas Deacon as
an individual member of the movement, and, in its later
stages, one of the most conspicuous figures. It will be
seen that Deacon, out of communion with Church and
State alike, lived in close friendship with men high in
the ecclesiastical and civil sphere, and exercised his full
share of influence over the whole life of the town of
Manchester. It would be strange indeed if nothing of
interest could be written in the life of a man who was
closely associated with both the '15 and '45 : who lived
on terms of great intimacy with the first medical men
of the day, and was himself a practitioner of no mean
order : who enjoyed the friendship of John Byrom and
William Law : who actively engaged, and certainly not
without knowledge, in the controversy concerning the
* Usages' and who may be said, in a word, to embody
in his own person the latest developments of the non-
juring movement.
I have reason to believe that I shall be able to submit
some important facts, which have not previously been
recorded, with regard to Deacon's birth and parentage.
I hope also to throw some new light on various periods
of the movement as a result of a careful examination of
the Deacon MSS. now in the library at Chetham College.
Many facts of Deacon's life which are already known
and have been related by previous writers will, I hope,
be brought into new relations to each other, and on the
whole a biography of Thomas Deacon is here related in
a more complete form than has heretofore appeared.
xii PREFACE
It is not a very simple matter to decide as to the
arrangement of a book on a subject such as this, and
after considerable deliberation I have decided to arrange
the work in the following manner. The events of
Deacon's life down to the year 1720 will be related in
chronological order. The years 1720 to 1745, for
information as to which we are indebted almost entirely
to * John Byrom's Private Journal and Literary
Remains," will be treated on a different basis, designed
with the purpose of showing Deacon's relations in
various aspects of life. After the '45 it will be found
more convenient to resume the chronological order of
events, but the sources of information during this period
are of a very complicated character. The controversy
of 1746-8, which culminated in the publication of
" Manchester Vindicated " in 1749, is not easy to
disentangle, but we are indebted to the writers in this
controversy for a considerable amount of information
concerning Thomas Deacon's earlier as well as later life.
I have thought it well to prepare a special appendix in
which I have quoted from these writers, at some length,
various passages which are of interest to our subject.
The advantage of this course will be that a more
homogeneous story can be related in the text, which
would otherwise be over-burdened by quotations in
which the events of the '15 and the '45 are described in
a confused manner.
One word still remains to be said ; it is no part of the
writer's purpose to attack or to defend Deacon's
theological position. That position is not very easy to
understand, and reason will be given for believing that
it has not infrequently been misunderstood. It is the
aim of the writer to make clear what manner of man
Thomas Deacon was, and although approval or
criticism may be here and there expressed, it is not
intended in these pages to adopt any other attitude than
that of painstaking historical research.
PREFACE xiii
My thanks are due to the Reverend Alexander Gordon,
Lecturer in Ecclesiastical History to the University of
Manchester, at whose suggestion my task was first
undertaken, and from whom I have received valuable
advice and assistance throughout the period in which
the work has been in preparation. I am also indebted
to Mr. C. W. Sutton of the Manchester Free Reference
Library for suggestions kindly made to me as to
additional information with regard to the Rebellion of
the '45 so far as it concerned Manchester, and especially
for the prompt communication made to me of the
discovery of the original record of the ordination by
Deacon 1 of Thomas Podmore in 1748; and to
Professor T. F. Tout for his supervision of the
preparation of the work for the press.
HENRY BROXAP.
CLIFF POINT,
LOWER BROUGHTON ROAD,
MANCHESTER.
1st March, 1911.
1. See page 157.
XV
LIST OF AUTHORITIES ON WHICH THIS
WORK IS BASED.
THE fact that no complete biography of Thomas Deacon
has previously been written may be regarded on the
whole as of advantage to the present writer, although
the task is not thereby rendered any less difficult. The
excellent article in the Dictionary of National Biography,
by the late Mr. Thompson Cooper, and the pamphlet
written by Mr. C. W. Sutton entitled "The Writings
of 'Doctor' Thomas Deacon" (printed privately in 1879)
furnish a mass of information, of which the present work
is from certain points of view merely a development.
The one great authority for the facts of the life of
Deacon is undoubtedly the Private Journal and Literary
Remains of John Byrom edited for the Chetham
Society by Canon R. Parkinson 1853-8 (old series
Nos. 32, 34, 40, 42). Other publications of the C. S. to
which I am indebted are Lancashire Memorials of the
Rebellion of 1715 by Dr. Hibbert-Ware, 1844 (old series
No. 5), and Collectanea relating to Manchester, &c., by
John Harland, 1866-7 (ld series Nos. 68 and 72) ;
Rectors of Manchester and Wardens of the Collegiate
Church ; Reverend Canon Raines, edited by J. E. Bailey,
1891 (new series Nos. 5 and 6) ; Lives of the Fellows of
the College of Manchester, by the same author, edited
by Frank Renaud, M.D., 1891 (new series Nos. 21 and
23) ; and the Poems of John Byrom, edited by Dr. A. W.
Ward, 1894-5 (new series Nos. 29, 30, 34, 35), the last
of which is of the greatest value not only for the
information with which the notes abound, but also for
the beautiful appreciation of the character of John Byrom
which is contained in the Introduction.
xvi
LIST OF AUTHORITIES
The following works have been found helpful as to
the condition of Manchester in the period under review.
" Manchester 100 years ago," being a Reprint of a
description of Manchester by a native of the town,
James Ogden ; published in 1783, edited, with an
introduction by W. E. A. Axon, in 1887.
Aston's "Manchester Guide" for 1804.
:< Foundations in Manchester," by Dr. Hibbert-Ware
(1828-30). No student of matters concerning
Manchester can afford to disregard Dr. Hibbert-
Ware's great work, but I doubt whether Deacon
was thoroughly understood by this writer. I have
given reasons for this in my estimate of Deacon's
Life and Work.
W. E. A. Axon's "Annals of Manchester," 1886.
" The Palatine Notebook," edited by J. E. Bailey,
i 88 1-2.
"Memorials of St. Ann's, Manchester"; C. W.
Bardsley, 1887.
With regard to the general history of the non-juring
movement, Canon Overton's "History of the Non-jurors"
(1902) easily holds the first place, but the earlier work of
Thomas Lathbury, published in 1845, should not by any
means be neglected.
The authorities which deal with the particular subject
of this memoir are fairly numerous, and for the most
part may be consulted in Manchester. Information as
to Deacon's birth was, however, only to be found by the
collation of the Last Will and Testament of Captain
William Deacon in the Principal Probate Registry at
Somerset House, the copy of the Last Will and
Testament of Bishop Hickes at Sion College, and the
Baptismal Registers of St. Dunstan's Church, Stepney.
The Deacon MSS. in the Chetham Library at Manchester,
of which I have given a full account in the text, are of
considerable value, and so far as I have been able to
ascertain have not been called into requisition by any
LIST OF AUTHORITIES xvii
previous writer ; the same remarks will apply to the copy
of MSS. now in the Library of the Scottish Episcopal
Church and presented to the Chetham Library in 1862
by the Reverend W. Bell.
If Dr. Johnson's dictum be accepted that the biography
of an author is in the history of his writings there is
abundant information as to Thomas Deacon to be found
in his published works. I have endeavoured to make a
review of his writings a special feature of this work.
Copies of all the works are to be found in the Library of
the British Museum and also in Manchester, with the
exception that no copy of the Translation of Tillemont's
" History of the Arians " appears to have found its way
to the latter City.
The following works were found to be of great
assistance in forming an estimate of the " Usages "
controversy.
Collier's " Reasons for restoring certain Primitive
Usages, etc.," 1717.
Spinckes' " No Reason for restoring, etc.," 1717.
Collier's " Defence of the Reasons," 1718.
Deacon's " Plaintiff's charge disproved and turned
upon himself by the Defendant " (in a letter to
Spinckes), 1719.
Spinckes' "The New separation groundless," 1719.
Barbery's " Dialogue between Timothy a Churchman,
and Thomas an Essentialist," 1719.
Spinckes' "No just grounds for introducing the New
Communion Office," 1720.
Brett's "Reply to above," 1720.
Spinckes' "Reply to the Vindication," 1720.
Collier's " Further Defence," 1720.
Leslie's "Letter concerning the new separation," 1720.
This list may be found of assistance to the reader in
the perusal of Chapter III., which deals with the question
of the " Usages.
xviii LIST OF AUTHORITIES
These were published for the most part in pamphlet
form but Brett's "Collection of the Principal Liturgies,
etc.," (1720), and Campbell's " Middle State" (1713) are
works of considerable size and of the greatest erudition.
I may mention under this connection the late Bishop
Dowden's Annotated Prayer Book of the Scottish
Episcopal Church (1884), and the Translation of the
Liturgies of SS. Mark, James, Clement, Chrysostom,
and Basil (Neale and Littledale, London, 1869); an< i
the Reverend P. Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica, Bath,
1848.
I have found also some results from the diligent study
of Notes and Queries, especially concerning the later
history of the Non-jurors, but, naturally, the informa-
tion varies considerably in point of value.
With regard to what may be described as the political
side of the subject, the following list may be given.
Patten's " History of the late Rebellion " (1715),
London, 1717.
Ray's "Compleat History of the Rebellion" (1745),
Manchester, 1746.
The MSS. of Lord Kenyon, London, 1894 (Historical
Manuscript's Commission i4th Report, Appendix
Part IV.).
Historical Papers relating to the Jacobite period,
1699 1750, edited by Colonel James Allardyce,
LL.D., Vol. 2 : Aberdeen, printed for the New
Spalding Club, 1896. The introduction is taken
mainly from the notes of Mr. D. Murray Rose.
Papers 30 to 45 contain depositions at the trial of the
Jacobites which are abbreviated from the papers of
Sir John Strange among the Egerton MSS. in the
British Museum (No. 2,000). Sir John Strange was
one of the Counsel for the King at the trial of the
Jacobite prisoners in July, 1746.
What may be described as the "Aftermath" of the
LIST OF AUTHORITIES xix
Rebellion of '45, so far as Manchester was concerned,
may be studied in the following :
" Manchester Vindicated," Chester, 1749.
Josiah Owen: "Letter to the Master Tool,"etc., "Dr.
Deacon, try'd," 1748.
T. Perceval: "Letter to the Clergy," "Manchester
Politics.'' 1748.
Last of all I may mention a MS. Catalogue of the
Library of the Reverend John Clayton in his own hand-
writing. I have made some reference to this on pages
96 and 185. The Catalogue alone remains, but it
possesses a certain value and interest. It is in the pos-
session of the Free Reference Library of the City of
Manchester.
CHAPTER I.
Introduction.
CANON Overtoil's " History of the Non-jurors" may be
regarded as the last word on the movement as a whole,
and this work must not be expected to contain a complete
statement of the many different phases of thought and
life which are represented in the 100 years' History of the
Non-jurors. It is nevertheless impossible to write a
biography of Deacon, in any sense worthy of the name,
which does not show his position in the movement to
which he devoted his life. We shall find in fact that a
study of Deacon's life will embrace almost all that
followed on the passing away of the "Deprived Fathers."
With the important exception of the negotiations with
the Eastern Patriarchs, there was no phase in the later
developments of the movement in which Thomas Deacon
was not concerned, and it is the purpose of the present
chapter to capitulate very briefly the main events from
the Accession of William and Mary in 1689 to the
appearance, apparently sudden and dramatic, of Deacon,
as intimately concerned with the rising of the '15, which
followed on the failure of the negotiations concerning the
succession of the son of James II. to the throne of his
father.
It may be found convenient to tabulate the names of
the original non-juring bishops with the dates of their
births and deaths.
William Sancroft (Canterbury) 1617 93
William Thomas (Worcester) 1613 89
Robert Frampton (Gloucester) 1622 1708
John Lake (Chichester) 1624 89
Thomas White (Peterborough) 1628 98
Francis Turner (Ely) 1636 1700
William Lloyd (Norwich) 1637 J 7 10
Thomas Ken (Bath and Wells)
2 THOMAS DEACON
From these dates it will be seen that the Bishops of
Worcester and Chichester were already at the end of
their career when the crisis of the Revolution occurred :
Ken and Frampton from the first assumed a position of
moderation and conciliation : and Sancroft formally
delegated his authority to Lloyd, who, with Turner and
White were the real leaders of what was now about to
become a definitely separated and organised religious
body.
The delegation on February 9, i6, by Sancroft of
his metropolitical powers to Lloyd may be taken as our
starting point. The original document is, with other
remains of Sancroft, in the possession of Emmanuel
College, Cambridge, but a copy is preserved in the
Library at Sion College, which it has been my privilege
to see. "In a word whatsoever you shall of yourself
do or order to be done in affairs of this kind, all that
how great so ever or of what sort so ever it be, boldly
impute it to me. I, William, have written it with my
own hand and will stand by it." " Mihi audenter
imputa. Ecce ! Ego Wilhelmus manu mea scripsi :
ego praestabo."
The "affairs of this kind" were no less than proposals
to continue the succession of the non-juring bishops by
new consecrations. The methods adopted were all based
on the assumption that the Revolution Government both
in Church and State was unlawful, and that the source
of all authority still remained in the person of James II.
It is important to remember that the non-juring
Bishops treated the Government of William and Mary
as simply non-existent. "The King over the Water"
was to them the only King, and they considered that the
whole of their procedure was normal and constitutional.
The normal method of the appointment of bishops was
then exactly what it is at the present time. Nomination
by the Sovereign, followed by an election by Dean and
Chapter, was necessary before the formalities of
INTRODUCTION 3
confirmation by the Bishops of the Province could take
place, and if the elect were not already a Bishop,
consecration to the Episcopal Order formed the final
stage. The difficulty in the present case was that
election by Dean and Chapter could not be obtained and
resource was therefore had to an Act of Henry VIII.,
under which Suffragan Bishops could be consecrated
immediately on nomination by the Crown. A similar
attempt was contemplated before the Restoration of
1660, in view of the possibility of the succession of
Bishops being extinguished, but the necessity passed
away with the return of the Stuarts. What was then
merely proposed was now actually accomplished. A
full account of the whole proceedings is given us by Dr.
George Hickes, 1 one of the newly consecrated Bishops,
who so dominated the entire movement that the
expression "the Communion of Dr. Hickes" was in the
latter years of Queen Anne used to signify the body of
non-jurors.
George Hickes (1642 1715) of Magdalen and Lincoln
Colleges, Oxford, held many preferments, and in
August, 1683, was appointed Dean of Worcester. He
was deprived on February 1st, i6Jj, but a notice of
protest was affixed by him to the doors of his Cathedral.
On the decision by the deprived Bishops to continue the
succession, Hickes was selected to proceed to France to
obtain the consent of King James, and in his own very
full account of the transaction two points may be
particularly noticed. The first of these is the delay
which occurred in obtaining any answer from James,
which was occasioned by the discovery that, as a matter
of conscience, it was necessary to refer the question to
Pope Innocent XII. and to the Archbishop of Paris, and
the Bishop of Meaux. Canon Overton remarks that an
1. See Overton, p. 84, Note : 30 copies of Dr. Hickes "Records of the
New Consecrations" were printed and distributed privately by Dr.
"Richard Rawlinson.
|, THOMAS DEACON
Englishman's choler is inclined to rise when he reads
of this stage in the proceedings. The "choler" may
perhaps be taken for granted but there is little occasion
for it. The plain fact is that the non-jurors had nothing
to do with Innocent XII., nor he with them. They
neither desired nor received Papal approval. The whole
matter lay between the Pope and James who was advised
that he might safely intermeddle in these matters, and
the Royal consent was thereupon formally given.
The second point worthy of notice is that the deprived
Bishops expressly determined to proceed with the matter
even without the King's consent, if that were for any
reason withheld. Here is the first sign of the conception
of the independence of the Church which developed to
such an extent that, as we shall see, Thomas Deacon in
1750 actually held it unlawful to communicate with the
Church of England because she held the doctrine of the
King's supremacy.
Hickes returned to England and the consecrations
thereupon took place, Hickes being nominated by
Sancroft, and Thomas Wagstaffe by Lloyd. A short
extract from Hickes' own account may be given. "He
(Hickes) came to London on the 4th February, 16^
and on the Feast of St. Matthias, the 24th of the same
month, the consecrations were solemnly performed
according to the rites of the Church of England by Dr.
William Lloyd, Bishop of Norwich, Dr. Francis Turner,
Bishop of Ely, and Dr. Thomas White, Bishop of
Peterborough, at the Bishop of Peterborough's lodgings
at the Reverend Mr. William Giffard's house at
Southgate in Middlesex : Dr. Ken, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, giving his consent." 1
Thomas Wagstaffe (1645 1712) the second Bishop
consecrated at this time, of Charterhouse, and New Inn
Hall, Oxford, had been Chancellor and Prebendary of
1. Hickes assumed the title of Bishop- Suffragan of Thetford, and
Wagstaffe of Ipswich.
INTRODUCTION 5
Lichfield, but was of course deprived at the Revolution.
He does not appear to have exercised his episcopal office,
but was justly regarded as one of the strongest defenders
of the non-jurors by his pen, entering into controversy
with Bishop Burnet and Dr. Sherlock. He was one of
the many non-jurors who had studied medicine, and
although without any degree or license, contrived to
maintain himself and his family by the practice of physic
in London. The date of his death was October iyth,
1712, and Bishop Hickes was therefore the only Bishop
surviving of the non-jurors, and the further consecrations
took place which bring us much nearer to our own
particular subject.
It may be well however, before recording this further
consecration, to point out one or two features character-
istic of the period from 1693 1713. The fact of the
earlier consecrations having taken place was known to
few; it is stated by Canon Overton 1 that even Thos.
Hearne did not know anything about the matter so late
as 1711. Bishop Hickes passed the intervening time in
comparative retirement, but in 1696 his house at Bagshot
Heath was set upon by a mob, in the midst of the
excitement caused by the attempted assassination of
William III. In the same year he wrote a "Declaration
concerning the Faith and Religion in which he lived and
intended to die." The Declaration is quoted in full by
Canon Overton 2 and deserves to be carefully read. One
extract only need be given here, " I profess and declare
the Church of England as it was governed and
administered by true and lawful and rightful Bishops
before the Revolution to have been a true and sound
part of the Catholic Church. ... I am fully persuaded
and declare that the Church of England now consists in
the deprived Bishops so called and that faithful remnant
which adheres to them, and that the other Archbishops
1. Overtoil's " History of Non- jurors," p. 90.
2. Ibid., p. 102.
6 THOMAS DEACON
and Bishops, and the great majority adhering to them,
are guilty of a great schism to be lamented by all good
Christians."
This is a most uncompromising statement of what may
be called the original position of the non-jurors, but if
Hickes' statement as to the pre-Revolution Church being
a true and sound part of the Catholic Church be
contrasted with Deacon's Doctrine of the Church as
stated in his "Comprehensive View," it will be noted
how great the change is between Hickes in 1696 and
Deacon in 1748.
During these years of storm and suffering Hickes
published in 1703-5 his greatest work " Linguarum
veterum septentrionalium thesaurus grammatico-criticus
et archaeologicus."
This work together with his '* Institutiones Gram-
maticae Anglo-Saxonicae et Maeso-Gothicae," published
in 1689, won for Hickes a reputation which extended
over Europe. 1
The death of Wagstaffe in 1712 occurred at a time
apparently much more favourable to the non-jurors than
was the case in 1693. The Revolution was not now
universally regarded as beyond criticism. Bishop Geo.
Hooper (1640 1727) who, high Churchman as he was,
took the oaths at the Revolution and almost persuaded
Bishop Ken to do the same, and who only accepted the
See of Bath and Wells after urgently desiring Ken to
accept the offer made to him of his old See by Queen
Anne, did not hesitate to say that "the Revolution was
not much to be boasted of." The Sacheverell trial, the
1. The following quotation, which refers to the Thesaurus, is taken
from the article on Hickes in Chalmers' Biographical Dictionary :
" The great Duke of Tuscany's envoy sent a copy of it to his master,
which His Highness looking into and finding full of strange characters,
called a council of the Dotti and commanded them to peruse and give
an account of. They did so, and reported it to be an excellent work,
and that they believed the author to be a man of a particular head ; for
this was the envoy's compliment to Hickes when he went to him with a
present from his master."
INTRODUCTION 7
passing of the Act against Occasional Conformity, the
growing impression that Queen Anne could be prevailed
upon to prepare the way for the succession of her brother,
and the widespread dislike of a possible Hanoverian
succession, all pointed in the same direction of a general
revival of Toryism and Jacobitism. The earnest
desire 1 expressed by Bishop Ken that the schism might
now be healed, which was followed by the return to the
Church of such men as Dodwell and Nelson, deprived
the non-jurors of what may be styled the more moderate
element, and prepared the way for the more extreme
developments which were not long in manifesting them-
selves. The signs of an entirely new tendency are to be
found in the names of the two Bishops whom Hickes
now called in to assist him in the further perpetuation
of the non-juring line. On the Feast of the Ascension,
I4th of May, 1713, Hickes, with Bishops Archibald
Campbell and James Gadderar consecrated in his own
Oratory in Scroop's Court near St. Andrew's, Holborn,
Jeremy Collier, Nathaniel Spinckes, and Samuel Hawes.
Some space must be found for a brief notice not only of
the newly-consecrated, but also of the two Scottish Bishops
whom Hickes now called to his assistance. We may
suitably introduce Bishop Archibald Campbell by quoting
Dr. Johnson's estimate of his character as given in
Boswell's "Tour to the Hebrides" under the date of
October 25th. Boswell gives us, with considerable
detail and with evident appreciation of the high company
in which he found himself, an account of a visit of Dr.
Johnson and himself to the Duke of Argyll at Inverary.
After recording in his own inimitable style the impression
made upon his fancy by the ladies' maids tripping about
in neat morning dress, and Dr. Johnson's statement that
what he most admired was "the total defiance of
expense," Boswell tells us of a conversation at table
which is of interest to our subject.
1. Lathbury's " History of the Non- jurors," p. 204.
8 THOMAS DEACON
" I know not how a middle state came to be
mentioned. Her Grace wished to hear him (Johnson)
on that point, * Madam,' said he, 'your own relation,
Mr. Archibald Campbell, can tell you better about it than
I can. He was a Bishop of the non-juring communion
and wrote a book on the subject.' ' Further information
is given by Boswell in a footnote appended to the text,
which I here quote, " Dr. Johnson and I spent some
time together in June, 1784, at Pembroke College, with
Rev. Dr. Adams, the Master, and I having expressed a
regret, that my note relative to Mr. Archibald Campbell
was imperfect, he (Johnson) was then so good as to write
with his own hand on the blank page of the journal
opposite to that which contained what I have now
mentioned, the following paragraph which however is
not quite so full as the narrative he gave at Inverary.
' The Hon. Archibald Campbell was, I believe, the
nephew of the Marquis of Argyll. He began life by
engaging in Monmouth's Rebellion, and to escape the
law lived some time in Surinam. 1 When he returned he
became zealous for episcopacy and monarchy, and at
the Revolution he adhered not only to the non-jurors
but to those who refused to communicate with the Church
of England, or to be present at any worship where the
usurper was mentioned as King. He was, I believe, more
than once apprehended in the reign of King William
and once at the Accession of George. He was the
familiar friend of Hickes and Nelson, a man of letters
but injudicious; very curious and inquisitive, but
credulous. He died in 1743-4, about 75 years old.' '
To this account of Dr. Johnson it may be added that
Archibald Campbell was the second son of Lord Niel
Campbell, the second son of Archibald Campbell (1598
1661), Marquis of Argyll and eighth Earl, executed by
1. Another name for Dutch Guiana and for a river in that country.
It was given to the Dutch in 1667 in exchange for New Amsterdam
(New York), and in 1803 it was again taken by the English, but restored
to the Dutch at the peace of 1814.
INTRODUCTION 9
Charles II., 27th of May, 1661. His uncle referred to
by Johnson was the ninth Earl. It is not very easy to
see how Campbell came to be among the party of the
extreme non-jurors. His mother, Lady Vere Ker,
daughter of the third, and sister of the fourth Earl of
Lothian, was in the confidence of William III., but,
hereditary influences notwithstanding, Archibald Camp-
bell during the whole period we have in review may be
described as the " stormy petrel " of the non-juring
movement, and was moreover, the only man with whom
Deacon remained in communion in the course of his later
development. Campbell was consecrated Bishop at
Aberdeen on August 25th, 1711, by Bishops Rose,
Douglas, and Falconer, and in 1721 was elected Diocesan
Bishop of the See of Aberdeen. The comments of
George Lockhart on this consecration are very pointed.
1 Though adorned with none of the qualifications
necessary in a Bishop and remarkable for some things
inconsistent with the character of a gentleman, he was
most imprudently consecrated some time ago.*' l
Campbell will appear again in these memoirs, but I
venture to think that a brief study of the career of this
wandering prelate will fully justify the criticisms which
have already been quoted. He never administered the
Diocese of Aberdeen, and formally resigned it in 1725
to James Gadderar, his co-consecrator on the occasion
which is now being reviewed.
Notice of CampbelPs " Middle State" may be deferred
till we come to deal with Deacon's book on "Purgatory."
James Gadderar (1655 1733), one of the "rabbled"
clergy of 1688, was consecrated February 24th, 1712, at
the express desire of Rose, deprived Bishop of
Edinburgh, by Hickes, Falconer, and Campbell. He
took some part in the negotiations with the Eastern
Patriarchs, but his history really belongs to his native
country, and he is chiefly memorable for his connection
1. Lockhart Papers, ii, 37.
io THOMAS DEACON
with the present liturgy of the Scottish Episcopal
Church.
As to the consecration itself the official record, dated
June 3rd, 1713, refers to the Royal consent, 1 but no
mention is made of the Act of Henry VIII., and it is
quite evident that a further stage of development has
now been reached. Hickes is described as Bishop of
the English Catholic Church, and Campbell and
Gadderar as of the Scottish Catholic Church. The
interference of the Scottish Bishops in this affair was in
itself highly irregular, and we are now at the beginning
of a series of consecrations which are uncanonical from
any point of view.
As to the three Bishops now consecrated, Jeremy
Collier (1650 1726) the best known, and to us the most
interesting as the Bishop from whom Deacon received
deacon's and priest's orders, was one of the many non-
juring divines whose fame extends beyond the narrow
limits of their religious communion. He came into great
prominence in connection with the execution of Sir John
Friend and Sir William Parkyns, who were condemned
to death for their share in the assassination plots of 1696.
Collier, with Cook and Snatt, two other non-juring
priests, publicly absolved the criminals, and as a result
all three were indicted of absolving traitors and found
guilty. 2 Collier did not surrender and was outlawed,
and an outlaw he remained till the end of his life,
although he resumed his ordinary occupations. Lest
this brief account should unduly prejudice the reader
against Collier, it may here be added that Macaulay,
who certainly never erred on the side of praise where
non-jurors were concerned, acknowledges that "he was
in the full force of the words, a good man." 3 Collier
is, however, principally remembered for his "Short View
1. The phrase actually used is "Regio consensu prius impetrato."
2. A full account of the whole proceedings is to be found in Howeli's
" State Trials," Vol. xiii, pp. 419 seq.
3. " History of England," Chapter 14.
INTRODUCTION n
of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage." March, i6g). It was probably recollection
of this work which caused Dr. Johnson to except Collier
from his general sentence of condemnation, "Collier
never had any adversary, and I do not therefore reckon
him."
Nathaniel Spinckes (1653 1727), of Trinity and Jesus
Colleges, Cambridge, Prebendary of Salisbury at the
time of the Revolution, was the life-long friend of
Hickes, and a rare example of a controversialist who
never made an enemy or lost his own reputation for
saintliness. He took a leading part in the controversy
which was now about to break forth, and was principal
spokesman for those who were named "Non-Usagers."
He dealt Thomas Deacon one or two shrewd blows in
the controversy, which Deacon was quite capable of
returning. It may be of interest to remark that Spinckes
was recommended by Robert Nelson to Samuel Pepys
as a spiritual adviser, a task which would appear
sufficiently arduous. It was however Hickes and not
Spinckes who attended Pepys on his death-bed. 1
Of Samuel Hawes little need be said except that he
was a chaplain of the Earl of Winchelsea, a well-known
patron of the non-jurors, and that he was on the side of
the Non-Usagers in the controversy. His death occurred
in 1722.
With a brief account of the next consecration and of
the newly-appointed Bishops, this introductory chapter
must be brought to a close. On St. Paul's day, i/JJ,
Dr. Thomas Brett and Mr. Henry Gandy were
consecrated in Mr. Candy's chapel by Collier, Hawes,
Spinckes, Campbell, and Gadderar.
Dr. Thomas Brett (1667 1743), of Queens' and Corpus
Colleges, Cambridge, and of Spring Grove, Wye, in the
County of Kent, came of a good family, from whom he
had inherited Whig traditions. He was able to take
1. Overtoil's "History of the Non-jurors," p. 130.
12 THOMAS DEACON
the Abjuration Oath 1 and even in 1710 wrote in
opposition to the standpoint of the non-jurors. From
that date however his position rapidly changed, and at
the Accession of George the First, he declined to take
the oaths afresh and was deprived of his preferments.
On July ist, 1715, he was formally received into the
non-juring communion by Bishop Hickes. Brett had
an unrivalled knowledge of primitive liturgies, and was
a tower of strength to the Usagers. 2
There is however, evidence in existence (which I hope
to produce) to the fact that in later years Brett once more
changed his position, and his immediate descendants
conformed to the English Church.
Henry Gandy (1649 1734), of Oriel College, Oxford,
has little direct connection with our subject. He was a
strong non-usager, and took a considerable share in the
controversy.
The only apology which can be made for so much
introductory matter being inflicted on the reader is, that
as Thomas Deacon appears on the scene with somewhat
startling suddenness, it may be considered desirable to
submit a brief description of the men amongst whom he
worked, and with whom he joined in controversy. It is
now however, high time that Thomas Deacon himself
should have mention in these pages, and what can be
told of his early life will be related in the next chapter.
1. For a succinct statement of the Abjuration Oaths of 17oJ and
1714 see Overton's " Non-jurors," pp. 2 and 3.
Shortly after the death of James II. an Act of Parliament was passed
by which all persons holding public office were compelled to abjure the
Pretended Prince of Wales, and on the Accession of George I. a similar
Act was passed renewing in somewhat more stringent terms the enforce-
ment of the Abjuration. The Act of 17 '02 was certainly a blunder; it
undoubtedly prevented the reconciliation to the Church of Bishop Ken.
It is possible that more could be said in favour of the Act of 1714.
The distinction sometimes drawn between the Non-Ab jurors, or those
who refused the oaths of 178J and 1714, and the original Non-Jurors,
who refused to swear allegiance to the Government of William and Mary
is not of much practical interest.
2. A full explanation of the meaning of the terms " Usager " and
" Non-Usager " is given in Chapter 3. For the present it may suffice
to say that the " Usagers " desired to revive certain primitive practices
in connection with the celebration of the Eucharist ; the " Non-Usagers "
protested against any alteration of the established Liturgy.
CHAPTER II.
Thomas Deacon's Birth and Early Life : His Ordination,
and Connection with the '15.
THE statement in the article on Deacon in the Dictionary
of National Biography that Thomas Deacon was born
in 1697 an d was residing in London in 1715 contains,
so far as I have been able to ascertain, all the information
hitherto available as to Deacon's birth and early life.
The date of birth is apparently calculated from the
inscription on the tombstone at St. Ann's, Manchester,
in which Deacon is said to have been in his 56th year
on the 1 6th of February, 1753. There is however reason
to believe that Thomas Deacon was born on the 2nd of
September, 1697, at Limehouse, in the Parish of Stepney.
The evidence for this statement will require some
examination. It consists mainly of three facts which
were discovered by the present writer in the order given
below.
In the first place a copy of the Last Will and
Testament of William Deacon, Mariner, of Ratclifle, in
the Parish of Stepney, and of Stebunheath, 1 in the
County of Middlesex, is to be found in the Principal
Probate Registry at Somerset House, in the catalogue
of the year 1706. The Will, which is of a somewhat
unusual character, bears the date of 24th July, 1688.
During the testator's lifetime the document is intended
to give power of attorney to his beloved wife Cecilia to
act for him in all matters as if he were personally present.
She is to pay all debts incurred by him on board any
1. Stebunheath is apparently the old name for the entire district
now known to us as Stepney. A map which hangs in the vestry of
St. Dunstan's, Stepney, gives this name to what was probably an open
country district.
14 THOMAS DEACON
ship, and to receive all wages due to him for his services
on any ship or ships. When it shall please Almighty
God to call him from this life, William Deacon's mind
and intention is that the document shall be regarded as
his last will and testament, and the said Cecilia Deacon
is to be sole executrix and legatee. William Deacon
died in 1706, and probate was granted to his wife Cecilia
on the gth of August of the same year.
In the second place valuable information is to be found
in the codicil to the Last Will and Testament of Bishop
Hickes, dated i8th July, 1715, a printed copy of which
is to be found in the Library of Sion College. Among
other small bequests, Bishop Hickes leaves 1$ to Mrs.
Cecilia Deacon "to buy her mourning," and ^30 in
money to Mr. Thomas Deacon to whom also were
bequeathed 20 of Hickes' unbound books 1 and money
to buy a mourning ring. Similar bequests for "rings"
were made to Archibald Campbell, Jeremy Collier,
Hawes, Gadderar, and Roger Laurence. Now it is
evident that the Thomas Deacon referred to by Hickes
is no other than the subject of this biography, and the
recurrence of the uncommon name of Cecilia in
connection with Thomas Deacon render it exceedingly
probable that Thomas Deacon was the son of William
and Cecilia Deacon of Ratcliffe, who have been referred
to in connection with William Deacon's will at Somerset
House. A search in the Stepney Registers yielded very
satisfactory results. In the Baptismal Register, under
the date of September iQth, 1697, th e following entry is
to be found.
" Thomas, son of Captain William Deacon, of
Limehouse, and Cecilia his wife, 18 days old." 2
1. It may be noted that an edition of Hickes' " Constitution of the
Catholic Church" was published by Thomas Deacon in 1719. (See
"Life of Hickes," Diet. Nat. Biog.)
2. The Stepney Registers contain the names of very many sea captains.
Their tombstones in the churchyard are to be recognised by the curious
nautical devices engraved at the head of the stone.
DEACON'S EARLY LIFE 15
Reckoning (as was usual) both the days of birth and
baptism, this would give the date of birth as 2nd of
September, 1697. The evidence for the identification of
this child with the future non-juring bishop may be
considered as fairly complete, and it will be noted that, if
the statement be accepted, it confirms the date inscribed
on Deacon's tombstone, and all speculation as to Deacon
being in reality a few years older than has commonly
been supposed must now definitely be laid aside.
Captain William Deacon died in 1706 but does not
appear to have been buried at Stepney, and I have not
been able to trace the decease of Cecilia Deacon. It is
however, certain, that she married a second time and
that she was alive in 1733. I was first led to this
conclusion from the fact that in the list of subscribers
to Deacon's " Tillemont," referred to on page 171, is
to be found the name of Mrs. Cecilia Collier, but the
matter is put beyond all doubt by John Byrom's entry
in his Journal for January 3rd, ij&. 1
"dined at Jo. Clowes, Dr. Deacon's mother there: we
had a fillet of veal but not a fine one, it being red which
I took notice of because I thought his wife was a better
caterer : I stayed tea till 6 o'clock and left Mrs. Collier
there : she said that Mr. Law was a great beau, would
have fine linen, was very sweet upon the ladies and had
made one believe that he would marry her, that he made
his great change in the year 1720, that he wore a wig
again, and divers particulars about Mrs. Hughes, Mr.
Collier, Dr. Kennion." It is evident that, whatever
other qualities Mrs. Cecilia Collier possessed, she
certainly was an incorrigible gossip ; her representation
of William Law as a "great beau" is, to say the least,
novel and startling. There does not appear to be any
information as to the identity of the "Mr. Collier" whom
Cecilia Deacon took for her second husband, and any
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 444.
16 THOMAS DEACON
discovery which may be made on this point would
conceivably be of considerable value and interest. If it
were possible to assume that the Deacons were by means
of this second marriage brought into family connection
with Jeremy Collier, it would go far to explain the rapid
advance of Thomas Deacon in the counsels of the non-
jurors. Considerable research on this subject has how-
ever yielded no result, and the suggestion can only be
regarded as an attractive conjecture. 1
Nothing is known of Deacon's education unless we
may conjecture, from the bequests made by Bishop
Hickes to Cecilia Deacon and her son, that Hickes had
taken a paternal interest in young Deacon's development.
Cecilia Deacon was left a widow in 1706 at which time
her son Thomas was but nine years old. It is certain
that Deacon had no degree, and in the curious dialogue
between "Timothy, a Churchman, and Thomas, an
Essentialist," (see page 35), it is assumed that he had
not received any university training. Thomas is made
to say, "I have been in Oxford and that's enough."
Writing in later life to John Byrom, February 2Oth,
I7JJ, 2 Deacon distinctly states that he "never was
in Cambridge." Wherever or by whomsoever Deacon
was educated there is no doubt that the training which
he received was thorough and complete. He was, in
early manhood, a complete master of the Greek and
Latin tongues, and of the modern French language, and
had also acquired a facility in his native tongue which is
characteristic of his writings throughout life. An
1. A certain J. Deacon appears to have been the author of a pamphlet
entitled " The Fathers Vindicated : or Animadversions on a late Socinian
book entitul'd ' The Judgement of the Fathers touching the Trinity
against Dr. Bull's Defence of the Nicene Faith,' by a Presbyter of the
Church of England," London, 1697. On the title-page of the copy in
the British Museum there is a MS. note after the word "Presbyter,"
" By J. Deacon, Non- juror.' I have not been able to identify this man,
but there would appear prima facie evidence for connecting him with
the family of the subject of this Biography.
2. Byrom's " Kemains," Vol. i, p. 428.
DEACON'S EARLY LIFE 17
interesting side note in Byrom's Journal indicates that
Deacon also possessed some knowledge of Hebrew. 1
We know nothing of the first connection of the
Deacons with the non-juring party, although it may be
conjectured that Thomas Deacon was brought up by
his mother in the belief of the unlawfulness of the
Revolution Government. The codicil of Bishop Hickes'
Will is dated nearly two years later than the Will itself,
in which the Deacons are not named ; it is evident that
during the two intervening years Deacon's connection
with the non-juring leaders must have become of a more
intimate nature. The first definite information however,
which we possess, is found in the record of his
ordination. 2
" Mr. Thomas Deacon was ordained deacon in Mr.
Candy's Chapel, in Scrope Court, against St. Andrew's,
Holbourn, on March I2th, 17^, by Mr. Collier in
the presence of Mr. Candy, Mr. Peck, Mr. Laurence,
and Mr. Wignell : Preist (sic) March igth by the same
Bishop in the same place."
It will be rioted that Deacon was not more than i8|
years old at this date, and it is impossible to excuse
Collier from flagrant violation of the ancient Canons.
It may of course be argued on the other side, and with
perfect truth, that Deacon's mental development was far
beyond his years, but it is strange indeed that those who
professed reverence for primitive antiquity should so
hastily ordain a youth of 18 both to diaconate and
priesthood. 3
Thomas Deacon, now to be reckoned among the non-
juring clergy, made his first appearance before the public
1. Byrom's Remains, Vol. 2, p. 305 : the reference is to a Hebrew MS.
of the Bible which Deacon and Byrom were to study together.
2. " Notes and Queries," Series III, Vol. iii, p. 243, quoting from
Rawlinson MSS.
3. The custom of the first four centuries with regard to the age of
ordination varies somewhat, but the limit fixed in the Anglican Ordinal
leans, on the whole, to an earlier age than was common in the first
centuries. It would task the ingenuity of Thomas Deacon himself to
find any sanction for the ordination of a Presbyter at the age of 18.
18 THOMAS DEACON
in connection with the execution of two of the rebels of
the '15, the Rev. William Paul, of Ashby, near
Lutterworth, and John Hall, Esq., of Otterbourne, in the
County of Northumberland, and Justice of Peace for
that County. Much interesting information concerning
these two men may be gathered from Robert Patten's
''History of the Late Rebellion" (of 1715). Patten
may be said to have written an account of the Rebellion
from the point of view of both sides. He was Chaplain
to General Foster and was made prisoner at Preston,
I3th November, 1715, and was carried to London. He
there made an offer of King's evidence which was
accepted, and his leisure was employed in producing a
most racy account of the whole movement. William
Paul, born in 1678, at Little Ashby, took the oaths on
his institution to the Vicarage of Orton, Leicestershire,
on 5th May, 1709, but joined the Rebellion of '15,
" being born for his destiny," as Patten says, and read
prayers for James III. at Lancaster. He was allowed to
go free and proceeded to London, where he was recognised
in St. James' Park by a Justice of his native County,
was arrested, tried, and condemned to death. His
behaviour between sentence and execution was abject in
the extreme. His fellow sufferer, " mad Jack Hall of
Otterbourne," was of sterner stuff. He had a fierce and
passionate temper and had a reputation all over his
native County for violence and eccentricity. Concerning
his end, Patten says, "he denied his faith and made a
strange exit." The execution of these unfortunate men
took place on I3th July 1716, at which time were
delivered to the Sheriffs the famous dying speeches
which were entirely incongruous to the characters of the
men as I have briefly described them. There is much
that is uncertain in connection with the scenes which
took place at the execution, but there is no doubt what-
ever that the speeches were composed by Thomas
Deacon. On September ist, 1725, John Byrom records
DEACON'S EARLY LIFE 19
the fact 1 that "Dr. Deacon told me about making Hall
and Paul's speeches." It is also tolerably certain that
Deacon's connection with the affair was not confined to
the composition of the speeches. Our information on
this subject is practically limited to the charges brought
30 years later against Deacon by Josiah Owen of Roch-
dale, and to Deacon's vindications of himself against
these charges. The reader is referred to Appendix B,
pages 198 and 199, for the full details.
Owen declares that Deacon travelled in the sledge
from Newgate to Tyburn with the prisoners and was
hooted by the crowd : that as they passed along Holborn
Dr. Sacheverell stood by and greeted Deacon with a
4 'reverend bow and most respectful salutation." Owen
further states that Deacon stepped from the sledge into
the cart at Tyburn, and at the request of the prisoners
prayed with them for some time, absolved them,
"declared that what they did was meritorious" and then
made off: that Mr. Lorrain the "ordinary" of Newgate
prayed with the prisoners at the last moment, although
his ministrations were apparently not acceptable to them.
Deacon's own account is very different. He denies
absolutely that he officiated with the unfortunate men
in their last moments, and asserts that the person who
did so was the Reverend Francis Peck, M.A., formerly
of Trinity College, Cambridge, but that "neither he
nor anyone else did there and then absolve them." As
to the charge of declaring that what they did was
meritorious, Deacon declares that he said no such thing
either publicly or privately.
It may be taken for granted that Owen's account is
not by any means free from exaggeration; "This
account," he says, "I have received." Deacon does
not deny that he ministered to the prisoners in private,
but, on the contrary, practically leaves the reader to
infer that he had communication with the prisoners at
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. i, p. 178.
20
THOMAS DEACON
least when they were in gaol. The real difficulty lies in
the mention of the Reverend Francis Peck, who was
afterwards a famous antiquary. It is difficult to imagine
that Deacon could have had the slightest reason for
inventing this story^ but on the other hand Peck is not
generally regarded as having had much connection with
the non-jurors, although his name is certainly to be
found in the complete list supplied by Canon Overton.
I may, however, make a suggestion which would solve
the difficulty. Is it possible to identify the Mr. Peck
who was witness of Deacon's ordination (see page 17)
with the Reverend Francis Peck, M.A., of Trinity
College ? If this suggestion be adopted, Mr. Peck
might well be the non-juring parson referred to by
Owen, who erroneously supposed that it was Deacon.
The speeches themselves are of some interest. Paul's
speech is uncompromisingly Jacobite in its tone. James
III. is King and the Elector of Brunswick is the Pre-
tender. " I would not have you think that I am a
member of that schismatical church whose Bishops set
themselves up in opposition to those orthodox fathers
who were unlawfully and invalidly deprived by the
Prince of Orange. I declare that I renounce that
Communion, and that I die a dutiful and faithful member
of that non-juring Church which has kept itself free
from rebellion and schism, and has preserved and
maintained the true orthodox principle both as to Church
and State. I desire the Clergy and all members of the
Revolution Church to consider what bottom they stand
upon, when their succession is grounded upon an
Unlawful and invalid deprivation of Catholic Bishops,
the only foundation of which is a pretended Act of
Parliament."
The speech of John Hall, although of similar tenour,
is an entirely separate production. "The Communion
I die in is that of the true Catholic non-juring Church of
England and I pray God to prosper and increase it."
DEACON'S EARLY LIFE 21
It is, of course, obvious that the mam purport of the
speeches was to advertise the fact that the non-juring
party had become a distinct communion which claimed
the right to declare that the Church of England was in
reality a schismatical church. It is important to remem-
ber that this is the earliest manifestation of Deacon's
attitude to the English Church. From this he never
swerved to the least degree, his many friendships with
the clergy notwithstanding.
The next incident of Deacon's life of which we have
any record is a journey to Holland, which he made
shortly after the events which have just been related.
Here again we have two entirely differing accounts.
Owen says that, as a result of Deacon's conduct at the
executions, warrants were issued out against him and
that he was sent at the expense of the non-juring party
to Holland, in which country he studied medicine.
Deacon, on the other hand, admits that the visit to
Holland took place, but denies that any warrants were
issued against him. He went about London for three
months after these events and stayed in Holland at his
own cost. As to his medical studies these were not even
thought of at the time, but were entered upon on his
return to England on the advice, and by the assistance,
of Dr. Richard Mead. There may perhaps be some
doubt as to the question of the warrants, but in other
respects Deacon's own version of events may be accepted
as correct. If we date Deacon's departure for Holland
in the late autumn of 1716, it may be conjectured that his
stay there would not extend over many months, and that
he would be back in London in the early part of 1717.
There is no record of his name in the register of medical
students at the University of Leyden, and I take it that
his training as a physician began on his return to London
in 1717.
Dr. Richard Mead was one of the most distinguished
physicians of the earlier part of the i8th century. There
22 THOMAS DEACON
is a fascinating account of him given in the "Roll of the
College of Physicians of London," written by Wm.
Munk, M.D., F.S.A., and published in 1878. Richard
Mead was born at Stepney in 1673, studied at Utrecht
and Ley den, and received the Degree of Doctor of
Philosophy at Padua in 1695. On his return to Eng-
land he settled for some time in Stepney, where he had
considerable influence, as had also his father Matthew
Mead, who was a minister of the famous Stepney
Meeting. 1 A portrait of Matthew Mead, "Minister of
the Gospel," hangs in the vestry of St. Dunstan's
Church, Stepney, of which church Mead was "Morning
Lecturer" in the time of the Commonwealth. In 1714
Dr. Mead succeeded to the practice of Dr. Radcliffe and
removed to the house of his predecessor in Bloomsbury
Square, in 1716 he became Fellow of the College of
Physicians, and on the accession of George II. was
appointed Physician in Ordinary to that monarch, a
position which he held to his death. He was a great
collector and possessed among other treasures a large
number of Oriental, Greek and Latin MSS. What was
the origin of the connection between Mead, the Dissenter
and Whig, and Deacon, the pronounced High Church-
man and Jacobite, it is not very easy to conjecture,
unless it is to be found in the fact that both were natives
of Stepney. However this may be, it was certainly a
piece of good fortune for Deacon to be brought under
the influence of such a distinguished ornament of the
medical profession as Richard Mead. One can imagine
that the MSS. referred to would prove an irresistible
attraction to Deacon, and all that is recorded of Mead
1. The Stepney "Meeting" or Congregational Church was founded
in 1644 r the first pastor being William Greenhill, who held the Vicarage
of Stepney for about seven years during the time of the Commonwealth,
retaining at the same time his pastorate of the "Meeting." During this
period Matthew Mead (who had been admitted a member of the
" Meeting " on 28th December, 1656) held under Greenhill the position
of Morning Lecturer at the Parish Church. Greenhill and Mead were
of course ejected in 1662, and Mead succeeded Greenhill as pastor of the
"Meeting" in 1671.
DEACON'S EARLY LIFE 23
goes to show that he did not value his treasures for
himself alone. The motto which he chose "Non sibi,
sed toti," is said to have been characteristic of his whole
life. There must also have been something hopeful and
attractive in Deacon as he appeared to Dr. Mead, and
we shall find that Deacon's medical career did not
disgrace his illustrious patron. Dr. Hibbert-Ware *
refers to two letters written by Deacon and addressed to
Dr. Mead on the subject of ''Fluor Albus and Cancer,"
published in the loth volume of the Medical and Physical
Journal. With this exception nothing is recorded of
Deacon's subsequent relations with his old teacher.
We must now return to the realm of theology, and
shall in the next chapter enter upon a study of the
controversy concerning the " Usages."
1. " Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii, p. 89.
CHAPTER III.
Deacon and the " Usages " Controversy : the New
Communion Office of 1718.
THE subject, on the consideration of which we now enter,
may be described as technical, theological, and contro-
versial. The number of people who have any knowledge
of the somewhat bitter controversy which ensued between
the various sections of the small and dwindling number
of non-jurors, is not, I suppose, very large, and in all
probability the number of those who feel any interest in
the matter is still smaller. Nevertheless the subject is
not without interest to those who have some acquaint-
ance, however superficial, with the history and structure
of Christian liturgies, and quite apart from this con-
sideration, a life of Deacon cannot be fully represented
which does not deal in some measure of completeness
with his personal standpoint in the controversy in which
he bore a prominent part.
I desire, as far as possible, not merely to repeat what
has been many times written on this subject (although a
certain amount of repetition cannot be avoided), but to
quote as largely as possible from Deacon's own writings,
and with this aim in view I shall make considerable use,
not only here, but in later portions of this memoir, of
an interesting collection of MSS. which is to be found
in the Chetham Library in Manchester. I shall do this
the more freely as it does not appear that much use has
hitherto been made of this document. For a description
of these MSS. I may quote from the " Palatine Note-
book," vol. 2, p. 116, June 1882, in a letter addressed
to the Editor by Mr. Thomas Kerslake of Bristol. " I
have lately put my hand upon a little manuscript volume
26
THOMAS DEACON
which I had mislaid for some years past It
is a duodecimo volume of about an inch and a half thick,
four inches wide, and a half high, in old brown rough
calf with panel tooled sides. On one of the end leaves
is this writing :
' Charles Clement Deacon
His Book
New Goal (sic) Southwork Friday October lyth, 1746.
The contents of this volume are
f. Copies of three letters of Dr. Thomas Brett, one to
Mr. Jebb, two to * Dr. Deacon at Manchester.'
2. Extracts from Lombardi Sententice and various
Fathers.
3. The form of admitting a Convert.
4. A Litany for the use of those who mourn for the
iniquities of the present times, etc.
5. Prayers to be said on the death of a member of the
Church, etc.
6. Two discourses both written by Thomas Deacon.
7. Quotations from Bishop Gibson's 'Codex.' "
Commenting on the above Mr. Kerslake says that
Numbers 2 and 7 are in good scholar-like handwriting,
most likely of Dr. Deacon himself. Numbers 3, 4,
5, 6 probably the same handwriting later in life. I may
point out that the handwriting of these four numbers is
without doubt identical with Deacon's writing on the
frontispiece of the edition of the "Compleat Devotions"
referred to on page 177 : Number i copied by a less
cultivated hand.
In the same volume of the "Note book " (page 140)
an editorial note states "that on his return to Bristol Mr.
Thomas Kerslake intends to present this Jacobite relic
to the Feoffees of Chetham's Hospital for preservation
in their Library." A letter affixed to the volume itself
records the actual gift.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 27
From Thomas Kerslake, 1 Bristol, to Mr. J. Crossley,
July 22nd, 1882.
" Dear Sir,
Having learned from Mr. J. E. Bailey that a MS.
of the Deacons, non-jurors, would be acceptable to
the Feoffees of Chetham's Hospital for their Library,
I have sent it you by this post in the hope that you will
be so kind as to take charge of it for them."
Notice of the ill-fated owner of the book and of the
greater part of the contents must be deferred till we come
to a later period, but, as I intend to quote in the present
chapter from one of the discourses contained in this
volume, I thought it desirable to insert in this place the
foregoing brief account of what is an extremely valuable
although small collection of MSS.
The * Usages ' controversy really turned upon the
point as to whether the Book of Common Prayer was to
be used by the non-jurors without any alteration, or
whether the non-jurors, free as they were within the
limits of their little communion from any State control,
should use this liberty in the direction of enriching or
improving the liturgy authorised at the final settlement
of 1662.
It is, however, necessary for the proper understanding
of the controversy that the reader should have a clear
conception of the differences between the first liturgy of
Edward VI. (which I shall describe briefly as 'i Edw.
VI.') and the present liturgy, and it may be convenient
that a brief statement on this subject should be inserted
in this place.
The main difference between i Edw. VI. and the
present liturgy is to be found in the arrangement of the
1. Thomas Kerslake (1812 1891) was a native of Exeter, and about
1830 commenced business in Bristol as a second-hand bookseller in
partnership with his brother-in-law, Samuel Cornish, who was of the
same family as the founder of a well-known firm of booksellers of the
same name in Manchester. (See article in Diet. Nat. Biog.)
28
THOMAS DEACON
Prayer of Consecration, or to speak more accurately, of
the different forms of prayer by means of which the
central act of consecration is effected. In the present
office after the Offertory there follows the Prayer for the
Church Militant, and between this Prayer and the
Sursum Corda, Preface and Sanctus, are inserted the
Confession and Absolution and Comfortable Words.
After the Sanctus and before the Consecration proper
the Prayer of Humble Access is placed, and the Conse-
cration Prayer, strictly so-called, is little more than a
recital of the Institution. It may be said that the present
liturgy is in reality a dislocation of i Edw. VI. In that
office the Sursum Corda Preface and Sanctus are placed
immediately after the Offertory, and then begins a long
prayer composed of the following parts : (i) The
prayer for the whole Church, in which was a petition for
the faithful departed. (2) An Invocation of the Holy
Ghost upon the elements. (3) The Recital of the Insti-
tution. (4) A short form of Oblation. (5) The Prayer
now used as a Post-Communion, "O Lord and Heavenly
Father, etc.," concluding with the Lord's Prayer. There
followed the Confession and Absolution and Comfort-
able Words as a preparation for the Communion of
priest and people.
The dispute as to the 'Usages' and the subsequent
issue of the new communion office cannot be perfectly
apprehended unless the differences between the liturgies
of 1549 and 1662 are clearly understood.
Turning now to the question immediately under
consideration we must resist all temptation to commence
the study of this matter from an earlier date than that of
the death of Bishop Hickes, to which time indeed the
outbreak of the controversy may be assigned. Bishop
Hickes undoubtedly expressed his preference for the
liturgy contained in the first Prayer Book of Edward
Vlth and had used it in his oratory in Scroop's Court. 1
1. Archibald Campbell's "Middle State," p. 79.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 29
Hickes' death took place in December 1715, and in July
1716 the actual controversy began. The matters in dis-
pute are described very fully for us by Thomas Deacon
himself in his Preface to his work on " Purgatory,*'
which was published in 1718 and is noticed in its place in
Appendix A.
' The World had not in all probability been troubled
with these papers on 'Purgatory' but upon account of a
new controversy concerning the restoring of some
primitive practices in relation to no less a subject than
that of the proper Christian worship, I mean, the Holy
Sacrifice of the Eucharist. The things which are
pleaded for as necessary to be restored are
1. The mixture of the Wine and Water in the sacrifi-
cial cup.
2. The oblation of the Eucharistic elements as the
representative sacrifice of Christ's Body and Blood.
3. The blessing of them or the Invocation of the Holy
Ghost upon them.
4. The recommending of the faithful departed to God's
mercy at the Celebration of the Christian Sacrifice."
It may be well to indicate briefly how these four
practices are all provided for in i Edw. VI.
1. From the rubric after the offertory "And putting
the wine into the chalice putting thereto a little pure
and clean water, etc."
2. After the Words of Institution " Wherefore, O
Lord and Heavenly Father according to the institution
of Thy Dearly Beloved Son, Our Saviour Jesus Christ,
we Thy humble servants do celebrate and make here
before Thy Divine Majesty with these Thy Holy Gifts
the memorial which Thy Son hath willed us to make."
3. Before the Words of Institution "With Thy
Holy Spirit and Word vouchsafe to bless and sanctify
these Thy Gifts and creatures of bread and wine that
30 THOMAS DEACON
they may be unto us the Body and Blood of Thy Most
Dearly Beloved Son Jesus Christ."
4. Before the Consecration proper " We commend
unto Thy mercy all other Thy servants which are
departed hence from us with the sign of Faith and now
do rest in the sleep of peace. Grant unto them we
beseech Thee, Thy mercy and everlasting peace."
I now quote from a discourse copied in the MS. lately
described, which is said to have been delivered by
Thomas Deacon on Palm Sunday, April 6th 1718. It
is an interesting conjecture as to where this sermon was
preached. The well-known statement that "Thomas
Deacon was before 1719 Minister of a Non-juring
congregation in Aldersgate Street," l might lead one to
suppose that it was delivered in Trinity Chapel in that
street. This Chapel was one of the most important of
the non-juring places of worship in London. It is
described by Rawlinson as "Mr. Orme's Chapel" after
an incumbent of that name. "1717 June i8th Mr. John
Lindsay was ordained Preist in Mr. Orme's Chapel,
commonly called Trinity Chapel in the Parish of St.
Botolph Without, Aldersgate Street." Lindsay after-
wards held the position of Minister of this Chapel until
his death in 1768, and as Robert Orme was apparently
in charge of the Chapel in 1717 it is probable that
Deacon would stand to him somewhat in the relation of
an assistant Curate. But wherever the sermon was
delivered, we are fortunate in possessing a copy of it,
and I quote from it a passage which purports to give a
full account of the negotiations which were conducted
between the various sections of the non-juring bishops
and clergy.
"It is almost two years since these matters were first
debated among us : and though we always wished for
several other things to be restored to the Church, yet we
1. " Gentleman's Magazine," 1746, p. 399
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 31
never insisted on more than these four necessary points.
Our Bishops sent proposals to our adversaries which
were either not regarded or refused."
It may here be noted that the tone of Deacon's remarks
implies that in his judgment a complete separation had
already been made, which was indeed the case.
' 'At last when the controversy was printed on both
sides and the people were uneasy for a determination of
the Church, our bishops gave in their last proposition
with this declaration, that if they were agreed to, nothing
more should be done, no more alterations should be
made : but, if they were rejected, a schism would inevit-
ably ensue, and then it might be thought proper to
restore some other primitive usages. And that you may
see how low our bishops condescended, I shall recite the
last proposals, word for word, as they were sent to the
opposing bishops."
It may be well to indicate here the bishops on either
side of the controversy. On the side of the "Usagers"
were Collier, Brett, Gadderar and above all, Campbell :
on the side of those who desired that no change should
be made were Hawes, Spinckes and Gandy. These are
the "three opposite bishops" referred to by Deacon in
the sermon from which we now again quote.
11 Proposals for preventing a separation
1. That Water be constantly mixed with the Wine.
2. That the words * Militant here on earth' be always
omitted.
3. That in the prayer of Consecration the petition be
always 'Hear us O Merciful Father we most humbly
beseech Thee : Bless these Thy creatures of Bread and
Wine and grant that, etc.'
4. That the prayer of oblation 1 as it is worded in the
present liturgy be always used immediately after the
words of Institution before communicating."
1. i.e., The post- communion prayer, "0 Lord and Heavenly Father,
we Thy humble servants," etc.
32 THOMAS DEACON
We may once more break off at this point to indicate
that another account of these negotiations is extant,
from the point of view of the opposite party. It has
been variously attributed to Blackburne, Hawes and
Gandy and is freely quoted by Overton. 1 I shall content
myself by pointing out that while in some measure it
bears out Deacon's statement, a very different interpre-
tation is given of the last meeting at which reconciliation
was attempted. The 'non-usagers' story is, briefly, that
negotiations began in July, 1716, that the 'restorers' or
'usagers' were always in a minority, and that on
December igth, 1717, the 'restorers' assembled "where
they were secure of having no opposition" and from
that date resolved to communicate no longer with their
opponents.
Let us now proceed with Deacon's account :
"Farther, notwithstanding our persuasion that none
of these primitive usages can be dispensed with, yet we
do not insist on their being received by our brethren
as necessary things : provided they officiate by them they
may, if they please, declare their practice means no more
than temporary concessions and expedients for union."
Deacon proceeds to point out how great in his view
was the moderation of the bishops on his side of the
dispute.
"They insisted on no more alterations than that four
words should be omitted, a single word added, and one
prayer transposed but all these condescensions were to
no purpose : the proposals were rejected and no hopes
of an accommodation left. However, that nothing
might be wanting on our side, the bishops were all
desired to meet by him (Jeremy Collier), who was their
Senior Bishop, and whom they had chosen as their
President, that if they could not be persuaded to union
they might at least give their reasons why they could
not agree to these proposals . But this also failed of
1. Overtoil's "History of the Non-Jurors," p. 293.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 33
success for the three opposite bishops neglected or
refused to come."
Deacon then goes on to say that the bishops thereupon
issued a declaration that they thought it necessary to
put these primitive and Catholic usages into practice,
and instructed their clergy that communion with those
who had taken the opposite side in the controversy must
cease. "From this time we may date the formal schism,
and from that time we thought ourselves discharged
from all obligations to the opposite bishops and looked
upon our own to be the true Catholic Bishops and to
have the whole spiritual power over the Catholic Church
in England.*'
With regard to this sermon it may be said, by way of
side comment, that what strikes harshly on modern ears
is the choice of a highly controversial subject for such
an occasion as Palm Sunday. Deacon evidently felt no
incongruity in dealing with controversial matters in
sacred seasons, as a tract of his, dated Good Friday 1719,
is in existence in the form of a reply to an attack made
on him by Bishop Spinckes. 1
As to the subject matter of the sermon, a few brief
remarks will suffice. It is true that Collier and Brett
took the leading part in defending the restoration of the
Usages, and it is certainly true that they were both quite
capable of defending their position. But anyone who
has read between the lines of Deacon's remarks must
have perceived that there never was any real desire for
peace, and that a separation was from the first intended
and desired. I believe that Collier and Brett were really
in modern phrase "rushed" by other members of their
party, among whom I should put in the first place
Archibald Campbell, and secondly, young as he was,
Thomas Deacon himself. Thomas Brett, there is reason
to believe, from a letter of his written in 1729 and copied
in the MS. which has been referred to in this chapter,
showed some desire to retrace his steps. However, the
1. See note, p. 34.
E
34 THOMAS DEACON
schism had now been accomplished and pamphlets
abounded on both sides. One or two of these have
special connection with Deacon but the others may be
briefly indicated. Jeremy Collier's "Reasons for restor-
ing some prayers and directions as they stood in the
first English Reformed Liturgy," appeared in 1717.
Spinckes immediately answered this in "No reasons for
restoring, etc." Collier followed in 1718 with "A defence
of the Reasons," and Spinckes again replied with "No
sufficient reason, etc." In the course of this pamphlet
Bishop Spinckes made some hostile criticism on
Deacon's "Purgatory," and quoting largely from that
work, accused Deacon of ignoring the Scriptures and
placing tradition above them. Deacon's reply was the
pamphlet dated Good Friday, I7IQ. 1 He states that by
appealing to tradition he expressly included the Holy
Scriptures, and proceeds "Hard it is that a Christian
and a Priest of the Catholic Church should be called
upon to declare that he receives and respects the Scrip-
tures. Yet this is my case : I am falsely accused and I
am forced in my own vindication to show that I do really
believe the Scriptures and do not set them aside."
Deacon then proceeds to illustrate his point by means of
a curious dialogue between a "Catholic and a Sectarian,"
the latter of whom is supposed to take Bishop Spinckes'
view of the unlawfulness of appealing to tradition. The
subject of debate is the "Washing of the Disciples'
feet," and the Sectarian argues that on Scriptural
authority this practice ought to be preserved, and the
fact that there is no traditional sanction for the practice
does not weigh with him in the least. The application
which Deacon desired to make is easy to be perceived.
It is to the effect that to ignore tradition is to be involved
in contradictions and absurdities.
It was doubtless this dialogue which suggested to
1. "The Plaintiff's Charge Disprov'd and turned upon himself by the
Defendant in a Letter to the Author of no Sufficient Reason," etc.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 35
Matthias Earbery the form of his reply which is entitled
"A dialogue between Timothy a Churchman, and
Thomas an Essentialist." Earbery was a non-juror of
a very militant type, and attacked those of his own party
with equal violence and ability. The dialogue is drawn
up in a style which makes highly entertaining reading.
Timothy begins by asking Thomas "What he does at
that time of day : has he been playing truant? " This
style of argument might perhaps be calculated to take
the wind out of an adversary's sails at the very outset,
and throughout the dialogue Deacon's youthfulness is
mercilessly ridiculed. Timothy accurately describes
Deacon's confident and authoritative style. Referring
to "Purgatory" and the "Letter" he says, "they carry
that air of authority I concluded the author must be at
least some dignitary of the Church." On Thomas
stating that he had been in Orders for some two or three
years Timothy replies, "Why thou art hardly of age yet
man, there's a canon or two in the way." Thomas
excuses himself from further attendance on the ground
that he has a "translation on the anvil." This doubtless
refers to the translation of Tillemont's "History of the
Arians," published in 1721 (see Appendix A). But
above all Charles Leslie's contribution to the controversy
is of considerable value, and his judgment on the matter
will probably be approved by those who look back upon
it from a distance of 200 years. Charles Leslie (1650
1722) of Trinity College, Dublin, described by Johnson
as "a reasoner who could not be reasoned against," held
the chancellorship of Connor at the time of the Revolu-
tion, and on his deprivation came over to London. He
was a most voluminous writer and an experienced
controversialist, and in the dispute as to the Usages was
perhaps the strongest opponent of the party of Collier
and Brett. In a "Letter from the Reverend Charles
Leslie concerning the new separation addressed to Mr.
W. Bowyer," the case against the Usagers is put with
36 THOMAS DEACON
remarkable force "Who made this separation : did they
separate from you because you put Water in your Wine :
or did you separate from them because they did not?"
Leslie comments with some satire on the uncompromis-
ing attitude of his opponents, "The aggressor is answer-
able for the bloodshed on both sides : but he exhorts
those whom he attacks to be sure not to strike again,
because it is the second blow makes the quarrel, and it
must and shall be his way, for he hates contention and
speaks much of Peace, Union, Christian Love and
Charity."
It must be admitted that Leslie goes straight to the
essence of the controversy. If the Usagers had pleaded
for the Restoration of some primitive practices they
would have been on comparatively strong ground, but as
a matter of fact they desired much more than mere
restoration of edifying ceremonies. They held that the
usages were in the highest degree essential, and hence
the name "Essentialist," which Earbery gave to Deacon,
may be applied without injustice to the whole party, of
which Collier and Brett were the nominal heads. It
cannot, however, be denied that the Usagers, however
much their policy may be open to criticism, were far
stronger than their opponents in point of scholarship
and especially of knowledge of primitive liturgies. The
immediate result of the schism in the non-juring party
was the production of the new Communion office of 1718
to which some consideration must now be given.
It will have been noted that the original proposition
of the Usagers was the restoration of the Liturgy which
we describe as i Edw. VI., and that, in view of the
considerable opposition which was manifested, much
more moderate proposals were offered. It may, how-
ever, be doubted whether, if these proposals had been
entertained, any real basis of agreement could have been
found in them. Restless spirits such as Campbell and
Deacon would not in all probability have been long
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 37
content with the very moderate revision of the liturgy
of 1662, such as Deacon has given us in his own words
quoted on page 31. But now that all hope of agreement
had gone, the Usagers were free to act without any
reference to their previous proposals, and the actual
liturgy of which we are about to write was not by any
means that of i Edw. VI. That liturgy was, from
certain points of view, little more than the Sarum Missal
translated into English, that is to say, the arrangement
of the Canon was essentially Western, the only variation
being the introduction of the direct invocation of the
Holy Spirit. But the non-jurors always had their eyes
turned to the East, and their liturgy was in every sense
one of the Oriental type.
The present place will be appropriate for considering
the extraordinary importance attached bfy the non-jurors
to the interesting collection of ecclesiastical regulations
which is known to us under the name of the "Apostolic
Constitutions." The fact that the Constitutions contain
the so-called Clementine Liturgy, from which the non-
jurors drew so largely, is the justification for the
introduction in this connection of a brief statement of
the attitude of the non-jurors to this venerable collection
of directions as to Christian worship. I will quote the
words of John Griffin, consecrated bishop in 1722, who
published in that same year "The Common Christian
instructed in some necessary points of Religion." To
this work Deacon wrote a postscript which is referred to
in Appendix A.
"As they were at first compiled they are generally
allowed to have been a collection of traditions, orders,
and pastoral instructions, which the Apostles or any of
them, had delivered by word of mouth to such as them-
selves had made Bishops and Pastors of the flock of
Christ, preserved in memory by Apostolic men and
committed to writing by several of them, or by such as
had conversed with them. These memorials were
38 THOMAS DEACON
collected by an early, judicial, and impartial hand, and
were in good repute whilst they remained in their
original purity. Several learned men have with proba-
bility attributed this collection to St. Clement of
Alexandria, who flourished in the second century. But
whoever were the collectors of the several pieces of which
this book was at first composed, the collector himself was
not the author of them : the things themselves were
extant before : the compiler only put the scattered pieces
together in the method he thought most proper."
Deacon's own estimate of the Apostolic Constitutions
is given in an Appendix to his "Compleat Devotions"
in which he collected various observations by different
Divines upon the subject.
"The Book called the 'Apostolic Constitutions' con-
tains the Doctrines, Laws, and Settlements which the
three first and purest centuries of the Gospel did with
one consent believe, obey, and submit to, and that as
derived to them from Apostolical Men ; and the contents
thereof may be confirmed by the consentient testimony
of the Fathers of those centuries."
The above quotations may be regarded as indicating
what was commonly believed concerning the Constitu-
tions by the party of Collier, Brett, Campbell and
Deacon. It may however, be well to set, side by side
with these expressions of opinion, two more modern and
much more balanced estimates. Hook's account in his
"Church Dictionary" reads as follows "These collec-
tions of Ecclesiastical Rules and Formularies were
attributed in the early ages of the Church of Rome to
St. Clement of Rome, who was supposed to have
committed them to writing from the mouths of the
Apostles whose words they pretend to record. The
authority thus claimed for these writings has, however,
been entirely disproved, and it is generally supposed
by critics that they were chiefly compiled during the
second and third centuries, or that at least the greater
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 39
part must be assigned to a period shortly before the first
Nicene Council."
Let us now quote from the New ' 'Catholic Encyclo-
pedia" :-
"A Fourth Century pseudo-apostolic Collection in
eight books of independent, though closely related,
treatises on Christian discipline, worship and doctrine,
intended to serve as a manual of guidance for the clergy,
and to some extent for the laity." The writer goes on
to say that Canon 46 rejected all heretical baptism, and
that this fact alone caused the Constitutions to be viewed
with suspicion in the West, as being entirely at variance
with the traditional practice of the Roman Church. It
is of interest to note that while most (if not all) of the
non-jurors held the invalidity of lay baptism, Archibald
Campbell, Roger Laurence and Thomas Deacon carried
their beliefs on this point to a great extreme, all of them
of course deriving their sanction from the Canon
previously mentioned. 1
It has been held by many from the time of Archbishop
Ussher (d. 1656) that the Pseudo-Clement of the Con-
stitutions is identical with the interpolator of the Ignatian
Epistles. The Constitutions were quite unknown in the
mediaeval Western Church; in 1546 a Latin version of
a text found in Crete was published, and in 1563 a
complete Greek text was produced by the Jesuit father
Torres. This marked the re-introduction of the work to
Western Christendom.
A point to be noted about the doctrine contained in the
Constitutions is that in places the tone is distinctly that
of Subordinationism. It would be perfectly logical for
anyone who regarded these documents from Deacon's
point of view to conclude that the doctrine of the Primi-
tive Church was Arianism, and there is a striking
1. Campbell published in 1738, under the name of Philalethes, a letter
to the Archbishop of Canterbury on this subject : it purported to be
written by a layman in communion with the English Church, and was
not such as to increase the reputation of the writer.
40 THOMAS DEACON
instance of such deductions being drawn, in the person
of the celebrated William Whiston (1667 1752).
The number of Whiston's writings is prodigious : it
embraces various departments of mathematics and
mechanics as well as patristic and apocalyptic theology.
Whiston was also accustomed to deliver lectures on
scientific subjects. John Byrom records the fact that he
attended a lecture on "Parallaxes" on April 2nd, 1736,
" and found it tedious enough." l
No one more deeply reverenced the Constitutions than
Whiston : he is said to have believed that they were
directly dictated by the Apostles. But Whiston seized
upon what may be called the Arian side of the doctrine
in the Constitutions and immediately came into trouble
with the ecclesiastical authorities, being deprived in
1710 of the Lucasian Professorship in which he had
succeeded Newton. He afterwards resided in London,
and according to John Byrom was the source of con-
siderable amusement to his friends, who were accus-
tomed to make a butt of him. 2
In the article on Whiston, written for the Dictionary
of National Biography by the late Sir Leslie Stephen,
K.C.B., it is stated " that it is not improbable that
Whiston was more or less in Goldsmith's mind when he
wrote his masterpiece 'The Vicar of Wakefield.' ' The
resemblance is not, however, very striking.
The production of Whiston which is of greatest
interest to us is a liturgy which he published in 1713,
and is reprinted as Volume 3 of Hall's Fragmenta
Liturgica. It is described as "The Liturgy of our
Church as reduced nearer to the Primitive standard."
In the preface Whiston highly praises i Edw. VI., and
suggests the permissive use of that liturgy. Such
proposals have frequently been made in the present day.
Whiston's liturgy is practically that of i Edw. VI.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 30.
2. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, pp. 49
pp. 495 and 546.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 41
except that here and there traces of his Arianism are to
be found, such as the omission of the preface for Trinity
Sunday. There is also the insertion from the Clemen-
tine Liturgy of the ancient "Holy Things for Holy
Persons" with the refrain, and the form of consecration
from that liturgy is appended, apparently as an alterna-
tive. I have given the foregoing account of Whiston's
liturgy as illustrating the fact that the non-jurors were
not alone in suggesting some revision of the established
form, and for the same reason I may perhaps be allowed
to give a brief account of yet another liturgy published
in 1696 by Edward Stephens, a Divine of great repute
for learning, and said by Thomas Hearne "to be for the
Greek rather than the Western Church." He was
certainly a strongly anti-Roman controversialist, but this
did not prevent him from making use of the strongest
possible language in condemnation of those by whom
"the true English Reformed Liturgy (i Edw. VI.) was
disordered, dismembered and defaced." Stephens'
liturgy is essentially that of i Edw. VI. 1
It is now high time to come to that for which all that
has been said in this chapter is intended to serve as
introduction, namely, the non-jurors' New Communion
Office, published in London in 1718. The question at
once arises as to who was the principal author of this
Office. The Reverend Peter Hall, the compiler of the
collection of i8th Century adaptations of the Book of
Common Prayer, published at Bath in 1848 under the
title of Fragmenta Liturgica, states that in the copy in
his possession is a MS. note as follows : "Mr. Deacon
drew up this form but Mr. Collier new translated the
Eucharistical Thanksgiving before the words of Institu-
tion, as I have seen by a paper in Mr. (afterwards Dr.)
1. It is curious to note, concerning all the adaptations of 1 Edw. VI.,
that no office founded on that liturgy ever restored the Gloria in
Excelsis to the position it held at the commencement of the service.
That was the traditional position for this hymn in the West, but it
may be said of all the revisers of the 18th century that "they were for
the Greek rather than for the Western Church."
42 THOMAS DEACON
Deacon's handwriting." The volume thus annotated,
writes Mr. Hall, came from the library of the late Dr.
Bowdler of Swansea, and the note is probably from the
pen of his father, Mr. Bowdler of Bath.
The Bowdlers, who originally sprung from Hope
Bowdler in Shropshire, were an old non-juring family.
Thomas Bowdler (1661 1738) was at the Admiralty at
the time when the Duke of York was Lord High
Admiral. His position at the Revolution was second to
that of Samuel Pepys whom he followed into retirement,
and he was one of the few lay non-jurors who suffered
for their opinions. Thomas Bowdler was the intimate
friend of Bishop Hickes who made him his executor.
His eldest son, also named Thomas, was father of two
sons, John and Thomas. The elder attended Bishop
Gordon, the last non-juring Bishop of the regular line,
at his death in 1779, and is said himself to have been
the last non-juror in London. The younger son,
Thomas, has immortalised the family name in his edition
of Shakespeare. A branch of this family has for three
generations been connected with the cotton trade at
Kirkham in Lancashire, and through the kindness of the
present representative of the family, R. Hope Bowdler,
Esq., J.P., I have been able to see a copy of "the Life of
John Bowdler with some remarks on Thomas Bowdler,
by Thomas Bowdler, the younger," printed privately
in 1824. Much interesting information relative to this
ancient family is found in this pamphlet.
Returning now to the consideration of Hall's remarks
concerning the MS. note in his copy of the Communion
Office, it will be plain that the "Late Dr. Bowdler of
Swansea " is the Shakesperean Editor, and that the
"Mr. Bowdler of Bath" is the son of Thomas Bowdler,
late of the Admiralty.
Mr. Hall justly points out that there may be two
opinions as to the authenticity of this fact. Overton
declares that it is absurd on the face of it to attribute the
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 43
drawing up of the liturgy to Deacon, as he was then
little more than 20 years of age. It should, however,
be pointed out that the " Doctrine of Purgatory,"
published in this same year, was undoubtedly written
by Deacon, and there is therefore nothing inherently
improbable or ' 'absurd" in attributing to Deacon at
least some share of the drawing up of the new Com-
munion Office. It is perfectly true to say with Canon
Overton, that whoever wrote the preface had much to do
with' the drawing up of the liturgy, and in the opinion
of the present writer this preface is written exactly in
Deacon's clear, didactic, uncompromising style. Any-
one who takes the trouble to read a few consecutive
chapters from Brett's "Collection of Liturgies" will , -
perceive at once that there is in Brett's writings a tone
of scholarly reserve and consideration for his opponents
which is not to be found in any of Deacon's works
written at this early period of his life. I venture,
therefore, to think that the writer of the Life of Deacon
in the "Dictionary of National Biography" is right in
attributing the Office to Deacon, and the same attitude
is adopted in the catalogue of the Chetham Library, in
which the liturgy is placed under Deacon's name. It
is not, of course, to be inferred that Collier and Brett
entirely delegated the matter to Deacon. The Office,
when completed, would naturally go forth under the
Imprimatur of Collier as the chief of the non-juring
bishops, and all his colleagues would at least finally
revise the work, but on the whole it appears extremely
probable that Deacon had the chief share in translating
and drawing up the liturgy which we are now about to
examine. The preface briefly describes the variations
from i Edw. VI. which will be noticed in considering
the liturgy itself. Curious reasons are given for omit-
ting the Decalogue. Not content with pointing out that
the omission was also made in i Edw. VI., the writer
states that "the fourth Commandment looks somewhat
44
THOMAS DEACON
foreign to the Christian Religion as pointing to the
observance of Saturday. As it could not well have been
singly omitted it is thought fit to waive repeating the
rest." The conclusion of the preface may be quoted:
"Upon the whole here is nothing introduced without
unexceptionable warrant : nothing of late beginning.
Here is no application to Saints or Angels, no Worship
of Images, no praying the dead out of Purgatory : no
adoration of the consecrated elements, nothing that
supposes a corporal presence either by trans- or con-
substantiation 1 : in short, nothing but what is primitive
and agreeable to Scripture and practised by the best
recommended and enlightened ages."
As to the liturgy itself I desire to illustrate what may
be said of it by quotations from Brett's "Liturgies" and
Deacon's "Remarks on the Reverend S. Downes'
Historical Account of the several Reviews of the Liturgy
of the Church of England." Mr. Downes stated "that
Mr. Stephens' new Office led the way, Mr. Whiston
published his reformation of the whole in 1713, and now
we have Mr. Collier and Dr. Brett who, excepting his
Arianism, copy from him the rest of his alterations."
Deacon denies this with some warmth. Mr. Collier, he
says, never saw Whiston 's liturgy, and Dr. Brett had
neither seen nor heard of it. This is probably true
enough : all three revisers had copied not from each
other but from the same source, the Apostolic Constitu-
tions. As to the reasons why i Edw. VI. was not
restored Dr. Brett says, "Where both these (i Edw. VI.
and the present liturgy) have departed from the practice
of the Church there we thought it necessary to follow
1. This curious coupling together of the Tridentine and Lutheran
definitions suggests the thought that, although the non-jurors held very
advanced views as to the Eucharistic sacrifice, they not only protested
very strongly against the Tridentine definition of the Sacramental
Presence, but practically held the doctrine of what is sometimes called
" Virtualism." Many in the present day who are in a limited sense
the successors of the non-jurors, would probably consider them seriously
deficient in their view of the reality of the Presence.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY
45
the much older liturgy than either of them." Brett also
quotes from Collier's 'Reasons for the Restoration, etc.'
"The revival of that liturgy was not the thing that was
asked for but a restoration of primitive practices which
had been preserved there and were abolished afterwards.
These things were desired not as agreeable to the
doctrine of the English Church in the beginning of
King Edward's reign, otherwise than as they were also
agreeable to that of the Catholic Church in the best and
purest times. And the liturgy of Edward VI. was not
made the standard of what we insist might be restored,
but the primitive Church of the best and purest times
when the government of the English Church was most
pure."
The first variation in the new office, as compared with
i Edw. VI., is the insertion of a prayer at the Offertory
from the liturgy of St. Basil. The prayer of consecra-
tion immediately succeeds the Sanctus : the prayer for
the Church, which in i Edw. VI. precedes, being post-
poned till after the consecration. The new book,
however, contains, as a preface to the consecration, a
recital of instances of Divine Providence, "taken para-
phrastically (as the preface states) from St. James'
liturgy." The opening words are " Holiness is Thy
nature, etc.," the quotation being almost word for word
identical with the translation of St. James' liturgy which
is given by Neale and Littledale. I have found the
translation by these authors of the liturgies of SS. Mark,
James, Clement, Chrysostom and Basil of great help in
comparing the prayers derived by the non-jurors from
the Oriental liturgies with the actual liturgies themselves.
There next follows :
1. The Recital of the Institution.
2. The Oblation.
3. The Invocation.
The two last are in the words of the Clementine liturgy
and there immediately follows the prayer for the Church
4 6
THOMAS DEACON
in the words of i Edw. VI., and the rest of the service
is practically identical with that liturgy.
In addition to the liturgy, properly so-called, there
were published at the same time Offices for Confirmation
and Visitation of the Sick. In the Confirmation Office
the principal distinguishing feature is the restoration of
the Sign of the Cross and the Chrism. The Bishop is
directed to say : N. I sign thee with the sign of the
Cross : I anoint thee with Holy Ointment.
In the Office for the Visitation of the Sick the primitive
practice of Unction is to be used. The author of the
preface, who is probably as already stated Thomas
Deacon himself, affirms ''that it is not here administered
by way of Extreme Unction, but in order to recovery."
It may be noted that no mention is made in these
New Offices of the custom of Infant Confirmation and
Communion, and so far as I know no sanction was
openly given to these practices until the publication of
Deacon's "Compleat Devotions" in 1734. It is never-
theless probable that some of the Usagers desired to
make these further innovations. Charles Leslie in the
letter quoted on page 36 indicates that in his opinion
the Usagers would eventually adopt the custom of
confirming and communicating infants, which indeed
proved to be the case.
Such was the liturgy which was the outcome of the
strife between the opposing sections of the non-jurors.
It had no long continuance : it may be doubted whether
it was used anywhere after 1731-2, but in a sense it has
had a permanent result. There are two living liturgies,
although used in comparatively small religious commu-
nities, that of the Scottish Episcopal Church and of the
Episcopal Church of the United States, which are to be
traced directly to this non-juring liturgy of 1718. l In
1. It is possible that the same remarks may be applied to the Liturgy
used by the Irvingite Community or to adopt the official title, the
Catholic Apostolic Church. This Liturgy is a very complicated produc-
tion, and a description of it in this place would be wholly unsuitable.
It may, however, be said that it follows 1 Edw. VI. more closely than
the Liturgy of 1718, but in many points it differs from both.
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 47
both of these liturgies the component parts of the prayer
of consecration are arranged exactly on the plan of the
liturgy of 1718, viz., firstly, the Recital of the Institu-
tion ; secondly, the solemn Oblation ; thirdly, the
Invocation of the Holy Spirit. This order is essentially
Oriental, and it may be of some interest to point out
that a Church planted in the far West possesses a
liturgy framed in accordance with the liturgies of the
ancient East, and that in this sense the Usagers of
1716-18 have left behind them some permanent memorial.
There is to be found in the Library at Sion College a
most interesting Non-jurors' Prayer-book, from which
it is evident that Collier and Brett, on the establishment
of the definite schism which followed the introduction
of the liturgy of 1718, drew up and authorized a complete
Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the
Sacraments for the use of their section of the non-juring
body. The inscription on the title page (which is
described as a copy) is as follows:
"We Jeremy Collier and Thomas Brett, Bishops of
the Catholic Church in England do hereby with the
unanimous consent of our brethren the priests then
present receive and appoint this book (with the several
insertions and deletions) to be our book of Common
Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other
rites and ceremonies of the Church : given under our
hands this eleventh day of March in the year of our
Lord one thousand seven hundred and nineteen.
Signed Jer : Collier.
Thos. Brett.
Witnesses :
A. CAMPBELL.
Geo. Brown.
Roger Laurence.
Thos. Deacon.
John Rutter.
Thomas Wagstaffe.
48 THOMAS DEACON
N.B. The original of this and of the book above
mentioned annexed are in the hands of the Rev. Mr.
Thomas Wagstaffe, as Keeper of our original Church
Registers."
The book itself consists of a portion of an English
Prayer-book of the time of William the Third and of
the new offices for Holy Communion and Confirmation
bound together in one volume. In the first portion
everything is as in the Book of Common Prayer down
to the end of the Collects, Epistles and Gospels. At
this point is introduced the new Communion office. The
order of Baptism in the Prayer Book is not amended in
any way, but the Confirmation office is not that provided
in the Book of Common Prayer, but the form devised
by the Usagers in 1718; the office for the Visitation of
the Sick is altered with the purpose of introducing
Unction as described above, but the remaining offices
are as they are found in the Book of Common Prayer.
"The deletions" referred to are naturally concerned
with the names of the King and Royal Family. These
are carefully erased, but the names of the " exiled
family" are not inserted. There are other slight
alterations, as for example in the Ordinal, the words
"According to the Order of the Church of England"
are altered to "The Catholic Church in England." The
Book in Sion College Library from which I have drawn
these particulars was the property of Roger Laurence,
and was presented to Sion College on the 3rd of May,
1814, by the Rev. George Gaskin, Rector of St. Benet's
Gracechurch, and St. Leonard's, Eastcheap, and of St.
Mary's, Stoke Newington.
From a further note made (apparently by Roger
Laurence) on the first page, it would appear that the
book had been carefully compared with the standard
book in the possession of Mr. Wagstaffe and had been
found to agree with the original in all respects. A
statement to this effect is signed by Roger Laurence and
THE "USAGES" CONTROVERSY 49
witnessed by John Clarke and James Linfield, 1 on the
24th and 3ist days of July, 1732. The Rev. P. Hall in
Fragmenta Liturgica (general introduction, pages 38
and 39) gives a very misleading and confused account of
this book and of the inscription upon it. He states that
Thomas Deacon's signature was to a document protest-
ing against any further alterations. It will, I think, be
clear that Deacon's name is simply attached as a witness
to the authorization of the Book by Collier and Brett in
1719.
Nothing more is known of Thomas Deacon's life in
London : with the exception of a brief interval, which is
noticed in Chapter VI., the remainder of his days was
spent in Manchester, to which town he removed shortly
after the events which have been related in this chapter.
In 1721 he published a translation of Tillemont's
"History of the Arians." It is doubtful whether at this
time Deacon was residing in London or Manchester, but
all that is actually known of his life in the Metropolis
has now been related, and for the remainder of this
memoir the scene will be laid in Manchester.
1. Clarke and Linfield are connected with a curious incident in
Deacon's later ecclesiastical life (see pp. 138 and 139).
F
CHAPTER IV.
Deacon's Removal to Manchester: Short Account of
Manchester in 1720: John Byrom's "Private Journal
and Literary Remains."
A BRIEF description of the town of Manchester in the
early years of the i8th Century may be considered a
necessary preface to the story of Deacon's life in the
North, and at the outset it is well to remember that the
"North" in 1720 connotes very different ideas from
those which are now suggested by the mention of the
names of the Counties of Lancashire and Yorkshire.
"The voice of the North" was in 1720 little more than
a whisper. According to Stukeley the antiquarian, who
visited the town in 1724, Manchester "is the largest,
most rich and busy village in England. Here are about
2,400 families, and their trade, which is incredibly large,
consists of fustians, tickings, girth webbs, and tapes,
which are dispensed all over the Kingdom and to
Foreign parts." The population on the basis of 2,400
families might be calculated at about 12,000 people,
which would certainly include Salford, and according to
Mr. Axon x probably the entire Parish of Manchester.
In the year 1757 the population of the two towns had
risen to 20,000 : in 1783 to 40,000, and at the first census
in 1801 to 90,000. It will be seen that in the early years
of the 1 8th Century the town and district of Manchester
were about to enter upon a rapid stage of development.
The statement of Stukeley as to the size of the trade of
Manchester will attract the eye of the modern reader,
1. "Annals of Manchester," p. 79.
52 THOMAS DEACON
and there can be no doubt that in proportion to the
population the trade of the town was very considerable.
It may be said that Manchester had been for some
generations the natural centre of a manufacturing
district. The processes of spinning and weaving were
carried on in the homes of the people; the spinning-
wheel was commonly to be seen by the fireside of small
cottages, and looms worked by hand were to be found
in farm houses or the larger dwellings. Occupation was
provided for many people in the trades of fulling,
bleaching, and dyeing, and as the town of Manchester
was from very early times regarded as the centre for the
distribution of the finished goods, it is easy to see that
the trade of the town would assume very considerable
proportions.
It is perhaps necessary to point out that although the
term " Manchester Cottons " was in use to describe the
products of Manchester in the i6th, lyth, and early part
of the 1 8th Centuries, the goods were actually made of
woollen. The cotton trade, as we now know it, can
hardly be said to have commenced before the end of the
i8th century. In a preface written by Mr. Axon to a
pamphlet entitled "Manchester, a hundred years ago,
being a reprint of a description of Manchester by a native
of the town, James Ogden, published in 1783," there is
to be found an amusing account of the fact that when in
1784 eight bags of cotton came from America to
Liverpool the custom house authorities detained them,
being sure that they had not grown there. In 1774 an
Act of Parliament passed to regulate the sale of cotton
products refers to the fact that "a new manufacture of
stuffs wholly made of raw cotton wool hath been lately
set up within this kingdom/'
The principal building of the town was the Collegiate
Church then, as now, known as the "old" church. The
appellation "old" does not however convey to us exactly
the same meaning as it did to our forefathers, who used
DEACON'S REMOVAL TO MANCHESTER 53
it in distinction to the new Church of St. Ann which
was consecrated in 1712. In the diary of Harrold the
Manchester Wig Maker, which is to be found in " Man-
chester Collectanea," edited by Harland for the Chetham
Society, our journalist describes his attendance at
religious service as varying between the "old" church
and St. Ann's.
The College of Manchester was founded by the
munificence of Thomas Lord de la Warre, and received
its charter on the ist of May in the ninth year of King
Henry V. The first foundation lasted to the year 1547,
but a series of rapid changes followed until 3oth of
September, 1635, when the College was refounded and
it is commonly styled in our period "the College of
Manchester founded by King Charles." The Church
was within the Diocese of Chester, the Bishop being,
by virtue of his office, Visitor of the College. The
Government of the Church was assigned to a Warden
and four Fellows, the first Warden of the new foundation
being Richard Heyrick (1600 1667), who owed his
appointment to certain money transactions between
James the First and Sir William Heyrick, father of the
Warden. During the troubles of the Commonwealth
Heyrick became a zealous Presbyterian, and a great
organiser of Presbyterian discipline throughout Lan-
cashire. He was consistently loyal to the King,
conformed in 1662, and although efforts were made from
time to time to eject him, he remained in office until his
death in 1667. The most distinguished of the ejected
ministers was Henry Newcome to whom some further
slight reference will be made.
Nicholas Stratford was the next Warden and from
that time the influence of Commonwealth times may be
said to have ceased. Stratford was a Tory and High
Churchman and preached the doctrine of non-resistance
in very decided tones. "A humble man leaves it to his
government to determine what it to be imposed and
54 THOMAS DEACON
thinks himself only concerned to obey, and if it some-
times happens that he is not able to discover the nature
of a law, he still questions not but there is sufficient
reason for it : his superiors (as standing upon higher
ground) are able to see farther than he can." 1 Stratford
was nevertheless a man of conciliatory temper and was
greatly alarmed at the policy of James II. In 1684 he
resigned and remained in retirement until 1689 when he
was consecrated to the See of Chester, thus becoming
the Diocesan and Visitor of the Church of which he was
formerly Warden.
Richard Wroe (1641 1718) "the silver-tongued," a
native of Radcliffe, and Fellow of the Collegiate Church
from 1675, succeeded Stratford as Warden in 1684. He
was sincerely attached to the principles of the Revolution
and found no difficulty in supporting the new dynasty
during the short period which elapsed between the
Accession of George I. and his own death on ist
January, 173.
But the period of unquestioning adherence to the
Revolution was now passing away and from this time
onwards the influence of the Jacobite party in Manchester
was supreme. Sir William Dawes succeeded to Chester
in 1707 and on his translation to the primatial See of
York in 1714 was succeeded at Chester by Francis
Gastrell who at the time of which we are now writing
(1720) was engaged in a prolonged and acrimonious
dispute concerning the nomination, on July ist, 1718, of
Samuel Peploe to the Wardenship of Manchester in
succession to Richard Wroe.
This account of Manchester must not be closed
without a brief mention of the two foundations of
Humphrey Chetham, the Hospital and Library, to both
1. From the introduction to Dr. Stratford's "Dissuasive from
Revenge" addressed to the inhabitants of Manchester and Salford.
Quoted by Dr. Hibbert-Ware in " Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii,
p. 16.
DEACON'S REMOVAL TO MANCHESTER 55
of which institutions his name is attached. The name
of the College, commonly given to the building within
which both Hospital and Library are contained, keeps
in memory the fact that it was formerly the residence of
the Wardens and Fellows of the Collegiate Church,
being purchased and applied to its present use under
the will made by Humphrey Chetham in 1651. The
College was dedicated to its two-fold purpose on the
5th of August, 1656. The Free Library, which is of
some interest to the present memoir, has for 250 years
opened its doors to all comers, and it will be seen that
there gathered within its walls in the early years of the
Eighteenth Century a friendly company of which
Thomas Deacon was by no means an undistinguished
member.
It may be noted finally that Stukeley describes
Manchester as a 'village,' which refers to the fact that
the town had no Corporation, but was in the words of
James Ogden * only a market town governed by
constables.' The same writer was of opinion that
'nothing could be more fatal to its trading interest than
if it should be incorporated and have representation in
Parliament.' These two evils were postponed for many
years after the period with which we are concerned.
Representation in Parliament was not granted until 1832
and the Incorporation of the town was deferred until
1838.
During these early years of the eighteenth century
the influence of the Tory party had been steadily
growing in Manchester, and the number of those who
were at least favourably disposed to the exile family was
not by any means inconsiderable. At the same time
the power of the Presbyterian party steadily declined.
The causes to which the revival of Toryism and
Jacobitism in Manchester is to be attributed, afford an
interesting matter of speculation, and the present writer
has not seen any entirely satisfactory explanation. The
56 THOMAS DEACON
three reasons given by Dr. Hibbert-Ware 1 are not very
convincing. They may be summarised as follows:
I. The influence of the Tory ministries of Queen
Anne.
II. The fact that many of the younger members of
the best families found occupation in the trade
of the district instead of drifting up to London.
III. The influence of the doctrines preached from the
pulpit of the 'Old Church.'
The second reason appears very fanciful but there
may be an element of truth in the third. The population
of the town, at the beginning of the eighteenth century,
clustered round the old church to an extent which is now
difficult to be imagined. James Ogden refers to a walk
which he took round the boundaries of the town in 1780,
from which we can obtain some idea of the narrow limits
within which Manchester was confined, even at a period
60 years later than that which we are immediately
considering. He begins at the "gate which leads into
Castlefield," walks through the fields to Booth Street,
notices that the whole land from that spot to Market
Street Lane is built up except " Brown's Hall," and
proceeds to the new Infirmary where the River Tib
formed the boundary of the town in that direction. He
then goes by Shudehill and Miller's Lane to Long
Millgate where the Irk crossed by Scotland Bridge
formed another boundary. On the left of Miller's Lane
Ogden notices the Workhouse Buildings, which were
the cause of a famous controversy to which we shall
refer. Crossing the Irk by a wooden bridge leading to
Hunt's Bank, he arrives at the Salford boundary and
proceeds along Deansgate to his starting point at
Castlefield.
We shall now perhaps be able to see that the little
1. " Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii, pp. 69 and 70.
DEACON'S REMOVAL TO MANCHESTER 57
town of Manchester in 1720 was simply built around
the walls of the old Collegiate Church, and it is easy to
believe that the influence of the Church over the life of
the community was of much greater extent than can
readily be imagined at the present day. There is no
shadow of doubt that for a long series of years the
chapter house of the old Church was occupied by those
whose attachment to their Whig governors was of a very
lukewarm description. The abortive trial of the
Jacobites in 1694, the excitement aroused by the
Sacheverell trial in 1709, the riots in celebration of the
Pretender's birthday in 1715, which culminated in the
wrecking of the Chapel in Cross Street which had been
built for Henry Newcome, may be regarded as marking
different stages in the progress of the Jacobite Revival,
and may perhaps help us to understand why Thomas
Deacon should choose Manchester for his new home and
sphere of influence. Nothing is really known of the
reasons which moved Deacon to this choice beyond those
which I have ventured to suggest, but it may be believed
that in addition to what I may call "political reasons"
Deacon had hopes that in Manchester he would be able
to make for himself a name in the medical profession,
and in this aspiration at least he was not disappointed.
Our knowledge of Deacon's life in Manchester is
almost entirely derived from the "Private Journal and
Literary Remains" of John Byrom, and a brief notice
of this distinguished member of the community of
Manchester must here be inserted. John Byrom, poet,
stenographer, and mystic, the son of Edward Byrom,
linen-draper of Manchester, was born at Kersal Cell in
1691. The Byroms of Manchester were a younger
branch of the Byroms of Salford, and they in turn of
the original Byroms of Byrom in the Parish of Winwick.
John Byrom was entered at Merchant Taylors' School in
1701, proceeded to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1708,
of which College he was Fellow from 1714 1716. He
58 THOMAS DEACON
was intended for Holy Orders, on which subject a very
affecting letter from his father is recorded in his
Remains. 1 But the idea was abandoned probably on
account of his scruples concerning the oaths. Byrom
had however, not the slightest hesitation about conform-
ing to the English Church, to which indeed he was most
warmly attached. In 1716 he travelled on the Continent,
where he remained for some time. Dr. A. W. Ward,
in his edition of "Poems of John Byrom" (Chetham
Society), Volume i, page 9, says "that there is every
reason to believe that this journey had a political
object," and in the Remains of John Byrom, Volume i,
page 34, there is appended in a note a similar statement.
"There is a mystery about Byrom's movements at this
period on which there are no papers to throw any light.
There can be little doubt that politics had much to do
with this concealment."
We know as a matter of fact that Byrom actually
visited the Pretender at Avignon. The information is
given by Byrom himself in recording a conversation
whict he had with William Law in Somerset Gardens
on August ist, 1739. 2
" He (Law) said that they talked of the Pretender's
coming, was I not afraid of it? I said No, not at all,
and he talked in his favour and as we came away gave
him (the father) a most excellent character for experience,
wisdom, and piety. I said that I saw him once : he
said, Where ? I said, at A(vignon). He said, did you
kiss hands? I said, Yes, and parted."
During this sojourn on the Continent Byrom studied
medicine at Montpelier, but never practised although
he was commonly styled Dr. Byrom.
One of his letters written from Montpelier is of interest
as showing a much more tolerant attitude to the Roman
Church than was commonly felt by the average English-
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 12.
2. Ibid., Vol. ii, p. 259.
DEACON'S REMOVAL TO MANCHESTER 59
man of the i8th Century. "For my part I have been
at Mass several times, and for what external ceremonies
there are I see nothing to fright one from it, nor indeed
from any way of communion with 'em, if they would
excuse one from believing so-and-so. For outward
pomp and magnificence they far outdo us, though
perhaps in our way of worship we have retrenched what
bears too much upon excess in theirs." 1
I do not of course mean to imply that Byrom had any
serious inclination towards communion with the Roman
Church, but this frank expression of tolerant feeling is,
I submit, somewhat interesting and contrasts forcibly
not only with the traditional English suspicion of all
things Roman, but also the dogmatic and confident tone
in which Thomas Deacon was accustomed to attack
Roman theology.
In 1721 John Byrom married his first cousin, Elizabeth,
daughter of Joseph Byrom, and was for some time in
comparatively straitened circumstances, under pressure
of which he spent much time in London inventing,
perfecting, and teaching a system of shorthand for
which in his own day he was principally famous,
although he is now known almost exclusively as the
author of "Christians, Awake." Byrom's life for a
number of years was so closely related to that of Deacon
that to a large extent the same biography may be said to
serve for both, and it will be convenient at this point to
insert a brief notice of the "Private Journal and Literary
Remains of John Byrom," edited by the late Canon
Parkinson, for the Chetham Society in 1854-7.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 40.
2. This statement may require some qualification. With regard to
Lancashire in particular and the North of England as a whole, it is
doubtless correct to say that Byrom is now chiefly remembered by his
Christmas hymn ; but in the South it is probable that his name is more
immediately associated with the verse " God bless the King God bless
the Faith's Defender, etc." Although "Christians Awake" is sung
wherever the English tongue is spoken the name of the composer may
very possibly not be remembered outside his native county.
6o
THOMAS DEACON
The story of the production of this Journal is worth
telling. Canon Parkinson, having the privilege of the
acquaintance of Miss Atherton, great grand-daughter of
John Byrom, discovered at Kersal Cell and at the family
house in Quay Street, large quantities of written material
and secured the consent of Miss Atherton for its
publication. It was found that much of it was written
in Byrom's shorthand which was almost forgotten, but
through the diligence of a lady member of Miss
Atherton's household, the whole was deciphered, and the
result is a Journal which is worthy to be compared with
that of Pepys, or Evelyn. It is perhaps a dangerous
thing to enter upon comparisons, but there is a certain
similarity to be noticed between the diaries of Evelyn
and Byrom, both from the religious and political stand-
point. A study of Byrom's Journal will confirm the
estimate of Dr. A. W. Ward 1 that in Byrom are to be
found "among other rare and exquisite qualities a high
moral conscientiousness and a profound tenderness of
heart, which, when blended together, suffice of them-
selves to lift a man above the multitude."
This Journal is sadly neglected by many in Byrom's
native city, but to a writer of a memoir of Deacon it is
absolutely indispensable. The story of Deacon's life in
Manchester, without the aid of this Journal, would be
nothing more than a bare recital of dates and facts, but
we have by means of Byrom's writings the power to
present Deacon as one of a considerable number of
intimate friends, and upon this task we enter in the
succeeding chapter.
1. Dr. Ward's Poems of John Byrom, Introduction, p. 5.
6i
CHAPTER V.
Deacon's Social Life in Manchester: 1720-45.
THE date of Deacon's arrival in Manchester is usually
given as 1719-20, probably on account of Owen's state-
ment in " Dr. Deacon try'd," quoted on page 200, in
Appendix B. "In 1719 or 20, it is certain you practised
physic in Manchester." There is no mention of Deacon
in Byrom's Journal before the year 1723, and I incline to
the view that Deacon did not leave London until 1721
or 2. Deacon married about this time, but the date is
not known, and the lady's family name has not been
preserved : her Christian name was Sarah, as recorded
on the tombstone in St. Ann's Churchyard. We do,
however, know that she was a native of London. John
Byrom refers on more than one occasion to Dr. Deacon's
father-in-law, but unfortunately does not name him. It
appears probable that he lived in Clerkenwell or
Stepney, and it is certain that he was alive in the year
1739, in which year his daughter Sarah Deacon paid
him a visit, taking with her three boys and a girl. From
certain indications to be found in Byrom's Journal I
have formed the opinion that Mrs. Deacon's father may
possibly have been a medical man, but this is -little more
than conjecture.
The eldest child of this marriage, Thomas Theodorus,
is said to have been 22 years of age at the time of the
Rebellion in I745, 1 and we may therefore venture to fix
the date of the marriage about the year 1722. Whether
Deacon brought his bride with him to Manchester on
the occasion of his first visit to the North, or whether he
returned to bring the lady to the home which he was
. 1. Lathbury's " History of the Non-Jurors," p. 389.
62
THOMAS DEACON
able to provide, is a question which cannot now be
determined. We do, however, know with certainty, that
the house in which Deacon lived was next door to the
"Dog and Partridge Inn, in Fennel Street. 1 This, the
only residence in Manchester with which Deacon's name
is associated, was within a stone's throw of the Collegiate
Church, of the Chetham Library, and of the house of
his most intimate friend John Byrom which stood at
the bottom of Hanging Ditch. Byrom's letters to his
wife were usually addressed to Mrs. Elizabeth Byrom,
by the Great Church, Manchester, Lancashire.
In the present chapter I shall endeavour to describe
Deacon's social life down to the outbreak of the troubles
of the '45, leaving his medical career, and his ecclesias-
tical career as a non-juring priest and bishop, to be dealt
with in the two succeeding chapters.
We have no record of the beginning of the friendship
between Deacon and Byrom, but the first mention of
Deacon in the Journal is found in a letter written from
London to Mrs. Byrom on November loth, 1723.
Byrom had just returned to London after one of his
brief visits to his family in Manchester, and speaks of
reading "Dr. Deacon's Book, which I had left here it
seems." 2 From the tone of the letter it would appear
that Deacon's name was already familiar, and from now
onwards it is seldom absent from Byrom's letters. The
book referred to may have been Deacon's " Purgatory,"
1. The "Dog and Partridge Inn" is now known as "The Douglas."
The change of name was made in the year 1886. For some years
previous to this date the inn was in bad repute for disorderly conduct,
and the change of name was apparently made with the purpose of
"making a fresh start." Deacon's house stood immediately below the
inn. Dr. Shaw, in " Manchester Old and New " (p. 13), gives a
reproduction of a drawing of the house. It was a substantial structure
with a double- front. With regard to John Byrom's house, it is not an
easy matter to define the exact situation, but it certainly faced Hanging
Ditch on the side nearest to the Exchange, and the back premises
probably opened on to Hunter's Lane. Dr. Shaw (p. 21) states that
the house was in Hanging Ditch, between Hunter's Lane and Old
Millgate.
2. Bvrom's " Remains," Vol. i, p. 60.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 63
but I hazard the suggestion that it may more probably
have been the "translation" of Tillemont's History of
the Arians, which is one of Deacon's least known works,
and was published in 1721. In May of the next year,
1724, Byrom was in Manchester, and records a visit paid
to him by Dr. Deacon, and in the succeeding year, 17**,
we have a series of very interesting records.
On the 4th January in that year Byrom mentions a
visit to Deacon in his own house, and on the 6th
(Twelfth Night) the two friends with others were present
at an oyster supper at the house of the Rev. Thomas
Cattell, afterwards Fellow of the Collegiate Church.
Deacon, it may be noted, was no ascetic, but on the
contrary appeared to enjoy thoroughly friendly inter-
course with men of varied schools of thought. This
supper at Cattell 's house is the first intimation of the
friendship which existed between Deacon and the
Clergy of the Collegiate Church, which was a very
marked feature of his life in Manchester. The Rev.
Thomas Cattell, the host on this occasion, demands a
passing notice. He was of All Souls and New Inn Hall,
Oxford, where he took the M.A. degree in 1715. In
1731 he became Chaplain of the Collegiate Church, in
succession to the Rev. R. Assheton, and Fellow in 1735
in succession to Rev. Roger Bolton. He was the
constant friend of Deacon and Byrom, and on his death
in 1745 a so-called discovery was made of an extra-
ordinary letter amongst his papers. (See page 128.)
During this visit to Manchester Byrom had evidently
been reading the mutual fulminations of Archbishop
Bramhall and Hobbes, the philosopher of Malmesbury.
There had been great discussions with Mr. Cattell and
other friends concerning " second causes." Mrs.
Byrom took the opportunity of giving some wifely
advice as to the impropriety of talking about such
matters in public. "That Dr. Deacon had told of some
expressions of mine that made people think I was an
64 THOMAS DEACON
atheist or something of that nature I did not believe
Dr. Deacon would say any such thing." 1 Byrom had
possibly been taking in argument the part of the
philosopher, as against the bishop.
Under the date of September ist, 1725, a few days
later than the last quotation, Byrom has preserved for
us a most interesting record already referred to on page
18. "Dr. Deacon came after 7 o'clock and stayed till
1 1 or past, played at chess, and I beat him all but one
game : he smoked a pipe, we had a good deal of talk
about religious matters : he told me of his making Hall
and Paul's speeches." It is tantalising to have such a
brief record of this conversation. What would one not
give for some detailed account of the talk "on religious
matters?" Here we have two men both deeply
religious and interested in the study of primitive
Christianity, both (to a large extent at least) of one mind
as to the authority of primitive tradition, and yet the
one devoted to the English Church, and the other a
leading spirit in a schism which repudiated the authority
of that Church. If we could have heard Deacon's talk
it is just possible that he would have found some way
of partial mitigation of the severe judgment which he
publicly passed on the English Church and on all those
who still conformed to her. We may here quote a
rhyme of Byrom, not because of its merits, for truth to
tell it has none, but because it was evidently written
after one of the many games of chess which were played
between the two friends.
" Checkmate, dear Doctor ! Well I do profess
It is an admirable game, this chess.
A sweet device : whoever found it out,
He was a clever fellow without doubt."
We obtain a very pleasing view of the lighter side
of Deacon's life in connection with Byrom's system of
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 1/7.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 65
shorthand, and as we are not in the present chapter
bound to strict chronological order, we may give some
quotations from letters which passed between Deacon
and Byrom on this subject, during a period of ten to
fifteen years.
Byrom first mentions shorthand in a letter written
from Trinity College, Cambridge, I4th July, 1715. 1
The matter must have been constantly in his mind, and
on 2yth May, 1723, the first proposals for printing and
publishing a new method of shorthand were issued.
Byrom had the faculty of collecting around himself a
vast number of friends and acquaintances, and all whom
he could interest in his shorthand system were formed
into a society. Byrom himself was styled " Grand
Master" and deputies were appointed in various parts
of the country to further the scheme, to whom was
assigned the title of " Warden." Deacon appears to
have thrown himself into the scheme with the greatest
energy, and became Byrom's "Warden" at Manchester.
He constantly addresses Byrom as " Dear Grand
Master," and signs himself as "Your dutiful Warden,"
and on one occasion playfully conveys " Mrs. Warden's
kind remembrances." 2 It would be possible to give
many quotations of this kind from Byrom's Journal, but
I will content myself with a short description of what
must have been a humorous scene which took place at
a meeting of the Manchester Branch of the Shorthand
Society held on Friday, 3Oth August, 1728. The
member who acted as President on this occasion had
appeared in a "black Bob" instead of the usual "white
Tie- Wig." For an account of the difference between
these two head-dresses (which both sound sufficiently
uncomfortable) the reader may be referred to Dr. A. W.
Ward's "Poems of Byrom," in which is contained a
copy of the "Verses spoken extempore" at this meeting,
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. 1, p. 32.
2. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 497.
G
66 THOMAS DEACON
with some interesting comments from the pen of Dr.
Ward himself. 1
Byrom appears to have delivered some verses extem-
pore, which he afterwards reduced to writing at the
request of Mr. Leycester of Toft Hall. The main idea
of the poem is that something must be seriously wrong
with the President, and various members of the Society
are addressed in turn, and asked for their opinion.
Joseph Clowes, the lawyer, so often mentioned in
Byrom 's Journal, and Thomas Cattell, are addressed by
the composer of the poem, but the verse which is spoken
to Deacon will be of most interest to us.
" You, Master Doctor, will you try
Your skill in Physiognomy ?
Of what disease is it a symptom ?
Don't look at me, but look at him, Tom.
Is it not scurvy think you ? Yes,
If anything be scurvy, 'tis.
A Phrenzy or a Periwigmanie,
That over-runs his Pericranie."
Dr. Ward, somewhat laboriously, as it appears to me,
attempts to refer the name Tom to the Rev. T. Cattell
or the Rev. T. Heyward. It is surely a familiar
abbreviation of Deacon's Christian name.
During the whole of the time in which Byrom was
engaged in perfecting his system of shorthand he was
greatly opposed by a very active teacher of a rival
system in the person of James Weston of Edinburgh.
Byrom records that on 7th December, 1727, Deacon very
strongly urged him to write against Weston's book. 2
New proposals for publishing the system were printed
and issued on ist November, 1739, and for some time
previous to this date, negotiations had been conducted
1. Poems of John Byrom, Vol. i, p. 94.
2. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 277.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 67
between Byrom and many of his friends, in which David
Hartley, the metaphysician, took a prominent part, but
for our purpose the following letter from Deacon will
most deserve attention. 1
" 24th May, 1737.
11 Much honoured Grand Master,
I am very glad to hear that your Shorthand
majesty is resolved to show yourself to the world and
no longer to keep up the state of an Eastern Monarch.
And since you are pleased to desire the advice of your
loving subjects, I humbly offer to your Highness that
you would draw up separate lists of those of your
subjects whom you may suppose to have the most
influence and authority, and have their names printed
at the bottom of the certificate you sent from London :
so that I would have a certificate of the properest
names for London, another for the Universities,
together or separate, and another for the North
country. For if all your recommenders should be put
together, behold the number ! Who would read them ?
Besides, who will mind the names that they know
nothing of ? And who can tell but the paltry one of
Deacon may do more execution in Lancashire than
the great one of Hoadley (sic) ? You understand my
meaning and therefore think about it."
Deacon then proceeds to discuss various descriptions
of type for the printing of shorthand, which shows that
he had some amount of technical knowledge of the
subject, and concludes :
" But I only hint these things to your Majesty's
deliberate consideration and sublime judgment, and
desire that with an account of your proceedings you
will dignify the person and exhilarate the heart of
your Majesty's humble deputy and dutiful Warden,
T. D."
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 170.
68
THOMAS DEACON
The list of Byrom's " recommenders " which was
eventually published is well worth reading. It contains
the names of the Rev. T. Cattell, Fellow of Manchester;
the Rev. Mr. John Clayton, Curate of Salford; Joseph
Clowes, Esq.; Doctor Thomas Deacon, of Manchester;
Lord Delawarr; Dr. D. Hartley; Sir Darcy Lever,
LL.D., and the Rev. Mr. Charles Wesley, whose name
is not in the popular mind usually associated with
shorthand. A letter from Charles Wesley to John
Byrom on .this subject may perhaps close this brief
description of Byrom's system of shorthand. It is dated
25th September, 1737, and is written in cypher.
"An uninterrupted hurry has prevented my writing
sooner. I am forced to borrow a piece of Sunday.
Next week I return to Oxford and will then find time
to look about for subscribers. Between 20 and 30
have given in their names. The printing your
proposals would bring in great numbers and give me
an opportunity of trying my interest before I leave
England. Dr. Richardson (Master of Emmanuel),
and others of your Cambridge friends take it a little
ill that they hear nothing of the proposal from you.
People, I much believe, would come generally into it,
was there any time, however distant, mentioned,
wherein the thing would probably be published. You
will pardon my troubling you with my impertinent
memoranda My very humble services to all friends
in Manchester, Mr. Clayton in particular I have only
time to desire your prayers for your obliged and
affectionate
CHARLES WESTLEY. MI
1. Many interesting notes could be made on this letter, but a few
lines must suffice. In the first place, I greatly suspect the spelling of
the name of " Wesley ' with a " t." So far as I know, this spelling
was never adopted by either John or Charles Wesley, although it was
frequently used by their friends. It is to be remembered that the
letter was written in shorthand, and the error may have been made by
the transcriber. The allusion to the departure from England refers to
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 69
In 1742 Byrom obtained an Act of Parliament
assigning to him the sole right of publishing his
method for a period of 21 years, but as he succeeded to
his family estates in 1740 the necessity for advertising
the system had disappeared.
We now turn to the consideration of Deacon's perso-
nal relations with the Clergy of Manchester, concerning
which information in Byrom's Journal is by no means
lacking. Mention has already been made of a bitter
dispute which arose on the nomination of Samuel Peploe
to the Wardenship of Manchester in 1718. Samuel
Peploe (1668 1752), the life-long opponent of Deacon
and Byrom, was Vicar of Preston in 1715, and is said
to have earned the special approbation of George I. for
continuing to pray "for the Hanoverian usurper" in
spite of the threats of the rebels. George I. is reported
to have said, ' ' Peeplow is he called ? but he shall peep
high, I will make him a bishop." This is one of those
stories which ought to be true, but it may be doubted
whether the acquaintance of George I. with the English
language was such as to enable him to make bad jokes
in it. Peploe's advancement however was not long in
coming. On his nomination to Manchester he obtained
from Archbishop Wake the degree of B.D., which was
required by the Statutes. Bishop Gastrell declined to
confirm the appointment, really on political grounds,
but nominally on the ground that Lambeth Degrees
were not equal to those obtained from the Universities
and were not contemplated by the Statutes. The matter
was carried to the King's Bench where the power of the
Archbishop to grant degrees was acknowledged, and
Charles Wesley's intended return to Georgia, which did not, however, take
place. As to Wesley's connection with Byrom's shorthand, the following
quotation from the new edition of John Wesley's "Journal" (Curnock,
London, 1909), introduction, p. 4, note, may be of interest: "Charles
Wesley was an expert writer of Byrom's shorthand. In Georgia he
insisted on his brother's adoption of the system as a protection against
unscrupulous tamperers with their correspondence."
A full account of John Wesley's curious "cypher" is to be found on
p. 71 of the same work.
70 THOMAS DEACON
Peploe was duly installed in Manchester. He was,
however, for the time being quite helpless as his
colleagues and the Episcopal Visitor were his bitter and
determined opponents. Roger Bolton (appointed 1699
1700), Robert Assheton (1703-4), and John Copley
(1708), Fellows of the Collegiate Church at this date,
were all bitterly hostile to Peploe's ecclesiastical and
political views. Bolton held the curacy of Gorton, in
which he was succeeded by the Rev. W. Burkitt, who
held similar principles. Robert Assheton came of the
branch of that family which had been long settled in
Salford, and a further acrimonious dispute arose in
connection with his son, Richard Assheton, who was
afterwards Fellow. John Copley, of Trinity College,
Cambridge, had been of some assistance to Byrom in
his undergraduate days, and was perhaps the strongest
personal opponent of Peploe. The epithet which he is
said to have habitually applied to "that Warden" may
perhaps be imagined but left unwritten.
During the dispute concerning the Wardenship the
Rev. Richard Assheton had been appointed by Bishop
Gastrell to act as Chaplain of the Collegiate Church,
and had served in the office for some years. But in
November, 1725, Gastrell died and it may be imagined
that there would be considerable dismay in Manchester
when it was known that the new Bishop was to be no
other than Samuel Peploe. Thomas Hearne expresses
the opinion "that this was done to insult the ashes of
Bishop Gastrell,*' and there can be no doubt that this
opinion was generally endorsed in Manchester. Byrom
writes on January i8th, 1726: "Writ to Mrs. Byrom
that Mr. Peplo was chosen Bishop." The letter read
as follows: "Mr. Peplo kist his Majesty's fist for the
Bishopric of Chester and Wardenship of Manchester on
Sunday. . . . This piece of news will I suppose raise
much speculation in our country." 1 It certainly did.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 192.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 71
Peploe, at a meeting of the Chapter, endeavoured to
dispense with Richard Assheton and to nominate a Mr.
Whittaker. The Chapter however declined to agree.
This matter also was carried to the King's Bench, and
in the end Mr. Assheton 's case was upheld as against
the bishop.
It does not appear, at first sight, that Deacon had any
particuluar right to interfere in this dispute which was
concerned with the discipline of a Church whose com-
munion he had renounced. The fact is, however, that
the Fellows of Manchester, although they might differ
from Deacon with regard to some of his extreme theories,
were quite conscious that in Bishop Peploe they and
Deacon had a common enemy, and in the contest which
took place Deacon certainly lent the Chapter some
valuable assistance. There are two letters of his extant
written to Byrom in this connection, and as they may
be of some interest from more points of view than one,
I append them in this place.
The first is dated 6th December, 1726. It is much too
long to quote in full, but some extracts may be given.
" Dear Grand Master,
I should have written to you before but Mr. Cattell
scribbled last week and gave you some account of
matters. I thank you for all your wit, nonsense,
trumpery information, etc. In reply you must expect
nothing but plain downright Lancashire stuff from
Then follows a description of the Bishop suspending
Mr. Assheton for preaching without a license. " But
a petition was drawn up, signed by the Borough-Reeve,
Church-wardens, and many inhabitants and presented
last Saturday, to which the Bishop said he would
consider of it for some days. Yesterday he sent word
to the old Church that he would go there to-day (for it
72
THOMAS DEACON
is above a fortnight since he was there), and answer
the petition, which accordingly he did by tearing it in
pieces, and saying it was signed by non-jurors, (though
neither I, as you imagine, nor I believe any other had
anything to do with it) scoundrels and people that have
no families I doubt not but the King's Bench will
demolish Pope Hildebrand Firebrand, and we will blow
him up, mortify him and break his heart."
The letter concludes with an account of the Bishop's
formal answer delivered from his stall, the concluding
words of which may be quoted. "And whereas the
petition desired him to heal the bleeding wounds of the
Church, he was surprised at it, for who had been the
cause of them ? That he was ready to do anything to
heal them bleeding wounds indeed ! But they are
owing to the wicked lives of many who profess them-
selves members of this Church, and to the scandalous
lives of some of the Clergy, at which word he stared at
Mr. Copley." 1
The second letter, unlike all others quoted in this
work, is not to be found in Byrom's "Remains" but
is taken from Raines' " Fellows of Manchester." It
is dated 2ist December, 1726.
" Dear Grand Master,
By this post there will go to Sir John Bland 2 in
Golden Square, a petition to the Archbishop of York
that Mr. Assheton may be restored, together with a
certificate signed by the gentry, clergy, and inhabit-
ants of this place and neighbourhood. Now you are
desired to be one of the presenters, being a Manchester
man, that if the Archbishop should make any enquiry
you may give him some account of the affair. In
order to this you are to go to Mr. Harbin, a non-juring
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 234.
2. M.P. for the County of Lancaster.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 73
clergyman and brother-in-law with Mr. Copley, to
consult with him, who is preacquainted that you will
come to him, that it may be presented as soon as
possible. He lives over against Mr. Foubert's
Academy in King Street, near Golden Square. You
are desired to go to him forthwith. He is a learned
man, and of great acquaintance, and I believe you will
be glad when you know him upon other accounts.
You may if you will make use of my name to him for
I believe he has not forgotten me."
George Harbin, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge,
was indeed a " learned man." He was Chaplain to
Bishop Turner of Ely, following the same course as
Turner in refusing to take the oaths. He afterwards
became Librarian to Viscount Weymouth and was an
intimate friend of Bishop Ken. In " Notes and
Queries," Series 2, Vol. I., page 489, there is to be
found an account of a memorandum written by Harbin
relative to an early missal which contains pictures of
Richard Scrope, Archbishop of York, and references to
his canonisation. Harbin is also referred to in Wood's
' Life and Times," page 490, September 25th, 1695.
" Dined with Dr. [Arthur] Charles, [Henry] Gandy,
[Thomas] Creech, and one Harbin a clergyman, and a
Cambridge man by education, sometime Chaplain to
Dr. Francis Turner, Bishop of Ely, but a non-juror and
in a lay habit."
The petition was received by the Archbishop and
marked by him "ample testimony to the good behaviur,
etc., of Mr. Assheton." The incident closed as noted
above : Mr. Assheton 's appointment being duly con-
firmed by Bishop Peploe acting as Warden.
Bishop Peploe's visitorial powers over the Church of
Manchester were the subject of yet another dispute. It
was contended with some reason that Peploe as Bishop
could not act as visitor to Peploe as Warden, and finally
74
THOMAS DEACON
the Crown was held to be the Visitor so long as the
two offices were held together.
The effect of this decision was to make the Bishop's
position, for the time being, one of isolation and help-
lessness, but in 1744 when Peploe resigned the Warden-
ship in favour of his son, he was able to conduct a very
severe visitation of the College of Manchester. It
should be said in justice to Bishop Peploe's memory
that there is another side to his character, which is
naturally not presented to us by Deacon and Byrom.
Peploe was generally regarded as kindly and tolerant,
but his position must have been exceedingly difficult.
Walpole's policy of staffing the Church with Whig and
Erastian Bishops was now in full swing, and Peploe,
sent down into what was to a marked extent a hot bed
of Toryism and a somewhat extreme form of Jacobitism,
had before him a task, the difficulties of which cannot
easily be exaggerated.
No account of Deacon's social life would be complete
which did not include some reference to the happy
gatherings of friends at the Chetham Library, of which
we have a few accounts in Byrom's " Remains," and
which are of great interest to any Manchester man who
has made use of the noble foundation of Humphrey
Chetham. A few quotations must suffice. On July
1 5th, 1736, Byrom reports 1 that he had gone to the
" meeting at the College and found Hoole, Banne,
Clayton, Thyer, and Crouchley there." The subject
for discussion was 'It is his angel,' but Dr. Deacon,
who gave it, was not present, being concerned in two
cases of smallpox. It would appear that subjects for
discussion were selected by the friends in turn, and that
Deacon's choice for this particular occasion is given
above. It is interesting to note the presence of Banne
and Hoole, the first and second Rectors of St. Ann's,
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 60.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 75
but a fuller account must be given of another member
of this company.
John Clayton, the son of William Clayton, bookseller,
of Manchester, was baptized on nth October, 1709, and
educated at the Manchester Grammar School from
which he proceeded to Brasenose College, Oxford,
where he took the M.A. degree in 1732. On December
29th of the same year he was ordained deacon and
received the title to Sacred Trinity Chapel, Salford,
which he served as Assistant Curate and Incumbent for
the remainder of his life. 1 Clayton was one of the
original Oxford Methodists and is said to have been
instrumental in persuading the Wesleys to observe the
Wednesday and Friday Fasts. It is of interest to note
that Thomas Deacon was in very close touch with
Clayton during his time at Oxford, and in this way
some sort of connection was established between Deacon
and the Wesleys. The Rev. L. Tyerman records in his
" Oxford Methodists " several letters which passed
between Deacon and Clayton, from which it is plain
that Deacon's influence over Clayton was of a very
powerful description. I make here a quotation from one
letter written in the year 1733 by Clayton to John
Wesley. No day or month is given.
"Dr. Deacon gives his humble service to you and
lets you know that the worship and discipline of the
primitive Christians have taken up so much of his
time that he has never read the Fathers with a
particular view to their moral doctrines, and therefore
cannot furnish you with the testimonies you want out
1. The Chapel of the Sacred Trinity, Salford, was built in 1635 by
Humphrey Booth, "remembering that I brought nothing with me into
this world, and finding that God has intrusted me with more of this
world's goods than He hath done many other men." The Chapel was
almost entirely rebuilt in 1752 ; it was for many generations a chapel of
ease to the Collegiate Church and had no assigned district until 1819,
when it became a district chapelry. In 1850 it was constituted a
separate parish and rectory.
76 THOMAS DEACON
of his collection. I was at Dr. Deacon's when your
letter came to hand, and we had a deal of talk about
your scheme of avowing yourselves a Society and
fixing upon a set of rules. The Doctor seemed to
think that you had better let it alone, for to what end
would it serve ? My best respects attend your
brother." 1
Mr. Tyerman was no admirer of Deacon nor indeed
of Clayton in his later developments, but he freely
concedes the learning of the one, and the piety of the
other. I have inserted in my notice of Deacon's
" Compleat Devotions " another letter of Clayton's
taken from Mr. Tyerman 's book, see page 173.
Dr. Hibbert-Ware has something to say as to
Deacon's influence over Clayton : he describes Deacon
as "Clayton's Master." Canon Overton also follows
much the same line, and couples together Trinity
Chapel, Salford, and Dr. Deacon's Chapel in Fennel
Street as the two non-juring places of worship in
Manchester. I think this statement is somewhat
exaggerated, but there can be no doubt that Deacon's
friendship with Clayton was of a far more intimate
character than that which he shared with any other of
the Clergy of Manchester.
It is perhaps well to point out that in this same year
1733 John Wesley twice visited Manchester. In May
and June he was in the town and on the 3rd of the latter
month he preached at the old Church and at the Chapel
in Salford. It is not too much to suppose that Deacon
would be brought during these visits into personal
intimacy with John Wesley through the mediation of
John Clayton.
One word must be said concerning another member
of the company which was accustomed to assemble at
Chetham College. Robert Thyer (1709 1781) was an
1. Tyerman's " Oxford Methodists," p. 34.
a'
H
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 77
undergraduate at Oxford in Clayton's time, and was the
most intimate friend of Byrom, Deacon, and Clayton.
He was Librarian of the College Library from February,
to October 3rd, 1763.
ere is a further interesting notice of the "meeting
at the College 1 where were Mr. Hall, Clayton, Deacon,
Houghton, from Kersall, where he had been and the
question was about Abraham and Hagar, Mr. Thyer
very positive about it being wrong, and I more so about
it being right, his quotation from St. Ambrose which
proved to be the objection of a wicked man."
We may fitly describe these meetings at the Library
by a quotation from a letter written by Robert Thyer to
John Byrom on nth March, 1738, or more correctly a
quotation from St. Augustine's Confessions introduced
by Thyer in that letter. 2
The letter gives a fanciful sketch of what Thyer
conceived Byrom's daily life in London to be, and
concludes with a suggestion that Byrom must often wish
that he could take a run over to the Library : " Colloqui
et corridere, et vicissim benevole obsequi : simul legere
libros dulciloquos simul nugari et simul honestari,
dissentire sine odiis, atque ipsa rarissima dissensione
condire consensiones plurimas : docere aliquid invicem,
aut discere aliquid ab invicem."
This very apt quotation may be regarded as a
suitable close for our short sketch of these happy
gatherings. ** Dissentire sine odiis," would certainly v
be a suitable motto in a company of which Thomas
Deacon was a member, but it is seemly that portraits of
both Deacon and Thyer should adorn the walls of the
present reading room of the Library which they both
loved so well.
Lastly, we must say something of Deacon in his
family relationships. The number of his children was
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 75.
2. Ibid., Vol. ii, p. 198.
78 THOMAS DEACON
very large, not less than twelve or thirteen. I have
elsewhere noted the names of all those who can be
traced. Deacon first mentions his children in a letter
to John Byrom, datetd 2Oth February, 175, to which
some further reference is made in Appendix A.
" Sir, if you would see a raree show come down
to your children and mine." 2 At this date Deacon
would have at least three children, Thomas Theodorus,
Robert Renatus, and Charles Clement, of all of whom
in one way or another their father was bereaved in the
troubles of the '45. These three lads are mentioned ten
years later in a letter written by Byrom to his wife on
4th August, I739. 3
Mrs. Deacon had come up to London with four of
her children. "She is a little concerned that she cannot
probably dispatch her errand so soon as she would,
wanting to be at home again. As I knew of such wants
I comforted her as well as I could : but 'tis not easy to
remove a concern of that nature, it must be endured,
when it can't be cured. I wish her success with her
little girl 4 who favoured me with her company as if she
had known her countryman, being more shy to the
Londoners : poor girl, she is afraid of parting from
her mamma in a strange place, and sticks by her close.
The three fine boys are not so young and are glad to
ride about with their grandfather and look about them
a little."
Nine days later Byrom refers to Mrs. Deacon having
to postpone her departure, "Bobby having been ill," 6
and a few days later again "Master Thor. had hurt his
hand against a glass window and cut it so that he
cannot use it at present, but 'tis hoped will mend finely,
1. See p. 151.
2. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. i, p. 429.
3. Ibid,, Vol. ii, p. 260.
4. " The little girl " was Sarah Sophia Deacon, who afterwards
married William Cartwright (see p. 151 ).
5. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 264.
DEACON'S SOCIAL LIFE 79
but whether by Tuesday so as to hold his bridle is a
question." l
Passing on five years later, when the two eldest lads
may be said to have grown up, we find among the list
of subscribers to the Manchester Concerts of 1744 the
names of Mr. T. T. Deacon and Mr. R. R. Deacon :
the names of the Stewards of the Concerts for that year
are Rev. Mr. Clayton, Dr. Walker, Mr. Penlington,
and Mr. James Massey. 2
As we now practically close the account of Deacon's
family and social relationships, we may here state that
Mrs. Deacon died on the 4th July, 1745. Her name is
inscribed with that of her husband on the tombstone at
St. Ann's, but no record of her burial is to be found in
the register. 3 I confess that I find this fact very
difficult of explanation. In view of the calamities which
were impending, it may be said that "she was taken
away from the troubles to come."
In bringing this somewhat discursive chapter to a
close, it may be necessary to point out the object which
I have had in view throughout, viz., to present some
account of Thomas Deacon, not as a theologian or
controversialist, but simply as a man living with his
family and among his friends, and I may be permitted
to hope that the story which has been given in this
chapter may serve as a corrective to the conception of
Deacon's character which would be drawn from a
consideration of his writings alone. Fortunately we
have in Byrom's Journal another, and perhaps, a truer
view of the man.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 276.
2. Harland's Manchester " Collectanea," Vol. ii, p. 66.
3. It has been suggested to me that the entry might possibly be found
in the registers of the Old Church, but this is not the case.
8i
CHAPTER VI.
Deacon's Medical Career.
THE title of "Doctor" appears to have been given to
Thomas Deacon from the commencement of his career
in Manchester, but he certainly held no degree, and
there is no trace that he possessed any other qualifica-
tion. A certain difficulty arises owing to the fact that
the College of Physicians had at that time power to
stop all unlicensed practice, but this power was not
always rigidly exercised. Mention has already been
made of the case of Thomas Wagstaffe (consecrated at
the same time as George Hickes, see page 4), who was
allowed to practise in London for many years. Whether
any tacit permission was accorded to Deacon or not, we
have at the present time no means of ascertaining, but
it may be remembered that Deacon enjoyed the confid-
ence and friendship of Dr. Mead, who was then
approaching the zenith of his career, and may possibly
have given to Deacon some kind of recommendation on
his departure to Manchester. Josiah Owen, in "Dr.
Deacon Try'd," distinctly states that this was the case
(see page 200).
There is no reason to doubt Deacon's statement that
he entered upon the medical profession " under the
particular direction and with the kind assistance" of
Dr. Mead (see page 196). Deacon may very possibly
have been regarded as an "apprentice" of Dr. Mead,
and this in itself would be no mean qualification. We
know nothing of Deacon's medical practice for the first
few years of his life in Manchester, and so far as I have
been able to ascertain the earliest information on this
H
82 THOMAS DEACON
subject is to be found in Byrom's Journal for the year
1726.
In that year Byrom has much to say in his Journal
concerning smallpox and inoculation, the precursor of
the system of vaccination discovered by Jenner at the
end of the century, and on nth February, 1726, he
writes the following letter to Deacon :
" Dear Doctor:
How do you do? I thought to have writ to you in
shorthand, but having a question to ask you that may
require a longhand answer I refer it to my next : it is
to enquire whether you pursued your design of being
inoculated. You said nothing of it to me when I said
farewell, like a sly rogue as you were : but Mrs.
Deacon's concern did not permit her to be silent. I
kept the secret, which I suppose is none by this time :
but meeting my friend Dr. Jurin, who I know has taken
the trouble of informing the public of the success of
that practice upon him, I told him there was a gentleman
of the profession in our town had determined to try the
experiment upon himself, upon which he told me he
should be obliged if I would let him know the particulars
of that experiment, which accordingly I promised to ask
you after, which I do by the present, requesting you to
acquaint us how it succeeded with you, your opinion
thereof, and such particulars as you think fit to acquaint
us with. Another question I must ask you and that is
whether your friend Mr. Jebb is in town and where one
may have the pleasure of seeing him?" 1
James Jurin (1684 1750), of Trinity College, Cam-
bridge, Fellow of the College of Physicians in 1719 and
President for a few months immediately before his death
in 1750, was one of the most learned men of the day.
He was a warm supporter of the practice of inoculation
and published many works on the subject.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 202.
DEACON'S MEDICAL CAREER 83
Samuel Jebb, born at Mansfield about the year 1694,
was a sizar of Peterhouse and intended for Holy Orders,
but came under the influence of the non-jurors and after-
wards became Librarian to Jeremy Collier. On the
advice and partly by the assistance of Dr. Mead, Jebb
commenced to study medicine and eventually settled as
a physician at Stratford-le-Bow. It will be seen that
Jebb's association with Collier and Mead, both of them
friends and benefactors of Deacon, would to some extent
account for the friendship which existed between them.
A copy of a letter written by Dr. Brett to Jebb on
February 24th, 17*, is recorded in the Deacon MSS.
referred to on page 26. On the i8th February, 17*,
Byrom states that at "Bridge's auction" Mr. Jebb told
him that he had heard from Dr. Deacon but did not
know that he was inoculated. On February 23rd Mr.
Jebb called to see Byrom and a very provokingly brief
account is given of his conversation. He said " that
Dr. Mead was a great Whig, Dr. Friend proud and
haughty, the reverse of Dr. Mead, we talked about Dr.
Deacon, the Church." 1 Jebb called again the succeed-
ing day as Byrom records in a letter to his wife, "Mr.
Jebb called on me yesterday noon, said, that Dr. Deacon
was afraid his youngest boy had the smallpox : has
he? " 2
Deacon did not after all undergo the process of inocu-
lation. He wrote to Byrom on February 25th, stating
that Bryan Robinson's account had persuaded against
it, and in the same letter, evidently referring to the
prevalence of smallpox, he earnestly desired that Mrs.
Byrom would send for him if her children were ill,
immediately. 3
Bryan Robinson (1680 1754) of Trinity College.
Dublin, Fellow of the King's and Queen's College of
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. i, p. 205.
2. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 209.
3. Ibid. t Vol. i, pp. 209 and 221.
84 THOMAS DEACON
Physicians in Ireland, and three times President, pub-
lished in 1725 an account of the inoculation of five
children at Dublin.
In July 1727, Deacon left Manchester for a brief
period, and as the reason of his departure was the desire
and expectation of a more successful medical career in
London, the story of this little known incident of his
life may be inserted in this place.
Deacon mentions the matter in a letter to Byrom dated
24th June, 1727.*
*' His Lordship set out for London on Wednesday
last and I am afraid honest Dr. Deacon will shortly
follow him to the very great loss and concern of this
town and neighbourhood. He has a very advan-
tageous prospect at Stepney by the death of Dr. Cole,
late Physician there. Pray make haste to Manchester
and help to repair our loss of him as well as you can."
The half humorous, half sarcastic way in which
Deacon refers to himself will be noted. The journey
must have been accomplished very quickly, as Byrom
writes to his wife from Trinity College, Cambridge, on
2nd July, stating that he had just received a letter from
Dr. Deacon in London. 2 Mrs. Byrom had evidently
suggested to her husband that he might supply Deacon's
place in Manchester, but the idea did not appeal to
Byrom at all. It would appear from a passage in
Byrom 's letter that Deacon's medical career in Man-
chester had not so far been marked by much success,
"Truly as to success the last gentleman (Deacon) I
fancy, and I may appeal to himself, had the best when
he had a call elsewhere, and when Manchester gets such
another they will keep him as long as he has nothing
else to take to and no longer I wish another such as D.
may come though we have him but for a season."
1. Byrom'g " Remains," Vol. i, p. 265.
2. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 267.
DEACON'S MEDICAL CAREER 85
Deacon's stay in London was exceedingly short. On
November 27th of this same year Byrom dined with
Deacon at his house in Stepney, and Deacon then told
of his resolution to go to Manchester again, 1 and on the
succeeding Sunday Byrom with Jos. Clowes took coach
from Temple Bar (for which they paid 2/6) and again
dined with Deacon. On this occasion there were present
a Mr. Salkeld and a brother of Dr. Deacon, who is fre-
quently mentioned by John Byrom, but of whom nothing
appears to be known. 2 From a note in Byrom's Journal
it would appear that Mrs. Deacon had suffered very
severely from intermittent ague. 3 On yth December the
four friends, Byrom, Deacon, Clowes and Salkeld dined
together at the Queen's Head, and on this occasion
Deacon produced a "letter from Manchester with the
names of Mr. Copley, Banne, etc., inviting him to
Manchester where it seems he was resolved to go as soon
as possible."
Jos. Clowes, lawyer, relative and intimate friend of
Byrom, was styled by his friends, for some unknown
reason, "the Alderman." His eldest son, Richard, was
Fellow of the Collegiate Church, and his second son,
John, was the first Rector of St. John's, Deansgate,
which was founded by Edward, the eldest son of John
Byrom.
Mr. Salkeld was probably descended from an old
family of that name in Northumberland, who were con-
nected by marriage with the Byroms of Salford.
It may be surmised from the invitation received by
Deacon to return to Manchester that he was undoubtedly
missed by his friends in the Chapter, and that it was not
merely his skill as a physician that weighed with the
signatories. The invitation was speedily accepted, and
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 273.
2. But see the last letter of T. T. Deacon to his father, p. 120:
"My uncle has behaved," etc.
3. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 276.
86
THOMAS DEACON
on December 22nd, Byrom writes, 1 "he called on Mrs.
Deacon who said the Doctor was to go on Monday down
to Manchester, that her little child had been very ill,
that the eldest had broke out most sadly and very ill,
yet she must follow the Doctor in a week or a fortnight's
time : she should remember Mile End as long as she
lived."
2 Writing on January i8th to his wife, Byrom enquires
as to "how Dr. Deacon's lady got down," so that the
whole experiment at Stepney lasted but a few months
and could scarcely be described as a success.
After his return to Manchester it appears probable
that Deacon worked his w r ay to a considerable practice.
He is certainly mentioned in connection with the leading
physicians of the town. For instance, in the copy of
Byrom's MSS., which is referred to by Dr. Ward in
Appendix 5 of his Poems of John Byrom, and which is
not incorporated in the "Remains" of Canon Parkinson,
Byrom records that at the last illness of his wife's mother
in 1730 he called in first, Dr. Mainwaring, and after-
wards Dr. Deacon. 3 These two names are associated
on other occasions. Phoebe Byrom, the youngest and
favourite sister of John Byrom, whose name was chosen
by her brother for the heroine of his famous Pastoral
"My time, O Ye Muses," 4 writes from Bath on lyth
May, 1731, concerning the health of Mrs. Egerton of
Tatton Park, "it seems Drs. Deacon and Mainwaring
sent her here." 5
Dr. Mainwaring was not only of considerable repute
as a physician, but was also very highly connected by
marriage, his wife being the younger daughter of Robert
Malyn, M.D., and Katherine Massey, daughter of
Richard Massey of Sale Hall. The fact that Deacon
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 283.
2. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 290.
3. "Poems of John Byrom," Vol. ii, p. 603.
4. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 5.
5. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. i, p. 505.
DEACON'S MEDICAL CAREER 87
was mentioned as evidently of equal standing with men
of the position of Peter Mainwaring is sufficient testi-
mony to the high reputation in which he was held by
some of the most influential families of the district. A
note of Byrom under the date of i5th July, 1736
(already in part referred to), contains a mention not
only of the Egerton family, of which Phoebe Byrom
writes, but of another famous Manchester family, the
Levers of Alkrington, who were exceedingly good
friends to Deacon through the troubles of the '45.
Deacon should have opened the debate at the College
as mentioned on page 74, " but was not there, being
gone to Trafford and come from Alkrington, and Master
Ashton Lever, he told me yesterday, was like to do well,
being past the height of the smallpox, and young
Egerton who had been very ill and both of them of the
confluent kind." Seven days later, "Dr. Lever came to
the Sessions, I went with him to the Bull's Head, he
said his children were all like to do well, the younger
having a favourable smallpox and the eldest has had a
bad sort, and that Dr. Deacon said they should have
different names for such different distempers." 1
Darcy Lever, of Alkrington, LL.D., was knighted in
December 1736, and was High Sheriff of Lancashire for
the year 17^. He appointed John Clayton as his
Chaplain, and with Thomas Deacon as his medical
attendant there must have been a fine Jacobite flavour
about the High Sheriff's year of office. Dr. Lever
married on 3rd May 1725, Dorothy, younger daughter
of the Rev. W. Assheton, B.D., Rector of Prestwich,
and last of the Asshetons of Chadderton. Byrom has
in his Journal for 3Oth of January, I7JJ, a brief men-
tion of this marriage, which I must insert here, if only
from the point of view of local associations. "Rode to
Kersal to take leave with mother, talked with Parson
1. Byrom's "Kemains," Vol. ii, p. 61.
88
THOMAS DEACON
Assheton upon the Moor and wished him joy of his
daughter going to be married." 1
Lady Lever, who was left a widow in 1742, was a
friend in need to Deacon in the troubles which will be
related in a following chapter.
Enough has now been said on this part of our subject.
It will be plain that Deacon as a medical practitioner
held a high place in the regard of some of the most
prominent people in Manchester. The writer of the
notes to Byrom's "Remains", 2 who evidently had a
genuine admiration for Deacon says, "Manchester has
had good reason to boast of its learned physicians.
Amongst them no one added to his professional skill
more various and recondite erudition than Dr. Deacon." 3
We may endorse this opinion as reasonable and sound,
and so take leave of Thomas Deacon in the character of
a "non-juring parson who mortifies himself with the
practice of physic,' 4 and we must now resume in the
next chapter our account of Deacon's relations with the
remainder of the non-juring body.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 82.
2. The Notes to the "Remains of Byrom," edited by Canon Parkinson,
were written by Canon Raines and Mr. J. Crossley.
3. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 268.
4. Ibid., Vol. i, p. 499.
CHAPTER VII.
Deacon as Non-Juror, 1720-44 : His Consecration
as Bishop.
WE must endeavour to take up the story of the non-
jurors from the establishment of the definite schism
within the main body which may be dated from the issue
of the new communion office of 1718. From that date
various consecrations of Bishops took place, on both
sides of the separated body. On November 25th, 1722,
John Griffin was consecrated by Collier, Brett and
Campbell, and on April gth, 1727, Thomas Brett the
younger was consecrated by Brett, Griffin and Campbell.
On the other side Spinckes, Hawes and Gandy conse-
crated on January 25th, 17*, Hilkiah Bedford and
Ralph Taylor, the latter of whom was responsible for
an irregular line of succession of short duration. On
the 3Oth March, 1725, at the request of Spinckes and
Gandy, Henry Doughty was consecrated in Edinburgh
by four Scotch Bishops, Fullarton, Miller, Irvine, and
Fairbairn. The new Bishop, together with Spinckes
and Gandy consecrated John Blackburne on Ascension
Day, 1725, and on the nth June in the same year Henry
Hall was consecrated by the same Bishops.
On March 25th, 1728, Gandy, Doughty and Black-
burne consecrated Richard Rawlinson, to whose MSS.
is due so much information as to non-juring consecra-
tions and ordinations. Gandy, Blackburne and Raw-
linson consecrated on St. Stephen's Day, 1728, George
Smith, who became the means of uniting the two lines
of succession.
The commonly expressed opinion as to the re-union
(such as it was) of the non-jurors, which was established
about the year 1732, is that the Non-Usagers made an
90 THOMAS DEACON
entire surrender, and that after this date the communion
office of 1718 was generally accepted and used. I
venture to suggest in view of the quotations from the
Deacon MSS., which will be given in this chapter, that
this statement will require considerable modification.
I will begin the discussion of the subject by quoting
from the Deacon MSS. a letter addressed to "Dr. Deacon
at Manchester" by Dr. Brett. It is dated October 4th,
1729, from "Spring Grove," the family home of the
Bretts in the County of Kent.
" Dear Brother,
I received a letter from Mr. G. Smith of Durham
(the publisher of Bede) with proposals for a re-union
between us and our old friends, and that Mr. Black-
burne had agreed to make them to us. At the same
time Mr. Griffin acquainted me that they had made
him a civil visit and made the like proposals, and let
him know that they would send them to me. But as
none of their own side were yet acquainted with them
but themselves, I was also desired to acquaint nobody
with the matter except Mr. Wagstaffe till we were
come to some agreement. And accordingly Mr.
Griffin and I are come to this agreement with these
two bishops if they and we can prevail with our
brethren on both sides to agree with us, which I hope
we may do. The proposals are shortly these. They
agree that the Mixture shall be always and openly
used, but the words 'Militant here on earth' must
always be said and all the service as in the Book of
Common Prayer. We are at liberty to understand
the clause in the Prayer for the Church Militant in
the same unlimited sense as if the aforesaid words
were left out, agreeably to other parts of the Common
Prayer Book, particularly in the Burial Service, where
'God is besought to accomplish the number of his
elect, etc.' And that the words 'accept our oblations'
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 91
are to be understood of the bread and wine placed
upon the Table by the priest, and that in so doing he
does not only acknowledge God's sovereignty thereby,
but also offers the elements for the sacrificial minis-
tration and intends to perform with them all the subse-
quent acts . . . And they declare that the Church by
putting this oblation of bread and wine at the begin-
ning of her service intends it to have an influence upon
her whole service and to show that the whole is
oblatory and sacrificial. Further the words "grant
that we receiving etc.' may imply a petition for the
blessing of the Holy Spirit because of the words 'Thy
Holy Institution.' If these terms are accepted we
must lay aside our new office. We may be satisfied
with these terms until better provision is made by
more unexceptionable authority."
It will be well for the better understanding of these
proposals that something should be said as to the three
bishops named by Brett in this letter. On the one side
we have Smith and Blackburne, and on the other Griffin
and Brett himself. The "Mr. Wagstaffe" mentioned
was the son of Thomas Wagstaffe consecrated in 1693
(see page 4.) He was never made a bishop by the
non-jurors but was a most accomplished classical scholar
and took a leading part in the controversy of 1716-20 on
the side of the Usagers. In 1738 he left England and
became Anglican Chaplain to the titular James III., and
afterwards to Charles III. It may be surmised that his
duty in that extraordinary position would not be onerous,
but Wagstaffe certainly made good use of his time. The
library at Sion College possesses a MS. copy of "an
accurate collation of several particular texts in the
principal Greek MSS. in the Vatican and Barberini
libraries at Rome made by Thomas Wagstaffe." This
copy was presented to Sion College by John Berriman,
in whose preface are some remarks which are worth
92 THOMAS DEACON
transcribing. "In the year 1738 I obtained from the
very learned Thomas Wagstaffe at Rome a more exact
and particular account of the Greek MSS. of St. Paul's
Epistles in the Vatican Library and that of Cardinal
Barberini than had ever before been communicated to
the world. Mr. Wagstaffe had for some time free access
to the Vatican and the liberty of collating MSS. in the
absence of the Assemani, the librarian." Wagstaffe
died in Rome in 1770, and it was commonly said that
but for his faith he would have been canonised. He
was, on his ordination in i/JJ, appointed keeper of
the Church records of the non-jurors, and may in this
way have been regarded as a suitable intermediary
between the opposing bishops, of whom a brief account
is here given.
John Griffin of Merton College, Oxford (1696), refused
the oaths in 1715, was consecrated in 1722 (see page 89),
and went in 1728 to take charge, as bishop, of a non-
juring community in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. This
would account for his connection with George Smith,
who was a native of Durham and a nephew of Hilkiah
Bedford. He belonged to a family of some eminence.
His father was Prebendary of Durham, and commenced
an edition of "Bede's Ecclesiastical History," which was
completed by his son, George Smith, and was for many
years the standard work on that subject. 1
John Blackburne was the most unyielding of the non-
usagers, and is commonly believed to have refused to
join in the agreement which was shortly afterwards
made.
It is evident from the proposals contained in this letter
(which were practically endorsed by Brett) that Brett was
prepared to retrace his steps, to a considerable extent,
1. See Chas. Plummer's "Venerable Bede" (Oxford, 1896), Author's
preface, p. 80 : " It was completed as a labour of love by his son,
Geo. Smith, who at the time of his father's death (1715) was only
22 years old. So good, however, is Smith's text that subsequent editors
have practically been content to reproduce it, and very little has been
done for the textual criticism of Bede since 1722."
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 93
and that he was becoming uneasy as to the ecclesiastical
position of the non-jurors. It is not possible to imagine
that either Campbell or Deacon would have spoken of a
" more unexceptionable authority."
The proposals made by Bishop Smith were really
exactly opposite to those offered by Collier and Brett in
1716. What they desired was that the Usages must be
accepted but their opponents need not believe in them
as matters of necessity. What the non-usagers now
proposed was, that all the usages, with the important
exception of the mixed chalice should be given up, but
on the other hand the doctrines of which the usages
were the outward expression were freely acknowledged.
A basis of agreement was now quite possible provided
that any real desire for unity was in existence. It may,
however, be doubted whether Brett entertained any hope
of influencing Thomas Deacon in this direction. The
reply of Deacon to Brett is not preserved, but if the
reader has perceived the drift of Deacon's opinions as
an "essentialist" he will not be surprised to find that
Deacon refused to be any party to these negotiations.
A second letter from Brett dated 8th November, 1729, is
preserved. "I am sorry to find by your letter that not-
withstanding you express a desire for peace and union
yet your arguments tend to make a greater breach
between us and our old friends than ever has been."
I suspect that Deacon, with his usual incisive judg-
ment, perceived that the real point at issue was whether
re-union with the English Church was desirable or not.
If it were desirable then it would probably be good
policy to have as little divergence as possible from the
Book of Common Prayer. But Deacon certainly rejected
this view : re-union with the Church was to him not only
undesirable but impossible. From certain obscure pas-
sages to be found in Brett's second letter it would appear
that Deacon argued strongly against certain Articles and
Canons. To this Brett replied it would be time enough
94
THOMAS DEACON
to discuss these matters when subscription to Articles
or Canons was actually required. Another point about
which discussion had taken place was concerned with the
later opinions of Jeremy Collier. Brett makes the
interesting statement that Mr. Collier "yielded to the
use of the words 'militant here on earth' because they
were not exclusive in their meaning." Brett concludes
this letter by stating his personal position. "I can't say
that I do not think our own office much better than this,
however I think we may content ourselves with this
rather than continue divided from our brethren."
There is appended on the next page of the MS.
without any heading, note or comment the following
statement. "When compared with Catholic peace and
union all the question is whether we should be divided
from our old friends or from the Primitive Church. For
if I could once be satisfied that the latter would have
communicated by such a Liturgy as the former propose,
I would not say one word upon the point of worship."
There speaks Deacon, and this brief record is doubtless
intended as a summary of his reply to Brett.
That a settlement was made between Brett on the one
side and Smith on the other is certain. It is equally
certain that Campbell and Deacon were not included in
this settlement. Canon Overton blames Campbell for
originating what was practically yet another schism, and
says that this was the more inexcusable "because the
usagers had practically won all along the line." I am
very far from desiring to dissent from Overton's censure
of Campbell, but in view of the proposals which were
approved by Brett it is impossible to accept this state-
ment as correct. It is true that by 1733 all the non-
juring bishops with the exception of Campbell and those
whom he consecrated in that year, and of Blackburne
who, apparently, refused the mixed cup altogether, were
in communion with each other, but if, as is probably the
case, the re-union was attained on the lines which have
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 95
been indicated, it is a misuse of language to describe
the settlement as "a complete triumph for the usagers."
I believe that this was the basis of the settlement, and
further there is not wanting evidence that from this time
the Communion Office of 1718, which was the outward
and visible sign of the beliefs of the usagers, was laid
aside.
A letter which appeared in the British Magazine,
Volume 17, page 537, under the signature of 'W' at
Trinity College, Cambridge, throws considerable light
upon this subject. Reference is made to a tract written
in 1732 by Roger Laurence entitled 'the indispensable
obligation of ministering expressly and manifestly the
great Necessaries of Public Worship, with a detection
of the false reasonings of Dr. Brett's letter.' Laurence
gives in this tract a copy of an 'Instrument of Union,'
the terms of which are almost identical with those con-
tained in Brett's letter to Deacon. This was signed on
the first part by the following :
H. G., i.e., Henry Gandy.
R. R., i.e., Richard Rawlinson.
proct. G. S., i.e., George Smith.
April i7th, 1732.
There is appended the following declaration signed
by the two Bretts, father and son. "We being satisfied
with the promises and declarations made by Mr. H. G.,
Dr. R. R., and Mr. G. S., do return to full communion
with them and promise to lay aside the office we now
use from and after Sept. i, 1732.
T. B., LL.D.
T. B., A.M.'
May 26th,
1732.
Laurence strongly denounces this compact. " The
instrument falsely called an Instrument of Union has
proved an Instrument of division. It has divided us
96 THOMAS DEACON
more than we were divided before." The anonymous
writer in the British Magazine states that Brett replied
to this tract in 1733. I can find no trace of the reply,
but it may be pointed out that in the MS. catalogue of
the Rev. John Clayton is to be found the title of a book
by Brett. ''The necessaries of Christian worship pro-
vided for in the liturgy of the Church of England,
I 733-" This is evidently the reply to Laurence.
Further evidence may be found in the practice of the
later Non-jurors in London. In 1731 the two Bretts,
father and son, joined with Smith in consecrating Maw-
man, and in 1741, Brett, Smith and Mawman consecrated
Robert Gordon, the last bishop of the regular succession.
Now we happen to know how Bishop Gordon conducted
public worship from the description given by Bishop
Forbes under the date of October ij6^. 1 He tells us that
"Gordon omitted the words 'militant, etc., 'and made this
great addition, 'all sick and distressed persons, particu-
larly such as may be suffering in the cause of Truth, and
Righteousness, etc.,' and added 'exiles' to 'prisoners
and captives' and made a long pause after these words,
'departed this life in Thy Faith and Fear,' during which
he and his people with hands and eyes lifted up into
heaven were commemorating such of the faithful departed
as they should judge most proper at the time : and in
the Prayer of Consecration he also made a long pause
after these words, 'Hear us O merciful Father, we most
humbly beseech Thee,' in order to introduce mentally
the Invocation of the Holy Spirit of God upon the
elements of bread and wine. Immediately after the
Prayer of Consecration he used the Oblatory Prayer."
If it be urged that at the late period of 1764 alterations
may have taken place which were not sanctioned in 1741,
it may be replied that we have evidence from correspon-
dence between Deacon and his Clergy in 1750 (see page
1. Journals of the Episcopal Visitations of Bishop Robert Forbes,
edited and compiled by the Rev. J. B. Craven (London, 1886), pp. 33-35.
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 97
138) that Gordon's use in that year was identical with
what has been described by Bishop Forbes. I conclude
then that so far from the settlement of 1733 being a
triumph for the usagers, it was really a compromise by
means of which the opposing side gained much, par-
ticularly in the disuse of the liturgy of 1718 and the
return to the English liturgy, with the few alterations
in Bishop Forbes' account which has been given above.
Archibald Campbell refused all part in these proceed-
ings and now took the irregular and uncanonical step of
consecrating solely by himself two bishops to perpetuate
what was now henceforth a separate wing of the non-
juring movement. The entry in the Rawlinson MSS.
is brief, "Roger Laurence, M.A. consecrated by Mr.
Arch. Campbell. Thomas Deacon consecrated by the
same person at the same time." 1
Mr. A. P. Perceval in his "Doctrine of the Apostolical
Succession ' : (second edition, appendix), states that
Laurence was consecrated first and then joined Campbell
in consecrating Deacon. The story does not of itself
sound very probable, is at variance with the statement in
the Rawlinson MSS., and appears to be contradicted
by the letters of 1750 quoted on page 140, in which it
appears to be taken for granted that Deacon was conse-
crated by a single bishop. I should doubt whether Mr.
Perceval's authority is much to be trusted on these
matters. He makes in the same appendix the amazing
statement that Cartwright was consecrated by Deacon in
1780, that is, more than a quarter of a century after
Deacon's death, and this mistake was repeated by
several writers in "Notes and Queries."
Roger Laurence (b. 1670) is chiefly famous for his
views on the invalidity of lay baptism, on which subject
he published a treatise in 1708, which was followed by a
violent controversy, in the course of which Laurence
1. No date is given, but it appears to be generally acqepted that
Deacon's consecration took place in the year 1733. I must confess,
however, that I have never found any actual proof of this. See, how-
ever, the " Letter of Orders," p. 157.
98 THOMAS DEACON
received some assistance from Hickes and Brett. He
was by this means won over to the non-juring cause and
was ordained Deacon and Priest by Bishop Hickes in
December, 1714, and appears to have become minister
of an Oratory on College Hill, which is frequently
described by Rawlinson as Mr. Laurence's Chapel.
Laurence's views on lay baptism would strongly com-
mend him to Archibald Campbell, and there is no
reason to doubt that he was of one mind with Campbell
and Deacon as to what they considered essentials. He
did not long survive his consecration, dying in 1736.
The question may be asked whether John Byrom knew
anything at the time of Deacon's consecration. There
is no trace of any reference to it in his "Remains," and,
indeed, singularly few letters of this date between Byrom
and Deacon are preserved. It may be conjectured that
the secret would not be long kept between two such
intimate friends, and it appears certain from various
pamphlets afterwards published in "Manchester Vindi-
cated" that Deacon's episcopal character was generally
known. As previously intimated I have prepared a
special appendix containing many of these papers, but
I insert here the following quotation which is probably
from the pen of Byrom, and was published in the
"Chester Courant" of February 24th, 17*. "I had
nothing to do the next day but to make some enquiry
after the Non-juring bishop and his congregation which
have made such an eminent figure in history. The title
of Bishop, and of a bishop as I was told, of pretty near
the same complexion with the Roman ones, gave me an
idea of some venerable Personage who never stirred out
without his equipage and proper habiliments with a
posse of inferior clergy to attend him : but this Prelate I
had an opportunity of seeing entirely unattended. He
was dressed just like other men are and proved nothing
more than a physician in the town of great repute for
his learning and practice."
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 99
As to Deacon's "Congregation" in Manchester it may
very well be thought that something should have been
said previously on this subject. The fact is, however,
that no information of any importance is available. It
is not even certain whether Deacon conducted worship
in his own house in Fennel Street, or in an adjacent
building, but the strong probability is that the former
supposition is correct. 1 There is a note of some interest
in the "Compleat History of the Rebellion from its first
rise in 1745 to its total suppression at the glorious battle
of Culloden in April, 1746," by Mr. James Ray of
Whitehaven, Volunteer under his Royal Highness the
Duke of Cumberland. Ray was an antiquarian as well
as a soldier, and he had also some pretensions to
journalism. He introduced into his book "The natural
history and antiquities of the several towns through
which I passed with His Majesty's army." On page
207 he writes, in his notes of Manchester, "there is a
Jacobite non-juring Chapel : I don't know of what body
the congregation consists, they not allowing any to come
amongst them but such as are of their own sort, who
(like the more worshipful society of Freemasons) are
under an oath not to divulge what is transacted there
except it be to a just and lawful Jacobite, as he or they
shall appear upon examination."
As to the number of Deacon's flock, it cannot at any
time have been large. During the avalanche of tracts
and pamphlets, which followed on the various troubles
of the '45, reference is made, from various points of
view to the number of Deacon's followers, which is
variously estimated from 20 to 100. In the passage
which has been quoted it is added "as to his congrega-
tion it consisted according to the account I received of
about a score of persons, the greater part of them
1. Mr. T. Swindells, however, in his " Manchester Men and Manchester
Streets," Series I, p. 61, states that Deacon's services were held over a
shop in Fennel Street.
100
THOMAS DEACON
women." 1 An extract from a pamphlet attributed to
Thomas Perceval of Royton, is as follows : "His own
congregation were about 20 before the late hurry and
now perhaps not above 60 that publicly attend him."
It is likely enough that the executions of the '45 would
have the customary result of increasing Deacon's popu-
larity, but it may be taken as certain that the congrega-
tion to which he ministered for 30 years in Manchester
as Priest and Bishop never exceeded a few score. It
should, however, be said that Deacon's powerful per-
sonality undoubtedly had a strong influence over the few
who adhered to him, as will be stated in the last chapter
of this work, and the congregation continued in existence
until the early years of the nineteenth century.
As to what is in modern times styled " ritual " I
presume that the services conducted by Deacon would be
of a very simple character. The first three centuries
would not furnish any precedent for elaborate ceremo-
nial, and so far as can be gathered from the rubrics in
the "Compleat Devotions" nothing was desired or
attempted in this direction with the possible exception
of the frequent use of the Sign of the Cross which is
described in Deacon's "Comprehensive View" as a
Sacrament.
One of Deacon's first acts as bishop was the issue in
1734 of his "Compleat Collection of Devotions." A
full account of this remarkable work is given in Appen-
dix A. It may be assumed that from this date the office
of 1718 was laid aside and the new and more elaborate
liturgy substituted in its stead. It may here suffice to
say that a statement in "Notes and Queries," Series 2,
No. 76, under date June i3th, 1857, refers to a copy of
this work which was sold by Sotheby and Wilkinson
on June 5th and 6th of that year. The book had a title
of a remarkable character. "The Order of the Divine
1. See p. 98.
2. See p. 133.
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 101
Offices of the Orthodox British Church containing the
Holy Liturgy, etc., as authorised by the Bishops of the
said Church." This is a high-sounding title, but it is
necessary to point out that the only bishops who were
in any way responsible for the work were Campbell,
Deacon and Laurence.
There is a curious incident in connection with
Deacon's episcopal career which has not been mentioned
so far as I am aware in any previous work. We are
indebted for information on the subject to the Reverend
Walter Bell, Minister of the Scottish Episcopal Church
at Linton, near Edinburgh, some 40 years ago. He
writes on June 4th, 1862, to the Feoffees of the Chetham
Hospital and forwards them a copy of some MSS. which
were at the time in the library of the Scottish Episcopal
Church at Edinburgh, and which he thinks might be of
interest to Manchester people. The copy made by Mr.
Bell includes a "letter from the Rt. Rev. Bishop Deacon
at Manchester to the Reverend Clergy in London who
were in communion with and under the government of
the late Rt. Rev. Archibald Campbell," and also letters
between "Dr. Deacon and his Presbyters in the year
1750." It will be more convenient to deal with the
latter in its own place but the former is here quoted.
"Since it hath pleased Almighty God to remove out of
this transitory life our late dear brother, Mr. Archibald
Campbell, by which means the government of the small
distressed church under your care is devolved upon my
Unworthiness, I, taking into consideration the Duty of
my Office and following the advice of the Holy Martyr
Saint Ignatius to the Blessed Polycarp, to enquire about
everyone by name, do desire that you would each of you
send me a list of all the several persons who are in your
Communion and under your Cares, their Names,
Stations in Life, places of Abode and their children and
their ages : for, as I am to answer to the Great God for
all the souls under my inspection, I am determined to
102 THOMAS DEACON
know every one in particular. And as the duties between
a bishop and his clergy and people are relative and
reciprocal, that I may be assured of the mutual perfor-
mance of yours, as I do hereby engage myself to a due
execution of mine, I also desire you, my brethren of the
clergy, to draw up an instrument, expressing your
acknowledgement of me for your principle of Unity and
promising such obedience as is due by the Laws of the
Catholic Church. This I expect you to sign yourselves
and to get it signed by all the laity under you : for I
shall look upon none to be under my care nor exercise
Episcopal Authority over any but those persons (and
their children) who shall sign the said Instrument. And
I think it will be proper for you to keep a copy of the
same, that it may be signed by new converts, as God
shall be pleased from time to time to bless and increase
our Communion with them. I hope you will judge this
step which I take as proper as it is thought necessary by
Rev. Sirs,
Your affectionate Brother,
July 2Oth, 1744. iji Thos. Deacon."
It is evident that Deacon regarded himself as Camp-
bell's successor and also as the sole remaining bishop
of what was now styled the " Orthodox British Catholic
Church." There was another non-juring communion
with one or more congregations in London under the
guidance of Robert Gordon, who is referred to on page
137. It is, however, quite certain from letters which will
be quoted in Chapter IX. that the "small and distressed
church" to which Deacon addresses himself in this
epistle had no connection whatever with the communion
of Bishop Gordon. The spectacle of Thomas Deacon
in Manchester solemnly addressing a handful of people
in London, and claiming to be in his own person their
"principle of unity" may appear pathetic or ridiculous
according to the prepossessions of the individual reader.
DEACON AS NON-JUROR 103
We here bring to a close the three chapters in which
an attempt has been made to represent Thomas Deacon
during the best years of his life, as an ordinary member
of the community, as a physician, and as a non-juring
priest and bishop. It may perhaps be claimed that this
has been done on a much fuller scale than in any previous
account of Deacon. It is also hoped that where the facts
presented are already familiar to students of this period
(as they are for the most part) a new point of view has
been adopted, and that information has here and there
been inserted which may be said to throw new light upon
what is without doubt a curious and abstruse subject.
We now proceed in the next chapter to deal with the
story of the '45, so far as the fortunes of Thomas Deacon
were involved in that disastrous undertaking.
105
CHAPTER VIII.
Manchester and the '45 : Execution of T. T. Deacon :
The Controversy of 1746-8 : "Manchester Vindicated."
As this work does not profess to deal with the general
history of England, we shall take as our starting point
the entry into Manchester of the Jacobite forces on a8th
November, 1745. We are fortunate in possessing a
most delightful account of these stirring events from the
pen of Elizabeth, eldest daughter and child of John
Byrom. "Beppy," as she is affectionately named by
her father in his letters, was at this time in her 24th year,
and her journal is perhaps not the less interesting as
being written from a girl's point of view. The journal
is to be found in the second volume of Byrom's
"Remains," beginning at page 385. It may be noted
that no entries made in his journal by John Byrom
himself during this period are preserved, a fact which
is not without significance. It is impossible to believe
that Byrom did not write an account which, for some
reason or other, he thought it well to destroy.
On 2yth November, Miss Byrom briefly records:
"Yesterday the militia was all discharged and sent
home, but just in time before the Highlanders came
well contrived."
It was so far well contrived that on the succeeding day
Miss Byrom is able to record her version of the story
first told by James Ray in his "Rebellion," x and often
since repeated that "Manchester was taken by a Ser-
geant, a Drum and a Woman."
"Thursday 28th : About 3-0 o'clock came into the
1. " Compleat History of the Rebellion," p. 156.
106 THOMAS DEACON
town two men in Highland dress and a woman behind
one of them with a drum on her knee, and for all the
loyal work that our Presbyterians have made, they took
possession of the town, as one may say, for, immediately
they were 'light, they beat volunteers for P.C. 'All
gentlemen that have a mind to serve H. R. H. P. C.
with a willing mind etc. five guineas advance,' and
nobody offered to meddle with them. They were joined
immediately by Mr. J. Bradshaw, Tom Syddall, Mr.
Tom Deacon, Mr. Fletcher, Tom Chaddock and several
others have listed."
Our journalist goes on to say that it is a fine moon-
light night and that her papa and uncle had gone to
consult with the Borough-Reeve and others, how to keep
themselves out of any scrape and yet behave civilly.
"All the Justices fled and Lawyers too except Cousin
Clowes."
"Friday 2Qth : They are beating up for the P :
eleven o'clock we went up to the Cross to see the rest
come in : there came small parties of them till about
three o'clock when the P. and the main body of them
came, I cannot guess how many."
There are two items of interest omitted in Miss
Byrom's record which we may insert here. As the first
party of the main body of the rebels marched into St.
Ann's Square on the morning of the 2Qth November,
the funeral of Joseph Hoole, the second rector of St.
Ann's was being conducted in the churchyard. It is
stated by Dr. Hibbert-Ware 1 "that some of the Officers
came to the graveside, uncovered, and behaved with great
respect and decorum." The other incident is concerned
with an event which took place in Salford. As Charles
Edward passed through the streets of the "Royal
Borough" he was met by the Rev. John Clayton who
fell on his knees and publicly prayed for the success of
the undertaking.
1. "Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii, p. 100.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 107
Our journalist then describes how "the P. went
straight up to Mr. Dickenson's where he lodges all the
town was illuminated except Mr. Dickenson's, my papa,
mamma and sister, my uncle and I walked up and down
to see it : about four o'clock the King was proclaimed
etc. We sat up making St. Andrew's crosses until two
o'clock."
With regard to the proclamation of James III. in
Manchester, it will be noticed that Miss Byrom makes no
reference to the part taken in those proceedings by the
Constables of the town, Thomas Walley and William
Fowden. A full account is given in the Kenyon MSS.,
page 478, Nos. 1223 and 1224, in the form of a copy of
a brief for the defendant in the suit of the King versus
William Fowden. "As to proclaiming the Pretender,
the Constables were sent for to the Pretender's lodgings
under a guard of armed rebels, and thence about three
o'clock in the afternoon of Friday, November 2Qth,
guarded down to the Market Cross where a rebel officer
tendered the proclamation unto Mr. Walley, who abso-
lutely refused to read it, and it was then tendered to the
prisoner Mr. Fowden, who gave a like refusal, but upon
being pressed he told them he could not see without his
spectacles. Then Mr. Walley being demanded to repeat
the proclamation after one of the rebel officers said he
had a hesitation in his speech and could not, upon which
they obliged Mr. Fowden to repeat after them which he
did very unwillingly and in great fear."
John Byrom confirms this statement in the letter to
Mr. Vigor of Bristol quoted on page in. " At the
proclamation, the two constables were forced to be there
and one of them to repeat the words."
Perhaps the most interesting part of Miss Byrom's
description is in her account of the events of the suc-
ceeding day, from which the following quotation is
taken :
"St. Andrew's Day: More crosses making until
io8 THOMAS DEACON
twelve o'clock : then I dressed me up in my white gown
and went up to my Aunt Brearcliffe's, and an Officer
called on us to go to see the Prince, we went to Mr.
Fletcher's and saw him get a horse-back and a noble
sight it is, I would not have missed it for a great deal
of money. His horse had stood an hour in the court
without stirring, and as soon as he gat on, he began
a-dancing and capering as if he was proud of the burden,
and when he rid out of the court, he was received with
as much joy and shouting almost as if he had been King
without any dispute, indeed I think scarce anybody that
saw him could dispute it."
It will be noted that the young lady is less cautious
than her father in her expression of Jacobite sympathies.
After describing a long period of waiting at Mr.
Fletcher's she proceeds : "we sat there till Secretary
Murray came to let us know that the P. was at leisure
and had done supper, so we were all introduced and had
the honour to kiss his hand : my papa was fetched
prisoner to do the same and so was Dr. Deacon : Mr.
Cattell and Mr. Clayton did it without : the latter said
Grace for him : then we went out and drank his health
in the other room etc." On December ist Miss Byrom
records the departure of the Prince on his southward
journey "over Cheadle Ford."
We may now fill up one or two gaps in this narrative,
and endeavour to estimate the position which Thomas
Deacon occupied with regard to all the proceedings.
The "Manchester Regiment," such as it was, was
speedily raised and was mustered in the churchyard after
divine service on St. Andrew's Day, the officiating
minister being Mr. Shrigley, the Chaplain for that week.
Charles Edward had nominated, as Commander of the
Regiment, Colonel Francis Townley, a Roman Catholic
of ancient family. Townley had more than once visited
Manchester with a view of exciting sympathy on behalf
of the Pretender, and of obtaining recruits. He is said
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 109
to have been very obnoxious to John Byrom on account
of his habit of profane swearing, and Dr. Hibbert-Ware
quotes an impromptu stanza of Byrom addressed to
Townley on this subject. 1
O that the muse might call without offence
The gallant soldier back to his good sense.
His temp'ral field so cautious not to lose
So careless quite of his eternal foes.
Soldier ! so tender of thy prince's fame,
Why so profuse of a superior name ?
For the King's sake the brunt of battles bear,
But for the King of Kings' sake do not swear !
As to the officers of the regiment it may suffice for
our present purpose to quote the list which is given by
James Ray on page 241 of his "Rebellion." 2
Colonel : Francis Townley of Lancashire.
Captains : Peter Moss, James Dawson and George
Fletcher of Lancashire ; John Saunderson of Northum-
berland and Andrew Blood of Yorkshire.
Lieutenants : Thomas Deacon, Robert Deacon, John
Berwick (Beswick), John Holker of Lancashire; Thomas
Chadwick 3 of Staffordshire and Thomas Furnival of
Cheshire.
Ensigns : Charles Deacon, Charles Taylor, James
1. "Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii, p. 98.
2. The colours carried in the Manchester Regiment bore on the one
side the words, " Liberty and Property," and on the other, " Church and
Country."
3. Interesting information regarding this officer is to be found in the
" Jacobite Papers," printed for the Spalding Club, Vol. ii. Chadwick is
reported " to have contributed greatly to the amusement of the Jacobite
officers. A cultured musician, he could play on several instruments, and
was a boon companion as well as a man of most daring resolution.
During his confinement he always took the lead in trying to amuse and
cheer his companions." (Introduction, p. 35.)
Also on p. 441 of the same work : " In the Churches at Derby and
Lancaster the defendant played several tunes upon the organ. Amongst
others that commonly called 'The 29th of May,' or 'The King shall
enjoy his own again/ which made him much esteemed by the chief
officers of the rebels."
no
THOMAS DEACON
Wilding, John Belts and William Bradshaw, of Lanca-
shire : John Hunter of Northumberland and Samuel
Maddox, of Cheshire.
Adjutant : Thomas Syddall, of Lancashire.
Captain James Dawson was the hero of Shenstone's
Poem, and was a near relative of John Byrom. He was
the son of William Dawson, apothecary of Manchester,
and Elizabeth, his wife, who was daughter of Richard
Allen of Redivales in Bury. John Byrom's mother and
Richard Allen were sister and brother, being children of
Captain John Allen.
John Beswick was also connected with the Byroms.
William Byrom of Manchester, great uncle of John
Byrom, married in 1640 Rebecca, daughter of John
Beswick of Failsworth, and sister of the Rev. Charles
Beswick, rector of Radcliffe, whose name is still in-
scribed on the ancient tower of St. Mary's Church in
that town.
The officers with whom we are specially concerned
are the three sons of Thomas Deacon. Thomas Theo-
dorus, the eldest of the three, was at this time 22 years
of age, and was being trained for the medical profession.
Robert Renatus, the second son, often referred to by
John Byrom as * 'Bobby," was probably not robust, as
mention is made of his illness by Byrom on several
occasions. Charles Clement, the youngest of the
unfortunate brothers, was at this time not 17 years of
age, and is described by Byrom in his Latin Poem
addressed to Lord Harrington (see page 123) as Puer et
scholaris, inscius rerum. This latter appellation might
well be given to all who joined the Manchester Regiment
at a time when the fortunes of Charles Edward were
already hopeless.
Thomas Syddall, Adjutant, the sharer of the horrid
fate of Thos. Theodorus Deacon, son of Thomas
Syddall executed in the '15, was a devoted friend to the
Deacons. On the journey of Mrs. Deacon to London,
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 ill
described on page 78, Syddall acted as escort to the
mother and the three lads who were now his companions
in this disastrous expedition. 1 2
It is time to enquire as to Thomas Deacon's personal
attitude to all the events which have been briefly
sketched. The testimony on this subject is very con-
flicting. John Byrom's account is given in a shorthand
letter to Mr. Vigor, who was styled " Warden of Bristol"
as Deacon was "Warden of Manchester," the title of
course having reference to the Shorthand Association.
The letter is dated ist of March, i7J|> an d is of con-
siderable length. After describing the arrival of the
Prince or Pretender in Manchester Byrom proceeds 3 :
"There were about 30 of our neighbours that listed under
him, among whom three sons of poor Dr. Deacon, who
engaged without their father's consent as I am told and
two of them without his knowledge : his own opinion
he never made secret of but has done nothing in his own
person that his enemies can lay hold of him for, though
they are much disposed to do it."
It may perhaps be contended, not without reason, that
this account of Byrom is the more likely to be correct
and impartial as being written in shorthand to an
intimate friend, but it is necessary to state that an
entirely different version of the events is given in an
article in the Supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine
for the year 1746, written under the date of igth Decem-
ber, by Philopatrice, who was undoubtedly Josiah Owen,
Presbyterian Minister of Blackwater Street Chapel,
Rochdale. This passage is quoted in full in Appendix
B, page 193.
Josiah Owen was strongly opposed to Deacon and
Byrom both on religious and political grounds. We
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 260.
2. Syddall was described by Maddox in his evidence at the trial as
having been "the busiest of anybody at Manchester in enlisting men
and searching." "Jacobite Papers," Vol. ii, p. 442.
3. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 412.
112 THOMAS DEACON
shall shortly attempt an account of the controversy in
which Byrom and Owen were the chief combatants,
although the real cause of the dispute was to be found
in the supposed political aims of Thomas Deacon. It
is not too much to say that Owen was an example of
all that a controversialist ought not to be. Personal
attacks of a somewhat vulgar nature, together with
charges against his opponents unsupported by any
evidence whatever, are to be found on almost every page
of Owen's pamphlets. Thomas Deacon's position was
certainly open to attack both from the civil and ecclesias-
tical point of view, and it was also not by any means
difficult for an opponent to make holes in the armour of
John Byrom, but Owen was not the man for this task.
I presume that the vast majority of people would now
agree that Owen had the better case, but he was a much
inferior man to Byrom and Deacon, both in intellectual
power and in controversial methods.
If reference is made to the passage indicated it will
be seen that Owen charges Deacon with having had a
"dispensation" to excuse him from personal participa-
tion in the Rebellion. The charge was vague and
indefinite and Deacon had not much difficulty in repel-
ling it in his "Vindication," published in the Chester
Courant, 26th April, 1748 (see page 197).
Owen also made another serious charge against
Deacon in his pamphlet " Dr. Deacon Try'd by his own
Tribunal" (see page 200), to the effect that his second
son Robert was disinclined to join the Rebellion and
only did so through fear of his father. It may be noted
that Thomas Theodorus Deacon in his dying speech
referred to similar rumours in connection with himself
and absolutely denied them. 1
Now if we put, side by side, these widely differing
accounts given by Byrom and Owen, we shall find that
while the probabilities are all on the side of Byrom 's
1. See also the letter of T. T. Deacon to his father, quoted on p. 119.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 113
story being the most credible, it is scarcely possible to
accept all his statements without some modification. It
is impossible, for instance, to believe that any of the
three lads engaged in the affair without their father's
knowledge and consent. On the other hand, Owen's
story as to Robert Deacon being compelled to enlist
may be dismissed as mere rhetoric, and the same may
be said about his charge of the obtaining of a
" dispensation."
Thomas Deacon then, it may be said, took no active
or personal part in the Rebellion, but he was called
upon to suffer to a bitter degree as the remainder of
this story will show.
On Monday, 2nd December, Miss Byrom records the
excitement created by news of the King's troops.
4 'They gathered a mob together and by degrees they
got a little frightful and went up and down town
threatening to pull down the houses of them that are
gone with them : papa went amongst them and several
gentlemen, but they have broke Dr. Deacon's lamp and
windows." 1 The good town of Manchester must have
been a rough place at this period for on the gth the
Highlanders, now on their retreat from Derby, were in
the town again. They left on the roth, and Miss Byrom
records an incident which occurred on their departure
in the streets of Salford, which might have led to serious
consequences. A shot was fired at the last of the
Highlanders out of a garret window, and for a time it
seemed probable that the town might be fired. 2 Deacon
and probably Clayton also, found it advisable to be out
of town after the arrival of the King's forces. Miss
Byrom has two records which give us some information
on this matter. December 23rd, "My Lady Lever has
seized of Dr. Deacon's goods : he has been out of town
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 396.
2. Ibid., Vol. ii, p. 400.
114 THOMAS DEACON
since before the King's forces came in, there are four
children at Mrs. Coats' and four at Lady Lever's." 1
January ist, 17**, " The Marquis of Grenville's
Regiment came in to-day : some of them were so rude
at Dr. Deacon's that he went out of town again." On
January 3rd, Miss Byrom gives an account of a riot
which took place in consequence of the "Presbyterians"
(this is the young lady's expression) carrying up and
down effigies of the Pretender and breaking windows
generally. On the day following many complaints were
made to the Magistrates: among others, "Lady Lever
went, because Dr. Deacon's house was hers, but they
were very rude to her and told her Dr. Deacon was a
Jesuit and must not live in town, if she would meddle
with nobody, nobody would meddle with her, she must
sell him up, give him warning for he must not live in
town." s It is tolerably easy from a perusal of these
entries in Miss Byrom's Journal to picture the course of
events. Lady Lever was evidently the owner of
Deacon's house in Fennel Street; the "seizing of his
goods ' ' was a friendly act as is evidenced by the fact
that four of Deacon's children were taken to Lady
Lever's house. For some weeks it must have been a
dangerous matter for Deacon to be seen in town, but
the excitement soon passed away, and he was able to
spend the remainder of his years, if not in peace and
happiness, at least in freedom from bodily attacks.
It is now time that the fate of the " Manchester
Regiment" should be related. On the main body of
Charles Edward's Army reaching Carlisle, Colonel
Francis Townley 4 was left in that city, with the
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 404.
2. Ibid., Vol. ii, p. 406.
3. Ibid., Vol. ii, p. 407.
4. " There can be no doubt that had he (Townley) been Governor, the
place would have held out to the very last, for when acquainted with
the terms of capitulation he flew into a great passion with Colonel
Hamilton, declaring that it was better to die with the sword than
to fall into the hands of the damned Hanoverians." (Introduction,
p. 28, "Jacobite Papers," Vol. ii.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 115
remainder of his regiment, under the direction of
Hamilton, the Governor of the place. The surrender
to the Duke of Cumberland was made on 3Oth December,
1745, and then was commenced the march of the
prisoners to London, which ended in the executions on
Kennington Common on 3oth July, 1746. Robert
Deacon was ill at the surrender of Carlisle and was
conveyed southward so far as Kendal, where he died.
He may be said to be "Felix opportunitate mortis"
for the fate, towards which his brothers Thomas Theo-
dorus and Charles Clement were hastening, was awful
in the one case and calamitous in the other. I shall
pass by the proceedings in London in connection with
the trial of the prisoners, 1 but will quote a few passages
from the dying speeches of some of those with whom
this memoir has special concern.
A small pamphlet was published in Edinburgh in the
year 1750, entitled, "True copies of the dying declara-
tions of Lord Balmerino and others*' (including
Syddall, Beswick, and Deacon). Before proceeding to
consider some of these speeches, it should perhaps be
said that Charles Clement Deacon on account of his
1. The following is a copy of the indictment made before the Special
Commission appointed for the trial of the prisoners which sat at
St. Margaret's Hall, Southwark, on the 23rd June, 1746. I quote it
from p. 28 of Vol. ii. of the "Jacobite Papers": "Not having
the fear of God in their hearts, not having any regard for the duty of
their allegiance, but being moved and seduced by the instigation of the
devil, as false traitors and rebels against our present Sovereign Lord,
the King, their Supreme, true, natural, lawful and undoubted Sovereign
Lord, entirely withdrawing that cordial love, true and due obedience,
fidelity and allegiance which every subject of right ought to bear
towards our said present Sovereign Lord the King ; also devising (and
as much as in them lay) most wickedly and traitorously intending to
change and subvert the rule and government of this Kingdom and also
to put and bring our said present Sovereign Lord, the King, to death
and to destruction, and to raise and exalt the person pretended to be
the Prince of Wales (during the life of the late King James II. of
England) to the Crown and Royal State and dignity of King, and to the
imperial rule and government of this Kingdom."
2. What appears to be a complete copy of this pamphlet is to be
found in the British Museum. An abbreviated copy is also in the
Manchester Reference Library, from which is omitted, among other
things, the remarkable postcript to T. T. Deacon's speech.
Ii6 THOMAS DEACON
extreme youth was left in gaol for further consideration
of his sentence. He parted from his elder brother on
the morning of 3Oth July when the latter was taken for
execution to Kennington Common. 1 The speech of
T. T. Deacon is a long and very uncompromising com-
position.
" The deluded and infatuated vulgar will no doubt
brand my death with all the infamy that ignorance
and prejudice can suggest : but the thinking few who
have not forsaken their duty to God and their King will,
I am persuaded, look upon it as being little inferior to
MARTYRDOM itself. I am just going to fall a sacrifice
to the resentment and revenge of the Elector of Hanover
and all those who have espoused the cause of a German
usurper and withdrawn their allegiance from their only
rightful, lawful, and native Sovereign King James III.
I profess I die a member, not of the Church of Rome,
nor yet of England, but of a pure Episcopal Church
which has reformed all the errors, corruptions, and
defects, that have been introduced into the modern
Churches of Christendom : a Church which is in perfect
communion with the ancient and universal Church of
Christ by adhering uniformly to Antiquity, Universality,
and Consent : that glorious principle which if once
strictly and impartially pursued, would, and which alone
can, remove all the distractions and unite all the divided
branches of the Christian Church. This truly Catholic
principle is agreed to by all Churches, Eastern and
Western, Popish and Protestant, and yet unhappily is
practised by none but the Church in whose Holy
Communion I have the happiness to die. May God of
His great mercy daily increase the members thereof, and
if any would enquire into its primitive constitutions I
would refer them to our Common Prayer Book, which
is entitled, "A Compleat Collection of Devotions, both
1. It is stated on p. 37 of the Introduction to the *' Jacobite Papers "
that " Charles was compelled to witness his brother's execution," but the
point does not appear to be established with certainty.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 117
publick and private : taken from the Apostolical Con-
stitutions, the ancient liturgies and the Common Prayer
Book of the Church of England : printed at London in
the year 1734." I solemnly affirm that malicious report
to be false and groundless which hath been spread
merely with a design to involve my relations in incon-
veniences, 'that I engaged in this affair through their
persuasion, instigation, or even compulsion.' On the
contrary, I was always determined to take the first
opportunity of performing my indispensable duty to my
Prince, which accordingly I did, without consulting or
being advised to it by any friend on earth.
Lord lay not this sin to their charge !
Lord have mercy on me !
Christ have mercy on me !
Lord Jesus receive my spirit ! " 1
P.S. "As the world may very probably expect I
should give some particular account of the Prince under
whom I had the happiness to serve in the field, and in
whose Father's cause I have the honour to die, I must
beg leave to assure you that it is a task too difficult for
a Demosthenes or a Cicero to perform with justice. I
shall only say that I have lived long enough and to good
purpose since I have done my duty under the banner of
a young Prince who richly deserves what he is contend-
ing for."
A note at the end of this P.S. states that it was added
on the morning of the execution. What is to be
thought of a man who could within a few hours of a
horrible death compose a flamboyant note of this
description !
Thomas Syddall's declaration contains exactly the
1. The version of T. T. Deacon's speech given as paper 43 of the
Jacobite Papers, page 615, is an abbreviation, the reference to the "Pure
Episcopal Church " being omitted.
n8
THOMAS DEACON
same statement, word for word, of his religious position
as is found in the speech of T. T. Deacon. It is
certainly probable that this profession of faith was
drawn up for them by Thomas Deacon himself, but
there are touches of individuality in Syddall's speech,
as well as in the one just quoted, which forbid us to
think that the unfortunate men had no share in the
composition of their dying speeches. Syddall thanks
God that he follows the example of his father, denies
that he was moved by any wicked motives of revenge,
and states that he had no personal interest in the taking
of this step, "being easy in his circumstances and blest
with wife and children."
Of the others, Andrew Blood professed himself a
member of the Roman Church : Thomas Chadwick of
the Church of England, "as it stood before the
Revolution" : and Fletcher and Beswick simply of the
Church of England. The speech of "Jemmy Dawson"
is written in a simple and affecting style, and his
memory has been preserved by Shenstone's beautiful
little ballad.
The execution was conducted in the most barbarous
manner, so much that the details would be offensive
to the modern ear, but may be inferred from the follow-
ing quotation. Dawson 's sweetheart accompanied him
to the place of execution.
" She followed him, prepared to view
The terrible behests of law :
And the last scene of Jemmy's woes
With calm and steadfast eye she saw.
And ravished was that constant heart
She did to every heart prefer :
For tho' it could its King forget,
'Twas true and loyal still to her.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 119
Amid those unrelenting flames,
She bore this constant heart to see :
But when 'twas mouldered into dust,
Yet, yet, she cry'd, I follow thee.
The dismal scene was o'er and past,
The lovers' mournful hearse retired:
The maid drew back her languid head,
And sighing forth his name, expir'd."
Two interesting letters may be appropriately trans-
cribed in this place from the Kenyon MSS.
No. 1 220. Page 476.
Thomas Theodorus Deacon to his father, Dr. Deacon,
at Manchester.
"1746, July 2gth, London. Before you receive this
I hope to be in Paradise, not that I have the least
right to expect it from any merit of my own, or the
goodness of my past life, but merely through the
intercession of my Saviour and Redeemer, a sincere
and hearty repentance of all my sins, the variety of
punishments I have suffered since I saw you, and the
death which I shall die to-morrow, which I trust in
God will be some small atonement for my transgres-
sions, and to which I think I am almost confident I
shall submit with all the resignation and cheerfulness
that a true pious Christian and a brave loyal soldier
can wish. I hope you will do my character so much
justice (and if you think proper make use of this) as
absolutely to contradict that false and malicious report
which has been spread only by my enemies, in hopes
it might be of prejudice to you and your family :
viz., that I was persuaded and compelled by you to
engage contrary to my own inclination. I send my
tenderest love to all the dear children and beg
Almighty God to bless you and them in this world
and grant us all a happy meeting in that to come. I
120
THOMAS DEACON
shall leave directions with Charles to send them some
trifle whereby to remember me. Pray excuse my
naming any particular friends for there is no end, but
give my hearty service and best wishes to them all in
general. Mr. Syddall is very well and sends his
sincere compliments, but does not choose to write.
He behaves as well as his best friends can wish. My
uncle has behaved to me in such a manner as cannot
be paralleled but by yourself. I know I shall have
your prayers without asking, which I am satisfied will
be of infinite service."
No. i22oa.
Extract of a letter from the Clergyman who attended
upon Mr. Syddall and Mr. Deacon.
End of July, 1746. " Their behaviour at Divine
Worship was always with great reverence, attention,
and piety ; but had you, sir, been present the last day
that I attended them, your soul would have been
ravished with the fervour of their devotions. From
the time of their condemnation a decent cheerfulness
constantly appeared in their countenance and behavi-
our, and I believe it may be truly said that no men
ever suffered in a righteous cause with greater mag-
nanimity, and more Christian fortitude, for the
appearance and near approach of a violent death,
armed with the utmost terror of pains and torments
made no impression of dread upon their minds. In
a word, great is the honour they have done the
Church, the King, yourself, and themselves, and may
their example be imitated by all that suffer in the same
cause. This short and faithful account of our
martyred friends, I hope sir, will yield great consola-
tion to yourself and poor Mrs. Syddall. Poor dear
Mr. Charles bears in a commendable manner his great
loss and other afflictions, and behaves like a man and
a good Christian in all his actions."
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 121
It may be. taken for granted that the writer of this
letter was one of the non-juring clergy who acknow-
ledged Thomas Deacon as their bishop, and it is
possible to identify him with the "Mr. Creake," who
is said by Lathbury to have assisted the prisoners in the
preparation of their speeches. 1
It is impossible to acquit the Government of senseless
and savage brutality in the treatment of the officers of
the Manchester Regiment. It may be granted that
severe punishment was due to Francis Townley, who
was a man of affairs, and had acted with deliberate
purpose, but to execute and mutilate such ignorant and
simple men as Syddall, Dawson, and T. T. Deacon was
little short of murder. The cause which they had
espoused was irretrievably lost before they joined it,
and the occasion was eminently one for the exercise of
a wise and tolerant clemency.
A few weeks later, on September 22nd, the heads of
Thomas Theodorus Deacon and Thomas Syddall were
brought to Manchester and fixed upon the Exchange.
This public exhibition of barbarism was followed by a
very violent controversy which will shortly be described,
but we may now relate the story of Charles Clement,
the only survivor of the three brothers. John Byrom
laboured unceasingly on behalf of this unfortunate lad
who remained in prison for many months. It is stated
in a note to Byrom's "Remains," 2 that although Byrom
was not successful in obtaining the lad's freedom, "yet
there can be no doubt the life of the poor boy Charles
Deacon was rescued from the fangs of a vindictive
Government through the intercession of his father's
faithful friend." I doubt whether this statement is
strictly accurate. It is more true to say that the
Government never intended to execute the lad but was
determined on his transportation. Byrom was not able
1. Lathbury's " History of Non- Jurors," p. 389.
2. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 444.
122
THOMAS DEACON
to influence the authorities from this decision, and
practically acknowledges his failure in a letter to his
daughter Dorothy, written August 4th, 1748. " I have
not such good hopes as I had of the young boy being
set at liberty he has some enemies or other that have
represented him in so ill a light, etc." 1 The following
extract from a letter of Byrom to his wife, i8th June,
1748, may be of interest. " On the loth June I had
been asked to meet Mr. Folkes at Mr. Chas. Stanhope's,
where I found likewise Lord Lonsdale, Duke of
Montague, and Mr. Stanhope's brother, Lord Harring-
ton, with whom we passed the dinner and an hour or
two very agreeably. They asked me a great many
questions about the Pretender and circumstances when
he was in Manchester, etc., and I told them what I
knew and thought without any reserve, and took the
opportunity of setting some matters in a truer light
than I suppose they had heard them placed in, and put
in now and then a word or two in favour of the prisoners,
especially Charles Deacon." On the following day,
Byrom was again at dinner with Mr. Stanhope, and on
this occasion met, in addition to Lord Harrington and
other great people, the Duke of Richmond whom Byrom
describes, with that touch of sarcasm which is not often
wanting in his references to the Whig Government, as
"one of our present Kings." 2 The Duke was one of
the Lord Justices for the administration of the Govern-
ment during the absence from the country of George II.
Byrom had written some Latin verses addressed to Lord
Harrington on behalf of Charles Deacon, and he had
hoped that the Duke might also have read them, but
the opportunity was not favourable. On I4th July,
however, Byrom was at the Duke of Richmond's house
in London to breakfast. There was an eclipse of the
sun on that day, and Byrom describes how they "peeped
through glasses at it."
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 455. 2. Ibid., Vol. ii, p. 448.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 123
"I spoke to the D. of Richmond about Chas. D.,
but he answered my sayings with the father and son
not repenting, and that God himself did not pardon
without repentance, to which I did not care to give
the reply for fear of exasperating.'* 1
No further progress was made and on the nth
January, 1749, Charles Deacon was conveyed from the
new gaol, Southwark, to Gravesend, for transportation
during life.
A few of the Latin verses may perhaps be quoted :
Parce, plaudentis, Vicerex lernes,
Caroli fratris gratia, poetae,
Si quid extemplo, tibi carmen ausus
Cudere peccet
Tres erant, nolim nisi vera fari,
Tres erant fratres mera quos juventus
Nuper abrepit, gladiisque cinxit
Morte luendis.
Unus in vinclis periit priusquam
Carcerum posset loculis novorum
Aeger inferri, febris et quadrigae
Motubus impar.
Alter ejusdem socio 2 reatus
Teste, damnatur, moritur, caputque
Nos apud, mori nimium ferendo,
Flebile prostat.
Tertius jam turn puer et scholaris,
Inscius rerum, ferulae pupillus,
Arma pro pomis capiens, suis se
Fratribus addit
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 451.
2. This refers to Samuel Maddox (see p. 110), who turned King's
evidence at the trial of the rebels in London.
124 THOMAS DEACON
Ille, Magnates, meus est et ille
Civis, et vestrum petere incitavit
Indoles, magni sitis O, meoque
Parcite civi.
This last verse is finely rendered in the translation
which Byrom supplied for his daughter Dorothy. 1
" He is my countryman, my noble Lords,
And room for hope your genius affords.
Be truly noble : hear a well meant prayer
And deign my fellow citizen to spare."
Byrom's deep religious feeling and love for his native
town should be noted in the concluding stanza.
" Det Deus cunctae bona quaeque genti :
Hisce presertim Britones fruantur :
Detque postremum populo salutem
Mancuniensi."
We now return to the consideration of affairs in
Manchester. The placing of the heads of Deacon and
Syddall on the Exchange immediately led to a renewal
of excitement. Thomas Deacon made a public act of
reverence to the memory of his son by removing his hat
and bowing to the poor remains of humanity (see
Appendix B, page 187). This innocent and natural
action was a cause of a fresh outbreak of political
feeling. Few could now be found who would not
applaud Byrom's remarks expressed in his ready rhyme.
" What wretch can blame thee for respect that's paid
Parental piety to filial shade ?
If putting off the hat demands a scoff
What does humanity and brains put off?"
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 455.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 125
But charges were immediately raised of the worship
of "skull gods," etc., and on the gth of October, a day
appointed for a Public Thanksgiving, the Military in
the town evidently considered matters so critical as to
warrant them despoiling the house occupied by the
widow of Thomas Syddall, who had neglected to
illuminate her windows. On this day also a sermon
was preached by Josiah Owen at Rochdale, entitled,
"All is well : The defeat of the late Rebellion, etc."
Owen was not a man to pour oil on troubled waters, as
the following passage of a comparatively mild character
will show. "A Rebellion fomented by the professed
enemies of our liberties, our religion, and our country,
and headed not by the Son of a Prince, but the Son of
a Stranger, by the Son of one who, from the best
historical evidence we can gather, is as far from having
the blood royal in his veins as Heaven is from Hell, or
Rome from Infallibility : a rebellion nursed by ignor-
ance and superstition, that set up barbarity for its
standard and made dreadful havoc of those birthrights
it pretended to assert and vindicate : a most horrid and
unnatural rebellion this indeed ! "
The next stage in the controversy was another sermon,
" preached in St. Ann's Church, Manchester, 2nd
November, 1746, being the Sunday after All Saints'
Day, by Benjn. Nicholls, M.A., Assistant Curate of the
said Church and Chaplain to the Rt. Hon. The Earl of
Uxbridge." The sermon was entitled " False claims
to Martyrdom considered." Speaking of the executed
officers, Mr. Nicholls said, "They suffered, but for what?
not for religion, nor righteousness, but for the wicked
consequences of a prejudiced attachment to an erroneous
principle which has long been exploded . . . Sorry we
may be for the untimely end of our fellow creatures, but
to honour them with the title of Martyrdom for public
offences is to disgrace the character and to blaspheme
our religion." Mr. Nicholls referred, in terms of
126
THOMAS DEACON
strong condemnation, to the outward signs of respect
paid to the heads, and apparently inferred that the souls
of the rebels were beyond all hope of salvation. This
sermon was bitterly resented by the Jacobite party in
Manchester, and appears to have been particularly
offensive to John Byrom. An article appeared in the
Chester C our ant of nth November, 1746, in which the
writer commented very strongly on an account of the
state of affairs in Manchester, which had been given in
a letter to the Whitehall Evening Post of October nth
(see Appendix B, page 189). This was followed by a
violent outburst from Owen in the Manchester Magazine
of November 25th, in which he charges Deacon with
adopting politics into his religion (page 192). Deacon
made his defence in the Chester Courant of Tuesday,
December 9th (see page 192). It should be noted that,
although the controversy was principally between
Byrom and Owen, and Deacon took a very secondary
part, yet the whole matter in dispute centred round the
position and principles of Thomas Deacon as a non-
juring bishop. This is made perfectly clear by the next
item in the controversy, which was an article by Owen
in the supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine for the
year 1746. This was the famous article in which Owen
makes the main charges against Deacon to which
reference has frequently been made in these pages (see
page 193). But Byrom was preparing a much more
serious attack on the principles of Nicholls' sermon of
November 2nd, and this appeared in a long poetical
"Epistle to a Friend* ' which was published early in
1747. The verses which appear in the Preface will
indicate Byrom's main purpose.
" Out of the Church, to fix our English doom,
There's no salvation, say some Priests of Rome.
Out of the State, some English Priests, as mad,
Affirm there's no salvation to be had.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 127
The same poor bigotry, on either side,
Would make Salvation float upon the tide.
Alike the Smithfield and the Tyburn flame,
For neither Pope nor Parliament can damn.'*
It was in this epistle that Byrom made an attack on
Owen which was hardly excusable, irritating as Owen's
methods of controversy undoubtedly were.
" Leave to the low-bred O ns of the age
Sense to belie and loyalty to rage,
Wit to make treason of each cry and chat
And eyes to see false worship in a hat.
Wisdom and love to construe heart and mien,
By the new Gospel of a Magazine."
The reference to the "Magazine" is of course to the
Manchester Magazine published by R. Whitworth, the
organ of the Whig party. The Tories had perforce to
take to the Chester Courant.
It could hardly be expected that Owen would remain
quiet under accusations of this kind, and accordingly
there appeared in this same year 1747, or early in the
succeeding year, a pamphlet entitled "Jacobite and
Non-juring Principles freely examined in a letter to the
'Master Tool of the Faction in Manchester.' " The
"Master Tool" was of course John Byrom, 1 but Deacon
also received considerable attention from the hands of
this doughty controversialist, whose state of mind may
be gathered from the following passage taken from the
preface :
" I have somewhere read of an order of Hottentots
where the person installed is plentifully bespattered in a
very ungenteel and indecent manner : which he receives
1. The writer of the article on Josiah Owen in the Diet, of Nat.
Zaphy, is in error i
iter Tool " by Owen.
Biography, is in error in stating that Deacon was designated the
Tool
128
THOMAS DEACON
with great alacrity, as the more indecency, the more
honour. In a light somewhat analogous to this I con-
sider your treatment of me in a late ' Epistle to a
Friend.' The more abuse, the more honour, the more
scurrility you have given vent to, the more distinction
you have paid me. I dare tell you that our present
government has enemies and what kind of men they
are. Be it at Bologne or Avignon or whatever other
place that your vagrant Idol keeps up the mock state of
a court, I dare tell you that the Man who visits it to
procure an absolution for having abjured Popery and
the Pretender and sworn allegiance to King George and
yet calls himself a good Protestant and a good subject,
either affronts other men's understanding or betrays the
weakness of his own."
This was a shrewd hit at the incident in Byrom's life
to which reference has been made on page 58.
But the most extraordinary portion of Owen's pam-
phlet is that which is contained in the following passage.
"You undoubtedly know and 'tis fit that every Briton
should know that your Manchester friends, well affected
ones be sure ! have been carrying on a secret correspon-
dence with Rome in order to rivet her chains upon
British necks and establish the worship of her "Puppet
Show Gods " in Britain. This has appeared from a
very extraordinary letter found among the papers of one
of the Fellows of the Manchester Collegiate Church,
lately deceased ; tho' the particular contents of none but
this have transpired, many more papers of the like ten-
dency are acknowledged to have been found on the same
occasion. The letter had no superscription : and who
would imagine that so dangerous a correspondence
should, where there were any private ways of convey-
ance? But it was dated at Rome October 1746, which
was some time after the extinction of the late Rebellion,
and was wrote by your most Holy Father the Pope's
direction and subscribed O' Brian. It abounded with
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 129
compliments and expressions of condolence : but the
purport of the whole was 'that his Holiness was very
sensible of the sufferings and distresses of the Man-
chester friends, was well pleased with the zeal and
services of his partizans amongst the Manchester Clergy,
but could by no means admit of a schism in the
Church.' "
The first comment to be made on this extraordinary
statement is that no confirmation is forthcoming from
any source. On the other hand Edward Byrom, eldest
son of John Byrom, writing to his father on 7th May,
1748, refers as follows to the second edition of Owen's
book. ' 'There are several new and curious things in it,
amongst the rest a correspondence carried on betwixt
the Manchester Clergy and the Pope relating to a letter
which was found among Mr. Cattell's books. You may
perhaps remember that all the Clergy at the Old Church
had every one letters sent to them from the Pope's
Secretary some time since, though they were forged in
London." l
Owen's charge practically amounted to this : Deacon,
with the Fellows of the Collegiate Church had written
to the Pope craving to be admitted into the Church of
Rome : replies had been received by them through the
Pope's legate, and on the death of Thomas Cattell a
copy of this paper was found among his books. Dr.
Hibbert-Ware 2 was disposed to think that there might
be some foundation for the charge, but it is to be noted
that he expressly refuses credit to the story from Owen's
statement alone. He considered that in the "letter to
the Clergy of Manchester," which is attributed to
Thomas Perceval of Royton Hall, and in the curious
"Dialogue between Mr.True-Blewand Mr. Whig-Love"
(probably by the same author) some additional confirma-
tion of the story was to be found. I have carefully read
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 438.
2. " Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii, pp. 142-145.
130
THOMAS DEACON
these two pamphlets (which are briefly described below)
but I cannot find the slightest trace of independent
evidence in favour of Owen's story. Mr. Perceval had
certainly read Owen's book and had possibly heard some
gossip on the subject, but there is no sign of anything
more. All that is required of a historian in these cases
is to enquire into the validity of the evidence and to
balance the probabilities. In this particular case the
statement of Edward Byrom that the letters were forged
is to be set against Owen's assumption of their validity :
and while it is improbable that such negotiations were
ever conducted it is certain that the report once started
would acquire easy credence and would not lose anything
in being handed on from mouth to mouth. I give below
a full copy of the letter as it was found in Cattell's books.
11 October 7th, 1746.
Dear Revd. Sir,
I have the honour and happiness to bee his holiness
Vice Legate from rome to London. I have reed his
orders to return his thanks for your and the rest of
your revd. body's firm atchment and principles in our
holy cause and tho' wee have not had the Sucksess
this time wee are in hopes it will soon bee effected,
hee hath often heard grate commendations of all your
reverand body and the good principles you have all
of you instructded your town in, hee recommends your
continuence in the same and as a reward for your
faithful Servisses, hee receives your reverend body
into our holy church, and hee conjures you and the
rest of your body that you pray no more for the
Elector of hannover and his family uppon pain of
incuring our holy Displeasure, let the consequence
Bee what it will for you may depend on our protection
to reward you in this life and in our Lady's kingdom,
and you may acquaint your towns mens friends that
his holiness as a reward for their merit will canonize
and rank them with the first Class of martyrs in
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 131
heaven and in his Callinder. I have no Sertain acct
of our Prince beeing got safe back to France, I have
nothing further at present : but recomend you to our
holy lady's keeping from
Yours
C. O. Brian.
Had our prince Suckseded his holiness would have
raisd your Church and reverand body to grate Dig-
nitys."
It is sufficient to say that the absurdities in this docu-
ment are many and obvious. The impression is desired
to be conveyed that the letter was written by one whose
acquaintance with the English language was of a slight
description. But no foreigner either spelled or com-
posed after this fashion, and it is not too much to say
that the letter is, not merely a forgery, but an extremely
clumsy one. On the only evidence that has been
produced in this matter it is impossible to dissent from
the opinion expressed by the writer of the note in
Byrom's "Remains" x that the charge against the clergy
of Manchester was of a "trumpery" description.
This writer, by the way, falls into a curious mistake
concerning a pamphlet (6d.), published about this time
by Thomas Deacon, and Dr. Hibbert-Ware also seems
to share in the same misapprehension. It is assumed
that the pamphlet related to the controversy aroused in
these charges of Josiah Owen, and that it was a reply on
Deacon's own behalf against the charge of Popery. I
believe that the pamphlet had no reference to this par-
ticular point. It was Deacon's "Apologetical Epistle,"
published in reference to Dr. Conyers Middleton's
"Remarks on Two Pamphlets," etc. A copy of this
pamphlet is preserved in the Chetham Library, and I
have briefly alluded to it in my review of Deacon's
"Comprehensive View" in Appendix A.
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 439. Note.
132
THOMAS DEACON
The remaining stages of this controversy may now be
briefly noted. There appeared in reply to Owen's
"Letter to the Master Tool" a ballad entitled "Sir L
bred Owen, the Hottentot knight"; the reference of
course being to Owen's remarks about a custom of the
Hottentots as reported on page 127. It is uncertain
whether this ballad is to be attributed to Byrom. Some
writers consider that it is in too coarse a strain, but there
is much in it which reminds one of Byrom's manner.
The ballad was said to be set to the tune of the "Abbot
of Canterbury," and is in effect a versification of Owen's
book. One verse may suffice :
" And now I have told you, Sir, what I dare do
I'll attack your friend D-c-n by writing to you :
So then, if you please, you may stand by and look
And mark how I empty my Commonplace Book.
Derry down down, hey derry down."
On this there followed Deacon's second vindication,
published under his own name in the Chester Courant
of 26th April, 1748, from which I have quoted freely in
Appendix B. This led to Owen's last entry into the
arena with his " Dr. Deacon Try'd by his own
Tribunal." This pamphlet is written with a con-
siderable amount of dialectical skill, but is marred by
Owen's usual faults of furious invective and reckless
accusation. Mention is made in the preface of Deacon's
double capacity as "practitioner of physic and caster
out of devils at Manchester." He is "a saint of pure
Jesuitical complexion" : the Chester Courant is a "sink
of corruption," etc. Owen endeavours to show from the
principles which Deacon himself lays down in his
Catechism that the vindication of himself is essentially
false, and that all the charges brought against him are
substantially proved.
Two small contributions to the literature of this period
and subject remain to be noted. A letter addressed to
the clergy of Manchester, remonstrating with them for
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 133
their friendship with Deacon, appeared in 1748, and is
attributed to the pen of Thomas Perceval of Royton
Hall, who, like Owen, was a strong Whig, but writes
with much more restraint and persuasiveness. He
remonstrates with the clergy for "countenancing, favour-
ing, protecting and espousing a man who plainly tells
you Salvation is not to be expected in your Church,
who charges your church with heresy, who has inveagled
numbers of your parishioners, so many that (not able to
do the business himself) he has ordained a queer dog of
a barber, a disbanded soldier of the pretender's who
enlisted as a volunteer under him in the late rebellion,
and sent for some young fellow from London to help
him in his 'pseudo-ministry.' ' The 'queer dog of a
barber' was Tom Podmore, of whom a brief account is
given in a later chapter.
Finally, there appeared a pamphlet entitled "Man-
chester Politics, a dialogue between Mr. Trew-Blue and
Mr. Whig-Love"; the writer (probably Mr. Perceval)
makes some fine fun of Deacon's Catechism and of the
conclusions into which his friends of the Chapter would
be forced, if they continued to follow Deacon's lead.
The tone of the pamphlet is unexceptionable throughout,
and, although written from a strongly Whig point of
view, is a pleasing contrast to the diatribes of Josiah
Owen. The introduction is very amusing.
Mr. W. " Sir, pray where do you come from?
Mr. T. Manchester.
Mr. W. What are you ?
Mr. T. A TORY.
Mr. W. Pray speak out, be free.
Mr. T. Sir all I can say is I am a Tory and a
MANCHESTER Tory, and if that won't satisfy you I don't
know what to say to you."
The whole dialogue is well worth reading : a passage
relative to the size of Deacon's congregation has already
been quoted on page 100.
134
THOMAS DEACON
I must here conclude the somewhat long drawn out
but, I hope, coherent account of what has been sometimes
styled the "Byrom-Owen" Controversy. It was in a
sense summed up and recorded in a permanent form in a
small volume entitled "Manchester Vindicated: being a
compleat collection of the papers lately published in
defence of that town in the Chester C our ant. Together
with all those on the other side of the question printed
in the Manchester Magazine or elsewhere, which are
answered in the said Chester Courant Chester : printed
by and for Elizabeth Adams, 1749."
On 2ist January, 17*, Robert Thyer, the Librarian
at Chetham College, writes to John Byrom 1 : "The
Chester Papers are at length published but I cannot
direct you how to meet with the book in London as I
don't find that they are sold by any bookseller there.
The Appendix talked of was thought better to be omitted
by those whose concern it chiefly was. The reasons
assigned were, the things being quite dead, the ridicu-
lousness of the story in itself and the inconvenience that
might attend the communicating the affair to a gentle-
man that was not very likely to make a secret of people's
names."
I take it that the matter referred to by Thyer was the
story of the "negotiations" with the Pope. Thyer
certainly had much to do with the editing of these papers
and the preface (the language of which is frankly
partisan) was probably written by him. " It was first
begun to defend the town of Manchester against the
many false and calumnious representations of it at that
time and to correct the impertinency of a petulant news-
writer whose weekly fardel of politics called the Man-
chester Magazine was almost constantly interlarded with
some saucy reflection or other upon the town or some of
its inhabitants." The volume contains much interesting
matter, especially in the earlier papers : many of the
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 482.
MANCHESTER AND THE '45 135
statements and counter statements which are printed in
Appendix B are included in its pages. The later papers,
however, are largely concerned with abstract questions
such as the contract between King and people, etc., and
as a whole the compilation presents the appearance of
being very long drawn out. It has, however, a certain
value as containing in a concise and intelligible form an
account of the controversy in which so many of the
foremost people of Manchester were interested in the
years 1746-8.
It will have been noted that, although this controversy
largely turned upon the presence in Manchester of
Thomas Deacon as a non-juring bishop, yet Deacon
himself took a very secondary part in the debate. With
the exception of the two Vindications of himself, in
which he may be said to have borne a not undignified
part, there is nothing that can with probability be attri-
buted to his pen. There were more reasons than one
for this comparative silence. It was not that Deacon's
activity of life and work had largely come to an end, for
in the midst of this hurricane of tracts and pamphlets
he produced his last and in some sense his most impor-
tant work, the "Comprehensive View of Christianity."
Nevertheless no man could lose wife and three sons
within a twelvemonth without being profoundly affected
both in body and mind, and Thomas Deacon although
little more than 50 years of age was in every sense of
the expression a broken man. What now remains is
to tell the story of his last few years of suffering and
decay.
137
CHAPTER IX.
Deacon's Last Days and Death : an Estimate of
His Life and Character.
JOHN BYROM, writing to his wife from London on
August 27th, 1748, expresses a hope that "Dr. Deacon
has got rid of his gout and will manage not to have it
again," 1 and on the 2ist January following, Robert
Thyer in a letter already quoted on page 134 says that
"Dr. Deacon is very well and desires his compliments
to you." This is the last mention of Deacon in Byrom's
Journal with the exception of a short correspondence
with William Law concerning the payment of ten
guineas to relieve the pressing necessities of Deacon and
his family.
There is to be related a final incident in Deacon's
ecclesiastical life which has not previously been pub-
lished. The information is contained in the copy of
the MSS. from Edinburgh presented by the Rev. W.
Bell as mentioned on page 101. The original MS. is
dated December 22nd, 1750, and is in the form of a letter
from the Rev. Jas. Linfield, one of Dr. Deacon's Pres-
byters in London, to the Rev. Mr. David Lyon, 2 a deacon
of St. Andrew's, informing him of the revolt of a Mr.
and Mrs. Pierce from Dr. Deacon's communion to Mr.
Gordon's. Mr. Linfield enclosed in his account of this
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, p. 459.
2. Interesting reference to Mr. Lyon is to be found in Bishop Forbes'
"Journal," p. 33, October 7th, 1764 : "This day we dined at the houso
of Mr. Lyon, Apothecary, uncle to the Reverend Mr. David Lyon, of
Glasgow, where we had an entertainment of about ten courses, substantial
and good. Mr. Lyon was formerly clergyman at St. Andrews." It ir,
possible that Robert Lyon, M.A., Presbyter of Perth, who was executed
at Penrith on October 28th, 1746 (see " Kenyon MSS.," No. 1221, p. 477)
was of the same family. His dying sneech, every word of which he is
said to have delivered, is included in the collection mentioned on p. 115.
138
THOMAS DEACON
matter copies of three letters, (i) From Mr. Pierce to
the Doctor. (2) The Doctor's answer. (3) Letter from
Mr. Clark to Mr. Pierce. Mr. Linfield states that Mr.
Pierce did not await any reply from Dr. Deacon but
deserted his communion at once although the Doctor's
reply was dispatched on the same day as the arrival of
Mr. Pierce's letter.
(i) Mr. Pierce to Dr. Deacon. London, May ist,
1750.
" I have been considering very deliberately and with
my b'est attention whether it is lawful and proper to join
in communion with our old friends and did not know
till lately in what manner or with what solemnity they
administered the Eucharistic Office, and though I never
said or thought them guilty of schism, yet I did imagine
they had not everything necessary to that holy office :
but upon the examination of this matter and considering
the authority of the church I cannot help saying that I
am persuaded it is lawful to join with them in all their
offices, though I like yours far beyond it . . And as they
have bishops the validity of whose consecrations is
indisputable, as there is not one of the other within a
hundred miles of this place, and as I have always had
some doubt of the regularity of that absent one, I shall
not for the future stick to call our old friends my
brethren or to communicate with them ... In matters
of faith and practice I think too much caution cannot be
used to follow the scriptures and early fathers and
councils, but as to forms or matters of discipline I think
every national church should have full latitude of power.
I would rather stand than kneel on a Sunday : I would
administer the sacrament of the Holy Eucharist to
infants : I would have some collect or appropriated
prayers for the departed : but if that church does not
practise these things in this manner and at the same
time does not condemn them in any sort, I would not
break communion upon those occasions nor refuse if I
DEACON'S LAST DAYS
139
was in another place where they were thus used to join
with them."
(2) From Dr. Deacon to Mr. Pierce. Manchester,
May 4th, 1750. L <^*~-
". . . I would have you consider that our old friends
profess to be the Church of England and therefore that
moment you join them you are answerable at the great
day for all the errors, corruptions and defects which are
chargeable on the Church of England's constitution as
laid down in her liturgy, articles, canons, and homilies.
It is a most surprising thing to me, to see persons of
sense and piety so particular as to separate from the
Church of Rome because she has departed from the
Ancient Catholic Church and to communicate with the
Church of England which is equally guilty of the same
charge. For the case in reality stands thus : if the
former has her Pope's supremacy, the latter has her
King's, Qf Rome makes the Eucharistic elements the
natural body and blood of Christ, England will not allow
them to be the body and blood in any sense?) If the first
adds articles of faith, the last virtually renounces one.
I could proceed yet further but you may possibly
imagine I have said enough . . . But I have done, after
I have desired you not to take it amiss that it will be
impossible for you to communicate with our old friends
and me too."
(3) The letter of the Rev. Mr. Clark to Mr. Pierce is
interesting as showing how one of Deacon's orthodox
and faithful presbyters came to the support of his bishop.
Mr. Clark refers to the liturgy used in their communion
as the " Clementine Liturgy," and referring to Mr.
Pierce's remarks in connection with the English liturgy
as it was used by their "old friends," says: "You do
not offer one single proof of your discovering the primi-
tive and Catholic Usages unless you conceive them to be
there by the (long exploded) way of meaning and inten-
tion. How meanings and intentions and even declara-
140
THOMAS DEACON
tions can make things to exist when they have no being I
have neither logic nor metaphysics to understand." Mr.
Clark deals also with the question of Deacon's consecra-
tion by a single bishop. He declares that this objection
would strike against the validity of English consecra-
tions, "The first bishops consecrated here were by one
bishop.*' " Did not Eusebius of Samosata when in
exile and military habit consecrate alone and had he not
then as much power as when he sat in the chair of
Samosata? " l
It will be remembered by way of comment on this
correspondence that there were in London from the year
1733 two communions of non-jurors, the one presided
over by Robert Gordon, the last of the regular line, who
is of course the Mr. Gordon mentioned by Mr. Linfield :
the other owning allegiance to Archibald Campbell and
after his death to Thomas Deacon. It is evident that all
was not well with Deacon's little communion in London,
and it is probable that after his decease the few members
who remained either joined the communion of Robert
Gordon or dwindled away in process of time. Bishop
Forbes, who records his visit to London in 1764, says
nothing of any communion of non-jurors except that of
Bishop Gordon, and this merely prolonged its existence
until Gordon's death in 1779. This letter of Deacon to
his recalcitrant follower is the last of his recorded writ-
ings. It is worth noting that it is in essential agreement
with his first declaration in the speeches of Paul and
Hall in the year '16. Deacon never was a "Church of
England man." His ideal was always the creation of
an Orthodox Catholic Church separate from both Eng-
land and Rome. It was impossible that he could view
the English Church from the same standpoint as Brett
who had been brought up in communion with the
English Church and had received ordination within it,
and he had therefore small sympathy with his " old
1. For Clark and Linfield, see p. 49.
DEACON'S LAST DAYS 141
friends' 5 who claimed to be "the Church of England as
it stood before the Revolution." This was the stand-
point of the original non-jurors, but it was anathema to
Thomas Deacon, and in this short statement we see the
whole extent of the development of the non-juring
movement.
We know little of Deacon's last years, but they were
certainly marked by financial difficulty and bodily and
possibly mental incapacity. On the 8th March, 17*^
Deacon consecrated as bishop Kenrick Price, of
whom I have given a short account in the next chapter.
Beyond this nothing is known except what is to be
inferred from the following letters.
Wm. Law to John Byrom, 1752 : no date.
;< I have ten guineas for Dr. Deacon if you would
give them him and draw upon me for the same by
anyone that comes this way from your town. I should
be glad to pay you in that way or any other manner you
shall direct." 1
John Byrom to Wm. Law. Manchester, 1752.
1 Rev. Sir : I have ordered my son to pay ten guineas
to Mr. Clayton, Chaplain of the old church for the use
of Dr. - - who is not capable of managing for himself
and has been so long unable to follow his business that
a numerous family of children, mostly young ones make
the friendly benefactions of this nature extremely
seasonable. He has continued beyond all expectation,
mine at least."
Deacon lingered four months after the date of this
letter. He died on i6th February, 1753, and was buried
in St. Ann's Churchyard three days later. The entry in
the register simply states "Dr. Thomas Deacon, buried
1 9th February, 1753."
A curious theory is propounded in Bardsley's "Memo-
rials of St. Ann's" as to the reasons why Deacon should
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. ii, p. 545.
142
THOMAS DEACON
have been buried in the churchyard of that church. 2 It
is to the effect that the clergy of the Collegiate Church
were so conscious of the false position in which they
found themselves through their complicity with Deacon
that it was considered undesirable that the burial should
take place in the old churchyard. The clergy of St.
Ann's, on the other hand, being free from any such
complicity, could safely allow Deacon to be buried in
their churchyard. Mr. Bardsley calls this explanation
* 'simple." I should say on the other hand that it is
very far-fetched. Political feeling had largely died
away : there was no ill-feeling against Deacon at the
time of his death, and (if the inscription on the tomb-
stone is to be believed) it was only to be expected that
Thomas Deacon would be laid to rest in the same place
as his wife, who had passed away nearly eight years
previously. Bardsley's statements concerning Deacon
are in many cases very wide of the mark, but we may
agree with him on one point. "He was laid to rest in
an alien soil, the hopeful promise of his resurrection
being uttered by alien lips. No two men in the whole
town could be more unlike than these, Thomas Deacon
and Abel Ward, Third Rector of St. Ann's."
The epitaph on Deacon's tomb is well known, even to
many whose knowledge on this subject extends no
further. It was probably composed by Deacon himself.
1 JUL1J V TO)
"Here lie the remains (which through mortality are
at present corrupt) but which shall one day most surely
be raised again to Immortality and put on Incorruption
of THOMAS DEACON, the greatest of sinners and most
unworthy of Primitive Bishops, who died the i6th
February, 1753, in the 56th year of his age.
2. Bardsley's "Memorials of St. Ann's," p. 85.
DEACON'S LAST DAYS 143
And of SARAH his Wife, who died July 4th, 1745, in
the 45th year of her age.
The Lord grant unto the Faithful here underlying
that they may find mercy of the Lord in that day.
2nd Tim. i, 18."
ev TOVTW VIKOL
-h
Mr. Tyerman describes this epitaph as "stilted." It
may, however, be contended that it rings quite as true to
Christian sentiment as the laudatory inscriptions which
are found on the walls of so many of our churches.
I cannot find that Deacon left any will : there is
certainly no entry of his name in the Chester Registry.
It is difficult to imagine that he had anything to leave
except his books, and these, according to Mr. Axon, 1
were sold by auction on March igth.
It is not a simple matter to submit an estimate of
Thomas Deacon's life and character as regarded from
the historical standpoint, and apart from any prepos-
sessions of a personal nature. Men of strong character
strongly attract or repel, and it would doubtless be
possible for any writer, with partisan ends to serve, to
make a good case for any view of Deacon's character
which would confirm the convictions which originally
moved him to undertake the task. It is, however, both
possible and desirable to consider the matter from what
may be described as the purely critical and historical
point of view, and such an estimate is, within very
narrow limits, here attempted. The portrait in the
Reading Room of the Chetham Library, 2 a reproduction
1. "Annals of Manchester," p. 90.
2. The inscription on the portrait states that it was presented to the
Library in 1860 by Miss Parkinson who was, I presume, sister of Canon
Parkinson, the editor of Byrom's Journal. It is almost incredible that
no record exists of the gift of the portrait and that no information as
to its history can be obtained in Manchester. It is permissible to
conjecture that it may have come into the hands of Canon Parkinson
from Miss Atherton, great-grand daughter of John Byrom.
144
THOMAS DEACON
of which forms the frontispiece of this work, represents
Deacon in the prime of life, at the age of about 40 years,
or certainly before the disastrous events of 1745-6 had
left their marks upon him. The attire is that of a
bishop, with pectoral cross : the forehead is high and
well developed, the face narrow but well rilled, the eyes
piercing, the nose long, the mouth short. Determina-
tion is shown in the tightly closed lips and the chin,
but I should describe the characteristic expression of the
face as genial and benevolent. I suspect that this may
prove to be the key to the popularity which Deacon
personally possessed. He was a man who made hosts
of friends and few enemies, and if my estimate is correct,
he would probably be a very acceptable member of any
company.
It may appear paradoxical to attribute tolerance to
Thomas Deacon, but I should be disposed to say that
no really intolerant man could have formed the friend-
ships which Deacon shared with many men of widely
differing views.. His early association with Dr. Mead,
in spite of a complete divergence of religious and
political opinions, may be regarded as a prelude to the
many friendships formed in later life in Manchester
with clergy and laity alike. The relations existing
between Deacon and the Manchester Clergy are not by
any means easy to understand. Josiah Owen, following
the line of all violent and professional controversialists,
solved the difficulty by imputing treason and treachery
to all the parties concerned. History is not, however,
written in this way, and I submit that a truer explana-
tion is to be found in the supposition that beneath
Thomas Deacon's unbending 'Orthodoxy' (I used the
word in the technical sense in which it was employed
by the party of Campbell and Deacon) there was a
practical tolerance and a kindly forbearance which would
go far to account for the fact that " the Doctor was
DEACON'S LAST DAYS 145
respected by most of the Clergy and by most of the
laity also." 1
It may further be said with confidence that Deacon's
personal character was of a high order. None of his
critics in the bitter controversy of 1746-8 made the least
suggestion of personal misconduct or failing. Even the
charges brought against Deacon by the fiery Owen were
largely of a rhetorical nature, and there can be no doubt
that as the father of a large family, as a medical man,
and as a Christian pastor Deacon's character was beyond
reproach.
It is also due to his memory to say that Thomas
Deacon was in the fullest sense of the word a deeply
religious man. The popular idea (if indeed the word
"popular" may be used in connection with one who is
so little known) of Deacon from the religious standpoint
is that he was completely immersed in all the ancient
practices and customs of the early Church to the exclu-
sion of anything of the nature of what is commonly
styled "vital religion." I am free to confess that I
shared this opinion, which was confirmed by a careful
survey of the part played by Deacon in the * usages '
controversy, and of his earliest works. There is, how-
ever, a decidedly more spiritual tone to be perceived in
Deacon's later works, and it is impossible to describe
Thomas Deacon as a mere formalist or ceremonialist.
His reverence for primitive tradition, his devotion to the
so-called Clementine liturgy, and his scheme for the
re-union of Christendom on the basis of the restoration
of all the usages of the primitive church, may be
regarded by many as exploded superstitions and will in
some measure be criticised by those who are disposed
to regard him with most favour. But underneath all
these eccentricities and perversities Thomas Deacon
possessed a deep sense of religion, and he is not
unworthy in this respect to be reckoned alongside with
his friend John Byrom.
1. See Appendix B, p. 190. " Chester Courant," llth November, 1746.
L
146 THOMAS DEACON
The question naturally arises as to the relative degree
of importance to be attached to Deacon's religious and
political convictions. It is evident that he had been
educated in strongly Jacobite surroundings : it is certain
also that his devotion to the Stuarts was preserved to
the end of his life. The opinion commonly held by
Deacon's adversaries as to the relation existing between
his religious and political convictions is succinctly stated
by Dr. Hibbert-Ware as follows 1 :
" Dr. Deacon in seeking to revive such institutions as
were referable to the 4th Century naturally enough
considered that his Church was by no means out of the
communion of that of Rome, and of this circumstance
he made a political boast, as he supposed that if he could
find the means of establishing it within the realm, of
which he had fanaticism enough to entertain the hope,
it would immediately remove all the obstacles which had
arisen in the Kingdom towards re-instating on the
British Throne a legitimate Popish succession of
rrionarchs in the person of the representative of the
House of Stuart."
Dr. Hibbert-Ware advances this not as his own
opinion but as a summary of the charges brought
against Deacon and the Manchester Clergy, but it is
evident that he is himself disposed to adopt it as a fair
statement of Deacon's religious and political standpoint.
In a word it comes to this : Deacon's first object was to
secure the restoration of the Stuarts ; one great objection
to the succession of that line was to be found in the fact
that the religion which they professed was Popish : and
therefore if a church could be set up which could claim
communion with Rome on equal terms the greatest
difficulty would be removed. In other words politics
was the first thing with Deacon and religion merely took
the second place.
I believe that exactly the reverse is true. Deacon's
1. "Foundations in Manchester," Vol. ii, p. 91.
DEACON'S LAST DAYS 147
conception of a pure Primitive Church dominated his
whole horizon : he had no conception of the Roman
Church as the centre of unity, reconciliation to which
was the first necessary step to the reunion of Christen-
dom, and as to his belief in the validity of the claim of
the Stuarts to the throne of England, careful examina-
tion of his "Compleat Devotions" and "Comprehensive
View" will not discover the least trace of any political
bias.
I submit then that Deacon's main aim throughout life
was the establishment of a True Catholic Church, and
that the restoration of James III. was a secondary matter.
The question will then naturally occur as to how far
Deacon's life is to be considered a failure in respect to
these primary and secondary aspirations. It is difficult
indeed to avoid the conclusion that the failure was well
nigh complete. I suppose it is true to say that no
human being ever becomes all that he might have been,
but the contrast between the attainable and what is
actually attained has seldom been more strongly marked
than in the case of Thomas Deacon. He might have
been, had not conscience compelled him to pass his time
in a little backwater of the stream of life, a famous
theologian, a distinguished physician, or a great bishop,
but, when his life drew near to a close in poverty and
helplessness, the consciousness of failure must have been
almost overwhelming. The " True British Catholic
Church" was reduced to a handful of people in London
and Manchester, and the final collapse of the Stuart
pretensions had involved the loss of his three eldest sons.
There are recurring crises in the history of nations
and movements in which men of high character and
commanding ability feel themselves compelled to
separate from the main body of their fellows and to
betake themselves to the "lonely furrow." It is a
truism to say that this separation is seldom accomplished
without serious loss to the body politic or spiritual which
148 THOMAS DEACON
is abandoned, and no less serious detriment to the section
which marks out its own little path. It is evident that
so much may be said of the non-jurors in general and
of Thomas Deacon in particular. And yet there is one
point of view from which the movement of the non-
jurors, and the life of Deacon and other leaders of the
movement, may be regarded as having achieved a certain
amount (limited and qualified it is true) of success. The
policy of Sir Robert Walpole of "packing" the Church
with prelates and dignitaries of Whig and Erastian
convictions was probably of some service to the State,
and possibly of some indirect benefit to the Church.
The type of religion which was thus created could not,
however, be of much value, and a corrective influence
was certainly needed. This correcting force was in the
first half of the i8th century supplied from without in
the influence of the non-jurors, and in the latter half of
the century in the preaching of the Wesleys and the
establishment of Methodism, but in the succeeding age
the revival of religious life within the borders of the
English Church was one of the most striking features
of the time. Canon Overton has warned us of the
danger of painting in too sombre colours the picture of
the decadence of the i8th century, but, without falling
into errors of this kind, it is impossible to deny that the
English Church in the igth century awoke from the
sleep into which she had been carefully lulled in the
preceding age. Speaking from a strictly historical
point of view, it is a simple matter of fact that the revival
of Church life has been on the lines of the teaching and
practice of the non-jurors rather than in accordance with
the ideals of, let us say, Bishop Peploe or Dr. Conyers
Middleton. If we contrast the ideals of Peploe and
Deacon and enquire as to the relative influence upon
the present age of these two men, so widely separated in
religious thought, it must be acknowledged that while
churchmanship of the type of Bishop Peploe is now
DEACON'S LAST DAYS 149
quite impossible, much for which Deacon contended is
now accepted and practised in the Church in which
Deacon always felt a warm interest, although he
resolutely refused to join in her communion.
Leaving, however, ecclesiastical matters on one side
let it be said that Thomas Deacon was a worthy citizen
of no mean city. It is perhaps fitting that what is
probably his first biography (and will almost certainly
be the last) should be written by a Manchester man.
None can now be found who will defend Deacon's
theories in their entirety; many will consider that they
rest upon a fundamentally false basis ; some will be able
to discover underneath the extravagances of his devotion
to primitive custom a substanital basis of truth. But
none will grudge the statement that Deacon possessed
qualities which were sufficient "to raise the man above
the multitude."
I may close this estimate of his life and character by
quoting from the De Providentia of Seneca a passage
which may be considered not wholly inapplicable to the
life of Thomas Deacon, the Manchester Non-juror.
" Ecce spectaculum dignum ad quod respiciat intentus
operi suo Deus, ecce par Deo dignum, vir fortis cum
fortuna mala compositus, utique si et provocavit."
CHAPTER X.
Postscript.
Deacon's Successors, Natural and Spiritual.
THOMAS DEACON and Sarah his wife appear to have had
no fewer than thirteen children. We have already
quoted the passage of Miss Byrom's journal (page 114),
in which she states that four of Deacon's children were
taken to Mrs. Coats' and four to Lady Lever's. There
are also to be reckoned the three lads who joined the
Manchester Regiment, and the deaths of two children
in infancy are recorded on the tombstone in St. Ann's
Churchyard. Thomas Deacon had a curious custom
of giving each child two names with the same initial
letter, and the latter name was always of theological or
patristic significance. It is possible to trace the names
of ten of the children ; the names of the first three are of
course familiar to readers of this memoir, Thomas
Theodorus, Robert Renatus, Charles Clement. Then
follows Sarah Sophia, born in 1731, and afterwards the
wife of William Cartwright, of whom some notice is
given below. She died on 6th October, 1801, and rests
with her husband in the churchyard of St. Giles',
Shrewsbury. Richard Redemptus and James Justus
died in infancy: Elizabeth Eusebia died in 1750 at the
age of ten : Humphrey Hierophilus Deacon of Milk
Street, London, left a will which was proved on March
loth, 1 789.* No one but Thomas Deacon would have
given a child such a combination of names, and it is
obvious at least to a Manchester man from what source
the suggestion of the name of Humphrey was received.
Humphrey 2 mentions his brothers Henry and Edward.
1. " Notes and Queries," Series VI, Vol. iii, p. 38.
2. Humphrey is also mentioned in the "Gentleman's Magazine" for
1821, p. 131.
152
THOMAS DEACON
Of Henry we know nothing, but Edward Erastus
Deacon carried his father's name and profession into the
i gth century. Unlike his father, he had the title of
M.D., and is described in Elizabeth Raffald's Man-
chester directory of 1772 as ' 'Surgeon and Man-Midwife
of St. Mary's Gate," and in later years appears to have
removed to Cannon Street. Some information on this
subject is to be found in a series of notes in "Notes and
Queries," Series 4, vol. 11, page 194, under the date of
8th March, 1873. They are described as "Leaves in a
Note Book," made in 1842 by G. P. Kerr, who appears
to have received much information from Mr. W. Sudlow
of the firm of Sudlow and Wainwright, Music dealers,
Cannon Street. " January 29th, 1842, Mr. Sudlow
informed me that a Mr. Walton married a daughter of
Dr. E. E. Deacon, who had been educated in a convent
on the Continent : he remembered that she had long
yellow hair : Mr. Walton possessed the property now
called Walton's Buildings in Cannon Street, adjoining
which was an entry called 'Deacon's entry.* " In the
directory of 1850 Walton's Buildings is certainly the
name given to No. 50 Cannon Street, 1 but I have not
been able to find any trace of 'Deacon's entry.' Mr.
Sudlow also informed Mr. Kerr that a daughter of Dr.
Deacon used to reside in Eccles. There is a probability
that descendants of Thomas Deacon may still remain in
the neighbourhood of Manchester and just a possibility
that some family records may be preserved. The dis-
covery of such records would be extremely interesting
from many points of view.
There is not very much that can be said about
Deacon's successors in the spiritual sphere, but the
subject is not without interest. Deacon's little "Ortho-
dox British Church" continued its existence for a longer
1. On further enquiry I find that this name is still preserved on
No. 50, Cannon Street, and a small adjoining entry still exists, without
DEACON'S SUCCESSORS 153
time than is generally supposed, as will be seen from
the following quotation from Aston's " Manchester
Guide" of 1804, page 136. In describing the religious
bodies of the town, a special heading is given to the
"Non-jurors, as they are generally termed, but as they
denominate themselves, The True British Catholic
Church, which once made a considerable noise in the
world but is now nearly extinct. At that time they had
a place of worship under the celebrated Dr. Deacon who
was succeeded by a Mr. Kenrick Price, a grocer, and
the late P. J. Brown, M.D., who, as well as Dr. Deacon,
had the nominal title of Bishops. In their time the
Chapel was situated in a yard near St. Mary's Gate,
and they were assisted in their ministerial labours by a
Mr. Cartwright. The present bishop is a Mr. Thomas
Garnett, who, it seems, does not exercise the episcopal
office, and the congregation, now reduced to about 30,
is under the care of Mr. C. Booth in Long Millgate,
who in his own house performs the functions of a
priest." This statement is a perfectly correct account
of the later history of Deacon's Church, but I may be
permitted to give some fuller account of the men whose
names have been briefly mentioned. Mr. Kenrick
Price's consecration has already been noted on page 141.
He was a grocer in St. Mary's Gate : his name appears
in the directory down to the year 1788. According to
the writer in "Notes and Queries," Series 4, vol. n,
page 194, Mr. Price resided near to Coup's Spirit
Vaults, and in that neighbourhood the last non-jurors
met for worship. It is certain that, in Deacon's time,
his house in Fennel Street was the non-juring place of
worship. Owen, in "Dr. Deacon Try'd," refers in his
polished style to "Thomas Deacon, priest, alias Dr.
Deacon, has a schism shop in Fennel Street in Man-
chester where he vends his spiritual packets and prac-
tises his spiritual quackery on Sundays." It appears
that when Kenrick Price succeeded to the charge, the
154
THOMAS DEACON
little Church met in St. Mary's Gate, either at Mr.
Price's house or in some building used by him in his
business.
Dr. P. J. Brown was a physician in the town. His
name appears in Raffald's directory for 1773, at which
time he lived in Marsden Square. It appears probable
that he was consecrated by Kenrick Price, but so far
from succeeding him (as stated in a note in Byrom's
11 Remains," vol. 2, page 623) it is certain that he pre-
deceased Price by many years. It has been stated that
Dr. Brown's real name was John Johnstone, and that
he was the younger son of the Marquis of Annandale,
but there is no proof to be discovered in support of this
theory. A letter from Dr. Brown to John Byrom is
preserved in the journal on page 617, vol. 2.
Returning now to Mr. Price, it is known that he
travelled to Shrewsbury in 1780 to consecrate William
Cartwright (q.v.), and that he died in Liverpool on the
1 5th September, 1790. A writer in the Gentleman's
Magazine for September, 1792, page 808, states that he
copied the following epitaph but, aggravatingly enough,
neglects to give the name of the Church. "On the north
side of this churchyard rests the body of Kenrick Price
who for more than 37 years without the least worldly
profit presided over the orthodox remnant of the Ancient
British Church in Manchester with truly primitive
Catholic piety, fervent devotion, integrity and simplicity
of manners, and every trait of character which could
adorn the life of an unbeneficed primitive bishop. He
died September i5th, 1790, in the 6gth year of his age
and the 39th of his episcopate. May he find mercy of
the Lord in that Day ! He was consecrated March 8th,
175." '
Mr. Kerr, in the volume of " Notes and Queries "
1. I have made a careful search of the Churches of S. Mary, Walton,
S.S. Peter and Nicholas, Liverpool, and of the registers belonging to
them; also of the registers of the demolished Churches of S.S. Paul and
George ; but no trace is discoverable of Bishop Price.
DEACON'S SUCCESSORS 155
previously referred to, states that on January 25th, 1842,
the Rev. Joshua Lingard of St. George's, Hulme, told
him that "Bishop Price's pastoral staff was preserved
and on January i5th 1844, he visited Scaitcliffe, near
Todmorden, the residence of John Crossley, Esq., and
there saw the head of the staff of the last non-juring
bishop. It was made of wood and gilt but the staff
itself was lost."
William Cartwright 1 (b. 1730) was a native of New-
castle. He married Sarah Sophia Deacon, and is
described as one of Dr. Deacon's presbyters in London
where he lived until 1769. He probably received
ordination from his father-in-law but no record exists.
Thomas Lathbury writes to " Notes and Queries "
(Series i, volume 2, page 175, ist March, 1856) that he
has in his possession a copy of Deacon's "Compleat
Devotions" on which is this inscription " To his
worthy and much esteemed friend, the Rev. Mr. Pry-
therick from Wm. Cartwright. E.O.B.P." The
initials of course stand for Eccles. Orthod. Brit. Presby-
ter. Mr. Cartwright had further written on the frontis-
piece, "After Mr. Prytherick's death this book was
given back to me at my request. W.C." This book
had the additional title alluded to on page 101 as being
authorised by the bishops of the Orthodox British
Church. In 1769 Cartwright removed to Shrewsbury
where he practised as an apothecary. In 1780 he was
consecrated by Bishop Price who came over from
Manchester for that purpose, and after the death of the
latter in 1790 he apparently assumed episcopal control
over the remnant in Manchester. Bishop Cartwright
1. See Bishop Forbes' " Journal," p. 35, October 14th, 1764 :
" This evening drank tea with the Rev. Mr. Cartwright at his own
house one of Dr. Deacon's clergy who had visited me several times at
our lodgings where free and open conversations passed between us
without any manner of reserve. He is married upon one of Dr. Deacon's
daughters, and appears to be a person who has it at heart to promote
the interest of religion upon true, genuine, Catholic principles, and as
one that asketh for the Old Paths."
156
THOMAS DEACON
died in communion with the English Church and
received Holy Communion in his last illness at the hands
of the Rev. W. G. Rowland, to whom we are indebted
for the statement that Cartwright was accustomed to
dress in purple cloth, and that the late Bishop Horsley
very much surprised a party of Shrewsbury people by
maintaining that William Cartwright was as much a
bishop as he himself. Mr. J. Allen writes in "Notes
and Queries," Series 2, volume u, page 208: "In the
graveyard attached to St. Giles', Shrewsbury, lie the
remains of the last (sic) Non-juring Bishop of England
under a gravestone bearing the following inscription.
Underneath lie the remains of WILLIAM CARTWRIGHT
who died i4th October, 1799, age 69. Also the Remains
of SARAH SOPHIA CARTWRIGHT Wife of the above who
died 6th October, 1801, age 70." Cartwright and his
wife had one son to whom was given the name of his
ill-fated uncle, Thomas Theodorus. He appears to have
predeceased his parents.
Mention must be made in this connection of Thomas
Podmore "the learned barber." Thomas Perceval in
his letter to the clergy of the Collegiate Church says,
"If you are unable to cope with the Doctor you certainly
are able to deal with Podmore, the barber, or what is
your learning worth." It is certain that Podmore was
an enthusiastic admirer of Thomas Deacon, and was the
author of a pamphlet entitled "The layman's apology
for returning to Primitive Christianity, showing from
the testimonies of ancient and the concessions of modern
writers that the Greek, Roman and English Churches,
as well as the pretended churches of the anti-episcopal
reformation, have each in some degree departed from the
doctrine and practice of the Catholic Church, and point-
ing out A pure episcopal church in England which
teaches ALL the ordinances of Christ and His Church in
their Evangelical Perfection. Written in the year 1745
by Thomas Podmore at that time Barber and Peruke
DEACON'S SUCCESSORS 157
maker in Manchester." The work was published at
Leeds in 1747 at the Price of 2/6 "stitched." Podmore
strongly recommends Deacon's "Devotions" and "Com-
prehensive View," and as to the pure episcopal church,
"If anyone would know where such a pure, perfect
church as I am recommending is to be found I will tell
him in one word at MANCHESTER." Podmore was
ordained to the diaconate on December n, 1748, but
never advanced beyond that degree. The official record
of this ordination, in Thomas Deacon's own handwrit-
ing, has recently come into the possession of the
Manchester Free Reference Library, and as stated in the
Preface, I am under deep obligation to Mr. C. W.
Sutton, the chief librarian, for his kindness in making it
possible to insert a reproduction of the document in this
work. It will probably be considered as of more than
ordinary interest, as being the only existing record of
Thomas Deacon's episcopal acts. The impression of
the seal is not perfectly preserved but it is possible to trace
(but not, unfortunately in the reproduction) the outline
of the pastoral staff, -and the inscription, " Feed my
lambs." It may be noted that the date given, "in the
i6th year of our Consecration" confirms the generally
accepted belief that Deacon was Consecrated in the year
1733. The names of the witnesses to Thomas Podmore's
ordination are inscribed on the back of the document and
are as follows :
Kenrick Price.
George Newton.
James Chadwick.
Geo : Langton.
Richd : Owen.
W. Pashley.
With the exception of Kenrick Price (q. v.), nothing is
known of these followers of Thomas Deacon. In later
years Podmore assisted Bishop Cartwright at Shrews-
bury, who wrote the following brief notice on his decease.
158 THOMAS DEACON
11 On Sunday last died in his 8ist year the Rev.
T. Podmore, for some years Master of Millington's
hospital in this town and many years a deacon of the
1 'Orthodox British Church" of whom in a few words it
may be gently said 'he was pious and faithful and a
peacable honest man, an Israelite indeed.' ' The
following memorial exists in the hospital :
M. S.
Rev. Thomas Podmore
Ecc. Orth. Brit. Diac.
Ob: loth April, 1785. Age 81.
May he find mercy of the Lord in that Day.
In 1842 Mr. Moore, Bookseller of Back King Street,
had in his possession a copy of Podmore's " Apology "
which contained a pedigree of the Podmore family.
Copies of the work are still occasionally offered for sale
in Manchester.
Four years before his death Cartwright consecrated
Thomas Garnett, and Garnett consecrated Charles
Booth, who was the last of the irregular bishops referred
to by Macaulay in the i4th chapter of his "History of
England. " "Another left what he had called his see
and settled in Ireland and at last in 1805 tne l ast bishop
of that Society, which had proudly claimed to be the
only true Church of England, dropped unnoticed into
the grave."
159
APPENDIX A.
A Review of Deacon's Published Works.
IT is intended to give in this Appendix a fuller account
of Deacon's works than was found convenient in the
text. Some appreciation may be given here of Deacon's
literary style. I have referred in an earlier portion of
this work to the facility of writing his mother tongue
which Deacon undoubtedly possessed. Deacon's lan-
guage is remarkably pure ; his style is both vigorous and
elegant, and altogether it is a very pleasant task to read
one or two consecutive chapters of any of his works.
The reader may perhaps have noted that Deacon was an
excellent letter writer. A brief synopsis of his letters
has been prepared as a third Appendix to this work, but
we may now proceed to consider his larger works in
some detail. I have numbered them in the order of
publication.
I. " The Doctrine of the Church of Rome concerning
Purgatory proved to be contrary to Catholic tradition
and inconsistent with the necessary duty of praying for
the dead, as practised in the Ancient Church." 'By
Thomas Deacon, Priest.' Trove all things hold fast
to that which is good,' printed for R. King at the
Queen's Head in Paternoster Row, 1718.
The copy in the possession of the Reference Library,
Manchester, bears upon its title page the name written
in bold hand of 'William Murray,' but lower down on
the same page is written in a different hand, and
probably of much earlier date, " Purchased in Edin-
burgh in the year 1745," which may be taken as
evidence of the fact that the work had some circulation
when a quarter of a century had elapsed from its publica-
i6o
THOMAS DEACON
tion. The most interesting portion of the book is the
short dedication to Dr. Brett. It is written in excellent
English, as is the case with all Deacon's writings, and
speaks "of our known zeal for Primitive Christianity
in opposition both to Popery and Calvinism," and
declares Deacon's purpose "to strip the Papal Sect of
the glorious title of Catholic, which without any right
she assumes to herself." It may be noted that both this
work and Campbell's "Middle State" seem to have
had in view not so much propagation of doctrine con-
cerning an intermediate state as a defence of the
non-jurors against the charge of Popery. They are
both largely rilled with arguments intended to prove
that the Roman Church has departed from the ancient
tradition. Deacon's preface, which is long in propor-
tion to the work, may be quoted as exemplifying his
standpoint as to tradition. " Protestants have argued
against tradition although at the same time they argued
against their Bible which does itself receive tradition.
A tradition which is general and uninterrupted, delivered
or practised by all Christians, and contradicted by none,
must be followed. By such tradition we prove the
lawfulness of Infant baptism, the observance of the
Lord's Day, and the Divine right of episcopacy the
Divine authority of the Scriptures cannot be proved
otherwise than by tradition." At the end of the preface
Deacon states very clearly what he conceived to be the
peculiar characteristics of the Church of Rome which
made communion with that Church unlawful. " The
Pope's universal supremacy ; transubstantiation, and
the adoration of the Host; Communion in one kind;
taking the Apocrypha into the canon of scripture; the
invocation of saints and angels ; purgatory fire between
death and resurrection ; the worship of images and the
material cross." Finally Deacon takes the very extra-
ordinary standpoint that communion with the Roman
Church is impossible because she does not regard the
APPENDIX A 161
mixture in the chalice as essential, but merely enjoins
it and practises it as a primitive custom. Deacon's
statement of his own ecclesiastical position may well be
quoted. "A particular Catholic Church is a rightful
bishop with his clergy and the laity united to them,
professing the true Christian faith without the addition
of false doctrine, and practising the necessary Christian
worship without corruption."
As to the subject matter of the book it is thought
hardly necessary to give space for quotations, but it
may be pointed out that it follows on very similar lines
to Archibald Campbell's "Doctrine of the Middle or
Intermediate State of Departed Souls," published first
in 1713 and again in 1721. This work contains on the
title page the so-called Vincentian Canon " Quod
ubique, quod semper, quod ab omnibus." The preface
deals largely with charges of Popery and the work is on
a much larger scale than Deacon's " Purgatory."
Quotations are given from Scripture and the Fathers on
a scale which is almost fearful to contemplate. I refer
principally to the work that I may quote (and with this
I conclude this notice) a declaration from the preface,
which will serve to show exactly what Campbell and
Deacon held as to the condition of the departed.
"That there is an intermediate or middle state for
departed souls to abide in between death and the
resurrection, far different from what they are after-
wards to be in when Our Blessed Lord Jesus Christ
shall appear at His Second Coming.
That there is no immediate judgment after death.
That to pray and offer for and to commemorate our
deceased brethren is not only lawful and useful but
also our bounden duty.
That the intermediate state between death and the
resurrection is a state of purification in its lower as
well as of fixed joy and enjoyment in its higher
mansions.
M
162
THOMAS DEACON
And that the full perfection of purity and holiness
is not to be attained in any mansion of Hades,
higher or lower, as that any soul of mere man can be
admitted to enter into the Beatific Vision in the
Highest Heavens, before the Resurrection, the Trial
by fire which it must then go through.'*
II. The New Communion Office of 1718. This has
been so fully described in the text that little more need
be added here. The Rev. P. Hall in his "Fragmenta
Liturgica" states that two editions were published, both
in London, one 12 and the other 8. The smaller
edition appears to have been specially printed for the
bishops of the Scottish Church.
III. " Private Devotions before, at, and after the
Christian Sacrifice," published by J. Smith, Cornhill,
in 1720, and intended as a companion to the Communion
Office. This little manual is commonly attributed to
Deacon and presents an aspect of his character which
is not too prominently brought before us in his writings.
Deacon was a great controversialist and a hard fighter,
but he surely must have had what may be described as
a pastoral side to his character, and we obtain a glimpse
of this in his little manual of devotions. It is "recom-
mended to the orthodox laity" and is divided into two
parts, one containing devotions to be used privately at
home, the other being concerned with prayers at the
public service. In both of them copious adaptations
are made of Scriptures and the Eastern Liturgies, but
it may be noted by the curious in these matters that
Deacon borrows one prayer, and one only, from the
Latin rite, the well known prayer said at the mixture of
the chalice. "Deus qui humanae substantiae dignitatem
mirabiliter, etc." l
1. " God, Who didst wonderfully create and yet more wonderfully
renew the dignity of man's nature, grant that by the mystery of this
water and wine we may become partakers of His Divine Nature, Who
vouchsafed to become partaker of our manhood. Jesus Christ Thy son,
Our Lord."
APPENDIX A 163
IV. " History of the Arians and the Council of
Nice, etc., written in French by Mr. Sebastian Le Nain
de Tillemont," and translated into English by Thomas
Deacon. London, 1721.
Deacon had a special reverence for Tillemont, who
was a scholar and theologian after his own heart.
Tillemont was one of the Port Royal Jansenists and
studied under Nicole, who is usually reckoned as second
to Pascal himself in point of eminence. There was
indeed much similarity between the Jansenist and the
Non-juring movements, for although the Doctrine of
Grace was originally the distinguishing mark of the
Jansenists, it may be contended that the real aim of the
movement was reform of the Catholic Church by means
of a return to primitive tradition and practice. A
parallel to some of the restorations of ancient usages by
the English Non-jurors is to be found in the revival of
public penance by the Jansenists. No better summary
can be found of Tillemont's historical methods than the
description given by Du Pin in his " Nouvelle
Bibliotheque des Auteurs Ecclesiastiques, " quoted by
Deacon in his preface, of which I append a few
passages.
" Sebastian Le Nain de Tillemont was born at
Paris 3Oth November, 1637. He received virtue,
religion, and piety with his milk : he was ordained
priest in 1676 he began when he was but twenty
years old to read Ecclesiastical History and continued
to the time of his death (1697) to study that part of
learning with incredible diligence and without any
interruption : in order to execute this design he
applied himself closely to the reading both of
ecclesiastical and prophane authors as well ancient as
modern, and from their works he collected everything
that concerned those persons or facts which could
come into ecclesiastical history or have any relation
164 THOMAS DEACON
thereto. There is nothing of his own in the body of
the work except some short observations which are
put between two crotchets. These works of M.
Tillemont are the product of a prodigious labour and
almost infinite industry and are compiled with all
possible exactness."
It would be wholly unsuitable to attempt any account
of Tillemont's history in the present work. It may be
said that it is perhaps the most perfect example of
thorough-going historical research, which was such a
signal characteristic of all those who, on either side of
the Channel, were bringing forth to light the doctrines
and practices of the early Christian Ages.
The preface which Deacon writes to his translation
may perhaps be considered worthy of a brief quotation.
" When I reflect upon the open and daring attacks
which have of late years been made upon the doctrine
of the Trinity and consider at the same time how much
the number of the enemies to Our Lord's Con-substan-
tiality and Co-eternity is increased and how nearly all
Christians are concerned to maintain the Catholic Faith,
I cannot but think it a proper time to give an account
in English of the old opposers of Our Blessed Saviour's
Divinity, the several methods they took to promote their
heresy, and how the primitive Church and the Arian
party managed in this dispute. Mr. Tillemont has
exhausted the historical part of this matter and by read-
ing his history of Arianism we shall find that modern
hereticks tread exactly in the steps of their predecessors
and translate both their arguments and their practice.
Mr. Tillemont, the author, has a particular manner of
writing history, for he does not give us an history of
his own, extracted from other authors, but he collects
together all that has been said upon the subject, both
from ancient authors and the best modern ones, ranges
the passages in a proper order and if he adds anything
APPENDIX A 165
of his own, he puts it between hooks, so that while we
are reading him, we are really reading the several
authors cited in the margin."
A few of the names of subscribers to Deacon's
translation are given below. The whole list is most
interesting : it contains the names of many clergy in
various parts of the country including the Dean and
several Prebendaries of York, and many of Deacon's
friends and colleagues among the non-jurors.
The Rev. Mr. John Blackburn, M.A.; Thomas
Bowdler, Esq.; Rev. Thomas Brett, LL.D. (7 copies);
Hon. Archibald Campbell, Esq. ; The Rev Jer. Collier,
M.A. (6 copies); Rev. Mr. J. Griffin; Rev. Mr. S.
Jebb; Mr. Roger Laurence, M.A.; Richard Rawlinson,
LL.D., F.R.S.; George Smith, Esq.
It may be noted that the non-jurors did not publicly
use the title of "Rev." except and unless the title was
generally recognised. This meant in practice that only
those who had received ordination while in communion
with the English Church were so styled. Thus, Collier
and Brett, although Bishops, are merely styled Rev. ;
Campbell, as receiving his orders from the Scottish
Episcopal Church, which at this time was proscribed by
the State, and Laurence, although a non-juring priest,
received no clerical title whatever.
It will be noted that at this early period there are to
be found none of the names of Deacon's Manchester
friends who supported him so warmly on later occasions.
We do, however, notice the name of the Rev. John
Copley, M.A., at that time Rector of Thornhill, York-
shire, and Fellow of the Collegiate Church, Manchester.
It is doubtful whether the book had much success, at
least from a financial standpoint. In a letter written to
Byrom, ten years later, when the translation of Tille-
mont's "History of the first Six Centuries" (see page
169) was being prepared, Deacon says: 1 "The reason
1. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. ii, pp. 96 and 99.
166 THOMAS DEACON
he did not set his name was because he had found by
former experience that it did him a mischief, some
people being too cowardly and mean to encourage a
thing with his name to it."
V. " Remarks on the Rev. S. Downe's Historical
Account of the Several Reviews of the Liturgy of the
Church of England." This was published in 1722 as
an Appendix to Griffin's " Common Christian In-
structed." It is largely occupied with answers to
criticisms of the new office, and has been briefly referred
to in the text. Two additional points may be noticed.
(a) Dealing with the statement that the Usagers in
reality objected to the first Prayer Book of Edward VI.,
as much as to the established liturgy, Deacon remarks
that, " they certainly would have been content with
Edward VI. 's liturgy, but after the schism had been
made they felt at liberty to make further alterations."
(b) Deacon concludes with some strongly hostile
remarks concerning the influence of Calvin, Bucer, and
Peter Martyr on the subsequent revisions of the Prayer
Book.
VI. Translation of a portion of Tillemont's "Eccles-
iastical Memoirs of the first Six Centuries," published
in 1733, and a second volume two years later.
No small portion of the interest which is attached to
this work is to be found in the correspondence which
took place between Deacon and Byrom prior to its
publication. Deacon is seen at his very best in this
connection, and I append copies of a few of the letters
which passed between the two friends.
Dr. Deacon to John Byrom, February 2ist, i/^J.
"Dear Grand Master: You have been too busy to
read a letter and I to write one; you are employed
APPENDIX A 167
among the great folks of whom you will have your
bellyful before you have done; however you are
doing a great deal of good in your generation, by
which you are become the darling of Manchester;
and you must expect upon your return to meet with
nothing but crowns and laurels, ovations and
triumphs. While you have been thus employed for
the public I have been narrowly confined in thinking
of my own private gain ; and at last my orthodox
brain has hammered out the project which our brother
Clayton will lay before you, concerning which I have
two things to beg of you, first, that you would correct
and then that you would promote it, might and main,
whenever you have an opportunity. The success of
it will be of mighty consequence to me, and that
makes me so earnest in desiring you will not omit
asking one single soul that you have the least prospect
of. I know your sincerity and you have lately given
sufficient proof of your diligence, and therefore I shall
not use many words; but only that I have Tillemont
as much at heart as the Presbyterians have the work-
house. 1 May you defeat the one and advance the
other. If you know Dr. Hooper's address, send it
me and I will write to him : and do you send him
some proposals. I have no Cambridge friend but
yourself, so that all the assistance which that Univer-
sity will afford me must be by you. Your family is
well. Our women desire to be remembered to you.
My head and hands are full as well as yours.
Adieu." 2
Byrom took the matter up with his accustomed energy
and on the i3th April writes in his Journal : "At five
o'clock went to Mr. Rivington's and he ordered 50
1. The dispute about this building is the matter which Deacon refers
to at the commencement of the letter. The erection of a new workhouse
was the subject of a violent controversy between the High Church party
and the Presbyterians.
2. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 471.
168
THOMAS DEACON
proposals of Dr. Deacon's to be sent to Abingdon's." l
Eight days later Deacon writes again of the progress
of his work.
"Dear Grand Master:
I wish you joy of your victory. 2 I told you you
must think of nothing but ovations and triumphs.
I wish my Tillemont had conquered as bravely. I
hope you have got proposals enow by this time.
I beg you will send a parcel to our brethren Lloyd
and Houghton at Cambridge, for I have no acquaint-
ance there but a slender one with Mr. Wrigley to
whom I have written. If you should go thither
before you see this country I doubt not but you will
work for me. I wrote to Dr. Hooper in London. I
am glad I got a specimen to please you at last, but
it was a difficult matter, for I am afraid Tillemont is
too pious and too much a Christian for your acquaint-
ance. I find you are become a master of Dukes and
I know not who : go on and prosper. I am too busy
to write a regular letter or a long one. Clayton does
bravely for me at Oxford, and I hope I shall be
enabled to usher Tillemont into the world which, I
declare it, I would do for the sake of the public,
without any view to myself, if my situation was above
all views. But I must endeavour to serve myself as
well as the world, and I wish I may serve both.
Good-bye to you and remember that I am your
dutiful Warden, etc. Mrs. Warden desires to be
remembered to you." 3
On April 26th Byrom records that "he carried 18
proposals of Dr. Deacon's to Dr. Williams in Bury
Street, who promised to carry them to Cambridge the
next day," and on the 27th we have a further letter from
1. Byrom's "Remains," Vol. i, p. 490.
2. See p. 167. Note.
3. Byrom's " Remains," Vol. i, p. 496.
APPENDIX A 169
Deacon which I cannot refrain from inserting here on
account of its intrinsic merits and interesting references.
Dr. Deacon to John Byrom, April 27th, 1731.
"Dear Grand Master: I received yours this morn-
ing and write again so soon to answer all your
difficulties. I did not imagine but you would meet
with such objections from your people and therefore
always thought the chief service you could do me
would be at Cambridge and in this country. I cannot
tell yet what success I shall have till my returns come
in to my proposals, which are but just dispensed.
And yet, by what I can hitherto guess, I am in hopes
that I shall be able to publish, for I am resolved to
finish the first volume though I get nothing for it,
that the world may see the work. But as to such
questions as are asked you, you may when you do not
think proper to say more, answer that the translator
is your friend and to your certain knowledge goes on
his own bottom, without having anything to do with
booksellers : but, when and where you think proper,
tell them the translator is a non-juring parson who
mortifies himself with the practice of physic (pour
accomplir sa penance), and condescends to a half-
crown subscription rather than prostitute his consci-
ence : that the reason why he did not set his name was
because he had found by former experience that it did
him mischief, some people being too cowardly and
mean to encourage a thing with his name to it. You
were certainly right to speak to Whiston and every-
body, let them do what they will. You may tell
Whiston it is done by one who has the restoration of
Primitive Christianity at heart as much as himself,
and is a friend to the Constitutions, though he cannot
go all his lengths, being not quite so hasty in his
judgments, but agrees with him in his wishes, founda-
tions, and designs. I intend to go to the press as
170
THOMAS DEACON
soon as ever I am assured of subscriptions enow to
bear me harmless, but not before. I am glad you like
the work. I hope other people will do the same when
they see it. Excuse the trouble I give you and I
thank you for me. Adieu."
The work was published in 1733 in London "for the
benefit of the translator and sold by J. Wilford at the
three Flower-de-luces, behind St. Paul's Chapter house,
and W. Clayton, Bookseller in Manchester." It
contains a literal translation of Volume I. of Tillemont's
" Ecclesiastical Memoirs," which comprehends the time
of our Lord and the Apostles. There are no remarks
of Deacon's except those contained in the brief preface,
which, with the list of subscribers to the work, may be
considered of importance to a biographer of Deacon.
Two objections are briefly answered in the preface.
First, that Tillemont was a Roman Catholic. To this
Deacon replies that Tillemont is simply an honest and
learned collector of facts, and that any remarks of his
own are put between crotchets. "So that the reader is
safer with Mr. Tillemont than with any other author
of any communion, for it is his own fault if he be
deceived." Secondly, that Tillemont's works are
voluminous to an extraordinary degree. To this
Deacon answers "Had they been less voluminous they
had been less valuable." I must not close this short
review without transcribing a passage which shows what
Deacon's plans were as to the completion of his enter-
prise. "I had never set about so laborious an under-
taking if persons of far superior judgment to my own,
had not concurred with me in opinion that it would be of
greatest service to the Church, the Clergy, and common
Christianity. And as it is now a considerable number
of years since I first began upon it, the public may be
assured that if it meets with encouragement the press
shall never stop till the whole is finished."
APPENDIX A 171
There is reason to think that the necessary encour-
agement was not forthcoming. A second volume was
issued in 1735, but no further progress appears to have
been made. Nevertheless the list of subscribers con-
tains a large number of names, due doubtless, in no
small measure, to the energy and perseverance of John
Byrom in collecting proposals for his friend. One
naturally turns in the first place to names of prominent
non-jurors, who may be represented in the list, and it
is apparent at once that the number of these is very
small. It has been pointed out in the text that by 1733
the non-juring body was rapidly shrinking in point of
numbers, and it is not to be forgotten that Deacon was
now almost alone in his ecclesiastical position and pur-
pose. I can find only the following names of those who
may be styled non-jurors in the strict sense of the word.
Thomas Rowdier, Esq.; Hon. Archibald Campbell,
Esq.; Samuel Jebb, M.D., of Stratford in Essex;
Richard Rawlinson, LL.D., F.R.S.; Roger Laurence,
M.A.; George Smith, Esq., of Burnhall, in the
Bishopric of Durham; and the Rev. Mr. Thomas
Wagstaffe. Deacon's Manchester friends appear in
great force. Among the clergy we find Revs. Adam
Bankes, Henry Brooke, Robert Assheton, Fellows of
the Collegiate Church; Revs. Richard Assheton and
Thomas Cattell, Chaplains; John Clayton, Curate
of Salford; and N. Banne, Rector of St. Ann's.
Among the laity are to be found the names of Sir
Ralph Assheton of Middleton (last of that line); the
Hon. Lady Bland of Hulme; Robert Booth of Salford,
and John Byrom, A.M., F.R.S.; Mr. John Dickenson ;
John Egerton, Esq., of Tatton Park; Philip Egerton,
Esq., of Oulton; Darcy Lever, Esq., of Alkrington ;
and many others. Other interesting entries in the list
are: Brasenose College Library in Oxford; the Man-
chester Library; and "Mrs. Cecilia Collier" ; this last
unusual Christian name at once attracts attention, and
172 THOMAS DEACON
points to the fact that Deacon's mother had married a
second time. I have briefly alluded to this in the text
on page 15.
VII. "A Compleat Collection of Devotions both
public and private, taken from the Apostolic Constitu-
tions, the ancient liturgies, and the Common Prayer
Book of the Church of England. In two parts
I. : Comprehending the Public Offices of the Church,
humbly offered to the consideration of the present
Churches of Christendom, Greek, Roman, English, and
all others. Part II. : Being a primitive method of daily
private prayer, containing devotions for the Morning
and Evening and for the antient hours of prayer, nine,
twelve, and three : together with hymns and thanks-
givings for the Lord's Day and Sabbath, and prayers
for Fasting Days : as also devotions for the Altar and
Graces before and after meat : all taken from the
Apostolic Constitutions and the ancient liturgies and
recommended to the practice of all private Christians
of every Communion : to which is added an appendix
in justification of this undertaking : consisting of
extracts and observations taken from the writings of
very eminent and learned divines of different com-
munions. And to all this is subjoined in a Supplement
'An Essay to procure Catholic Communion upon
Catholic principles,' London, printed for the author and
sold by the booksellers of London and Westminster,
1734, price bound in calf six shillings." The mere
reading of the title of this work is sufficient to show the
comprehensive scale on which it was conceived. It is
obvious that to attempt a review of the work would
demand much more space than can be given here. I
shall content myself by pointing out one or two notable
features. In the first place the following letter, dated
loth September, 1733, may be inserted.
APPENDIX A 173
The Rev. John Clayton to the Rev. John Wesley.
" Dr. Deacon tells me that he had no view in fixing
the psalms for common days : but after reading your
letter is convinced of the expediency of serving any
of those three ends you mention. The feasts and the
fasts were the days he principally regarded, but he
would take it as a favour from you if you would com-
municate to me any improvements you may possibly
make in it : he desires in the meantime that you would
let us know your thoughts upon the matter, because
his order for reading the psalter is likely soon to see
the light, with a collection of primitive devotions
which even now is in the press." 1
The conception of John Wesley as aiding Thomas
Deacon by suggestions as to the arrangement of the
psalter in his forthcoming work is a new and interesting
one, and it is a matter of regret that so little is known
of any relations which may have existed between Deacon
and the Wesleys.
Deacon lays down in his preface two principles upon
which his work is founded. They may be stated briefly
thus:-
I. The best method for all Christians to follow is to
lay aside all modern hypotheses, customs, and private
opinions, and submit to all the doctrines, practices,
worship, and discipline not of any particular but of the
ancient and universal Church of Christ from the begin-
ning to the end of the fourth century.
II. That the Clementine liturgy in the Apostolic
Constitutions is the most ancient and pure Christian
liturgy extant : that the Constitutions contain the
doctrines, laws, and settlements which the three first
and purest ages of the Gospel did with one consent
1. Tyerman's "Oxford Methodists," p. 35.
174
THOMAS DEACON
believe, obey, and receive : and that therefore the said
book ought to be received, submitted to, and allowed
its due authority.
All the devotions contained in the book were taken
from the Constitutions with the exception of such parts
of the Common Prayer Book of the Church of England
as were necessary to complete the design. No practice
or ceremony was omitted that appeared to be supported
by antiquity, universality, and consent. On these
grounds Deacon recommends his "Devotions" to every
pious Christian as the Oldest and therefore the Best
Collection of Devotions extant in the whole Christian
world.
The public offices of the Church which are provided
in the Book are very many in number. In addition to
the Order for Morning and Evening Prayer, there are
Prayers for " Catechumens, Energumens, and Peni-
tents," with special forms for admitting to each of these
conditions : offices for Baptism, Confirmation, Matri-
mony, Ordination, etc. The attempt at a revival of
primitive discipline in the case of "Energumens" or
persons possessed by evil spirits will certainly provoke
a smile, and it was probably this portion of Deacon's
public offices which caused Owen to describe him as
"caster out of devils in Manchester."
Deacon makes very considerable use of the English
Prayer Book in his order for Morning and Evening
Prayer, and in the occasional offices, but the Holy
Liturgy is purely and simply the Clementine Liturgy,
shortened in some places, but as a rule literally trans-
lated, with the exception of the insertion of the Pater
Nosier, which, as is well known, does not appear in the
Clementine Liturgy. Deacon certainly had the gift,
which is not by any means common, of translating
ancient forms of prayer into devotional and melodious
English.
The differences between the two liturgies of 1734 and
APPENDIX A 175
1718, although considerable, were not fundamental. In
the older form after the Ter Sanctus there followed the
short recital of instances of Divine Providence taken
from the liturgy of St. James. Following this again
came the Words of Institution, with the Oblation and
Invocation from the Clementine Liturgy, and the Prayer
for the Church in the words of I. Edward VI. It was
here that the divergence between the two forms was most
marked. What may be called the Consecration Prayer
in the later form is taken bodily from the Clementine
Liturgy. It includes the very long recital of Providen-
tial Acts in the midst of which the Ter Sanctus is placed ;
the consecration proper with the oblation and invocation
and the prayer for the whole Church following,
together with the ancient '* Holy Things For Holy
Persons."
It is an extraordinary incident in religious history that
this liturgy, which was probably never used in any
Church and which certainly contains some unscriptural
allusions, 1 should have been brought to life and made
the expression of the devotion of a handful of people in
London and Manchester. Campbell used it in London,
and the use was certainly continued for some years after
his death. In Manchester the liturgy continued for a
considerable number of years as I have related in
Chapter X.
The late Bishop Dowden of Edinburgh in his
'.' Annotated Scottish Communion Office" refers to one
small phrase contained in that office which is directly
taken from the Clementine Liturgy.
The rubric at the Offertory reads "Then the Presbyter,
or Deacon says 'Let us present our offerings to the Lord
1. e.g., In the preface to the Recital of the life of Our Lord, "The
high priest (was pleased) to be himself a sacrifice, the Shepherd a
sheep, to appease thee his God and Father and to reconcile thee to the
world." And at the close of the Invocation, "Thou being reconciled
unto them Lord Almighty." It is only necessary to contrast this
language with that of St. Paul, "to reconcile all things to himself."
176
THOMAS DEACON
with reverence and Godly fear.' " This is a literal
translation, and according to Bishop Dowden was taken
directly from Deacon's Liturgy of 1734. The option
given to the deacon to say the sentence is also an
instance of Oriental practice. The point is perhaps not
without interest as showing the sole remains, so far as
public use goes, of the attempt of Deacon to revive the
so-called liturgy of St. Clement.
The second part containing Private Devotions has a
separate preface in which Deacon advises his readers
"to follow the excellent counsel of Mr. Law, in his
'Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Lite, p. 244.' The
passage contains a suggestion that each Christian should
reserve for himself a particular place for his private
devotions. * Your own apartment would raise in your
mind such sentiments as you have when you stand near
an altar, and you would be afraid of thinking or doing
anything that was foolish near that place which is a
place of prayer, and holy intercourse with God.' This
reference to Law deserves notice in view of the assist-
ance freely rendered by Law to Deacon in his last days,
see page 141.
No one can read the Private Devotions without being
profoundly impressed with the depth and reality of
Deacon's religion. He comes largely before us in these
pages as a controversialist who knew how to lay about
him, but there was another and a more worthy side to
his character which is clearly and unmistakably found
in his Private Devotions.
There is an appendix in justification of the under-
taking, consisting of writings of various divines. I
must find space for a brief notice of one of these. It is
the Rev. John Wesley's *' Essay upon the Stationary
Fasts," from which Deacon quotes freely. Mr. Wesley
assigns to the Primitive Church a plenitude of authority
in quite as clear and unconditional language as Deacon
himself was accustomed to use. "The celebrated rule
APPENDIX A 177
of St. Austin has never yet been controverted. 'That
which is held by the universal Church and was not
instituted by councils but always was, is delivered down
from the Apostles.' "
Deacon also inserts some observations of his own
concerning the Apostolic Constitutions, in which he
endeavours to defend them against the charge of
Arianism. Finally he prints an essay, which he says
he discovered accidentally among his papers, entitled,
" An Essay to procure Catholic Communion upon
Catholic Principles." This essay has been attributed to
Dr. Brett ; the style certainly bears a strong resemblance
to that of Brett's "Collection of Liturgies."
It may be interesting to record the inscription written
by Deacon on the first page of the copy of this work,
which is preserved at Chetham College.
Liber
Bibliothecae Pub. Mancuniensis
Ab
Humfrido Chetham Armig :
Fundatae
Ex dono Authoris.
VIII. "A pamphlet in three parts containing: (i)
the form of admitting a convert, (2) a litany for such as
mourn, etc., (3) prayers on the death of a member of
the Church."
This was published in 1746, but strange to say no
printed copy appears to exist in Manchester. A full
MS. copy in Deacon's own writing is included in the
MSS. referred to on page 26. The year of its publication
was that in which the two years' confinement of Charles
Clement Deacon in Southwark New Gaol began.
Whether the cover of the book on which his name is
written contained exactly what it now does, is of course
a matter of doubt, but it may be that Deacon wrote this
N
I 7 3
THOMAS DEACON
copy for the use of his son. In the form of admitting
a convert the Bishop or Priest who officiates declares
his purpose "to admit the persons here present into the
communion of our Church as into that of a pure and
sound part of Christ's Holy Catholic Church" : and the
question put to the candidate is "Dost thou desire to
be admitted into this branch of the Catholic Church
militant here in England, which hath reformed all the
errors, corruptions, and defects that have been intruded
into the modern Churches of Christendom, whether
Rome, England, or others." Confirmation and ordina-
tion in the English Church, as received through "a real
but unorthodox bishop," are acknowledged, but are to
be completed by anointing with the Holy Chrism. In
the case of a cleric the question was to be put "and since
thou hast received the order of deacon or priest in that
unsound and defective Church to which thou didst
belong, art thou desirous to have the said order allowed
in our Church, etc."
It is not improbable that, when Deacon composed
this form, he had in mind the possibility that some of
his friends of the Manchester Clergy might "come over"
to his little community. Great as his influence over the
clergy undoubtedly was, there is no evidence to show
that it was sufficient to stretch so far as to cause any
defection on the part of any of the clergy from the
Church to which their allegiance was due.
" The litany for the use of those who mourn for the
iniquities of the present times, and tremble at the pros-
pect of impending judgment, etc.," need not detain us
long. There is one characteristic sentence, " that we
may be delivered from all scandalous compliances," and
another, "that the hearts of the national clergy may be
touched with a true sense of their erroneous doctrines
and practices, and that none of them may prefer their
private fancies before the consentient tradition of the
Church in the purest and early times."
APPENDIX A 179
It may be worth noting that a reprint of this litany
\vas made at Shrewsbury in 1797 by Bishop William
Cartwright, Thomas Deacon's son-in-law.
" The prayers on the death, etc.," present no feature
which has not already received notice in these pages.
IX. "A full, true, comprehensive View of Christ-
ianity, containing a short historical account of Religion
from the Creation of the World to the 4th century after
Our Lord Jesus Christ : also the Complete duty of a
Christian in relation to Faith, Practice, Worship, and
Rituals, set forth sincerely without regard to any
Modern Church, Sect, or Party, as it is taught in the
Holy Scriptures, was delivered by the Apostles, and
received by the Universal Church of Christ during the
four first centuries : the whole succinctly and fully laid
down in two Catechisms, a shorter and a longer, each
divided into two parts, whereof the one comprehends
sacred history and the other Christian doctrine. The
shorter catechism being suited to the meanest capacity
and calculated for the use of children : and the longer
for that of the more knowing Christian, to which is
prefixed a discourse upon the design of the catechisms
and upon the best method of instructing youth in
them." 1747.
The book was sold by S. Newton in Manchester:
various booksellers in London : also at York and
Rochdale.
The mere reading of the title will probably cause
feelings not far removed from amusement, and the
labour necessary to the production of the work must
have been stupendous. The "View" is truly "Com-
prehensive." No list exists of the subscribers to the
volume, but there is strong reason to believe that
Deacon's Manchester friends supported him to a very
considerable extent. The quotation which I give from
"Manchester Politics" is not, I suppose, very wide of
the mark.
i8o
THOMAS DEACON
" Mr. True Blew : * Has not Dr. Deacon published
an excellent Form of Devotions, and a new Catechism :
and does anybody but the people of Lancashire
approve of them ? And would it be safe for our
beneficed clergy to write in defence of these books?
No, sir, as the lion sends out his jackal, so are our
clergy by the Doctor's book trying how the game
lies : if they should have a good effect we should have
the advantage : if not you know we need not own that
we know ought of the matter.'
Mr. Whig-Love : 'But did the clergy of the
Church of England buy these books? I thought
they had been intended for the use of his own con-
gregation.'
Mr. T. : * His own congregation were about twenty
before the late hurry and now perhaps not above sixty
that publicly attend him. Sir, I assure you they were
intended for the use of several of our Church. Why,
sir, the clergy themselves solicited subscriptions for
him. The first impression, which I heard was 700,
was sold off in a few weeks, and the second, which was
said to be still larger, is almost all disposed of.' '
It is certainly the case that a second edition was pub-
lished in 1748. A copy of each edition is to be found
in the Manchester Reference Library. It is unnecessary
to make any detailed account of the work beyond saying
that it may be described as the " Compleat Devotions"
turned into the form of question and answer, with a
complete explanation of all that was taught and prac-
tised in the " Orthodox British Catholic Church."
Deacon applies the word "Sacrament" to no less than
twelve offices, including five small ceremonies in connec-
tion with Holy Baptism. 1 This appears strange to
1. Deacon's twelve Sacraments are as follows : The two greater
Sacraments of the Gospel, five lesser Sacraments in connection with
Baptism, such as Exorcism, etc., also the Sign of the Cross, Imposition
of Hands, Unction, Holy Orders and Matrimony."
APPENDIX A 181
those accustomed to the later English restriction of the
term to the two Sacraments of the Gospel, but it is to
be remembered that the word had a much looser signi-
ficance in the early ages. It was in the first four
centuries that Deacon really lived, and his definition of
a Sacrament would not appear strange to an average
Christian of the third or fourth century.
It may be worth noting that Bishop Dowden states
on page 331 of his "Annotated Scottish Communion
Office" that Deacon's Catechism was used by Bishop
Jolly in Aberdeen down to the year 1829, so that there
may be persons now living whose immediate ancestors
were taught the Christian religion according to what
has been described as " Dr. Deacon's learned but
somewhat arid catechism."
I append a passage from the section entitled " The
best method of teaching the catechism to children." It
presents Deacon in a very natural and not unfavourable
light. " The best catechists would be the fathers of
families if everyone were well instructed and careful to
teach his children and domestics. They would do much
more good than Priests and Pastors can. We explain
the catechism to children only at Church, upon certain
days, and go through it in a short space of time :
numbers of children are there together and their minds
are usually distracted by the company and the several
objects which strike them on all sides. From hence
comes the trouble that there is to make them attentive,
as well as interruptions and reprimands which take up
half of the time appointed for the catechism. When
you are turned to one side the other go out of their
places : if you apply yourself to one child ten others will
play: you have always to begin over again. On the
contrary, in the house children are always more recol-
lected, because they are more free. If they have not
that fear about them which renders them sometimes
immovable at Church, yet their thoughts are more undis-
182
THOMAS DEACON
turbed. A father that has but three or four to teach,
who have been accustomed to respect him, has no
trouble to keep them to their duty : he has them every
day with him : he may make use of that time when they
are of the most teachable disposition : he knows their
capacity, genius, and inclinations. He can instruct
them at his leisure and spend all the time upon them
which is necessary. And indeed this must be a work
of time : for as children cannot apply themselves much
at once, the instruction must be often repeated and
continued for several years, advancing as their minds
and manners form themselves. What I say of fathers,
must be understood of mothers proportionately, especi-
ally with regard to daughters : and I say nothing here
but what I have seen and known by experience."
X. " An Apologetical Epistle to the Author of
Remarks on two pamphlets lately published against
Dr. Middleton's Introductory Discourse in which the
Preface to those Remarks is considered : by the Author
of a Full, True, and Comprehensive View of Christianity,
etc. : London, printed for J. & J. Rivington, in St.
Paul's Churchyard, and S. Newton, Bookseller in
Manchester, 1748, price 6d."
The title of this pamphlet sufficiently explains the
reasons of its publication. Dr. Conyers Middleton
(1683 1750) of Trinity College, Cambridge, is famous
for his disputes with Dr. Bentley, and was engaged for
the whole of his life in controversies of a more or less
acrimonious description. He was strongly opposed to
Roman theology and published in 1729 a letter from
Rome condemnatory not merely of ceremonies properly
styled Roman, but of all which might claim the sanction
of primitive antiquity. Dr. Middleton was an Old
Testament critic of what was then regarded as a very
advanced type, and it is probable that his personal
position was far removed from orthodoxy. That he was
APPENDIX A 183
at the opposite pole of religious thought from Deacon
is evident from the quotation which I subjoin from the
preface to his Remarks in which he refers to Deacon's
Comprehensive View. "The author of these catechisms
appears to be a man of sense and learning : warmly
persuaded of the truth and importance of what he
delivers, and delivering it with much piety and gravity,
and with more candour than we commonly observe in
writers of his zeal and principles. The plan also of
Christianity which he has proposed to us seems to be a
fair and just representation of the discipline of the
primitive churuch, or of such a part at least as he thinks
fit to recommend to the practice of the present age.
And if we grant him his main principle that unwritten
tradition, as it is exemplified by the universal practice
of the ancient Fathers and Churches, is of Apostolic
origin, we must grant likewise that all the rites and
doctrines which he has deduced from it are the essential
parts of the Christian religion and of equal obligation
with the Gospel itself. I could never consider these
plans of Primitive Christianity, when published by
Protestants, in any other light than as preliminary
articles offered to the Church of Rome as the ground
for a treaty of peace and reconciliation in which the few
remaining points of difference might easily be accom-
modated. I am a perfect stranger to the author of this
piece, nor have any other knowledge of his character
than what has been signified to me by his writings and
the report of common fame. The warm expressions of
piety and devotion which run through his whole per-
formance oblige me to think him an honest man.
Fame also has informed me that he lives up to the
character which his book points out to us : practises
what he professes and is an example of that discipline
which he prescribes to others."
Deacon's reply deals almost entirely with the charge
of being Popishly affected, and is of interest as showing
184
THOMAS DEACON
his attitude to the Roman Church in his latter days.
He points out that Popery " has a very vague and
undefined meaning and that Dr. Middleton ought to
have given a precise definition of what it really is,
abstracted from popular ignorance and prejudice. For
want of this we are quite at a loss, because some things
which you call Popery are in reality pure Christianity,
and others that are universally taught and practised by
Protestants are rank Popery." Deacon then proceeds
to quote from the 3Oth Canon of the Church of England
concerning the " Sign of the Cross," from which he
concludes that the idea of Popery conceived in this
Canon is the same with his, but "you on the contrary
seem to place it in agreeing with the Church of Rome
in any doctrine, practice, or ceremony whatever, whether
true or false, material or indifferent, Primitive or really
Popish. You are pleased to say that I have gone as
far towards Popery as I could possibly do, while I yet
retain the name of Protestant. I assure you, sir, if I
had not better arguments to hinder me, your way of
talking would drive me into the Church of Rome ; and
I wish that you are not the unhappy instrument of
sending many persons thither; as to the name
" Protestant" I never claimed it, and own that I have
no juster title to it than to that of "Papist." No, I
disclaim them both. Christian is my name and Catholic
my surname. Excuse me for using the noble saying
of one of the old despised fathers."
Finally I may be permitted to quote one more passage
as illustrative of Deacon's attitude to the English
Church.
" I assure you that I am sincerely well affected to
her, as far as she agrees with her own declarations,
cited in the beginning of this epistle, but I cannot
help wishing her perfectly reformed according to her
own rule from all Popish and Calvinistic errors and
APPENDIX A 185
defects : and if this is being disaffected to her present
constitution, I freely confess I am so."
It may be claimed that a complete account has now
been given of all the works which are beyond question
to be attributed to the pen of Thomas Deacon, but in
the MS. Catalogue of the Library of the Rev. John
Clayton there are to be found under the name of Thomas
Deacon the titles of the following works concerning
which no knowledge now remains.
" Dr. Waterland imitated in his controversial man-
agement of Mr. Johnson. " 1738
" Translation of Bishop Beveridge's ' Concio ad
Clerum.' "
" Family Prayer." Manchester, 1738.
" Devotions for Catholic Christians." Liverpool,
1747-
All the above works appeared to have been printed,
but mention is made of a MS. which would be extremely
interesting to read. In 1733 Edward Byrom, elder
brother of John Byrom, published a "Serious Dissuasive
from Horse Races;" this pamphlet is entered in the
catalogue of the Manchester Reference Library under
the name of John Byrom, but in John Clayton's MS.
catalogue the name is clearly that of Edward, and it
may be attributed without much doubt to the elder
brother. A pamphlet followed, entitled, "Remarks on
Mr. Byrom's Dissuasive;" this is usually attributed to
the Reverend Thomas Cattell, and is in the form of a
mild rebuke of the extreme puritan attitude adopted by
Edward Byrom. Thomas Deacon appears to have made
a comment on Cattell's pamphlet, and it is entered under
his name in John Clayton's catalogue as " Remarks
upon the Remarker," etc.
187
APPENDIX B.
Quotations from the " Byrom Owen " Controversy
of 1746-48.
The purpose of this Appendix is to record passages
originally written in connection with the controversy of
1746-8, and containing a considerable amount of infor-
mation concerning parts of Deacon's life about which
little is known from any other source.
i. From Whitworth's Manchester Magazine, of Sep-
tember 23rd, 1746.
Manchester, September 22nd. Last Thursday about
five in the morning the heads of Thomas Siddall and
Thomas Deacon were fixed upon the Exchange. Great
numbers have been to view them and yesterday betwixt
eight and nine in the morning, Dr. Deacon, a non-juring
priest and father to one of them, made a full stop near
the Exchange and looking up at the heads pulled off his
hat and made a bow to them with great reverence. He
afterwards stood some time looking at them : a gentle-
man of this town was with him and a considerable
number of spectators were present. He and some of his
flock have been seen to do so before several times.
2. From the Chester Courant, 28th October, 1746.
Manchester, October 2ist. The gth inst. being the
day appointed for a Public Thanksgiving was observed
here with all the marks of loyalty and joy suitable to so
188
THOMAS DEACON
glorious and happy an occasion. There is among us a
poor woman, Mrs. Siddall, late wife to one of the
unhappy persons whose heads have been fixed up here
and at present a distressed widow, deprived of her
family's chief support and burthened with five young
children, who being too much swallowed up in her own
private calamity to enter into the public rejoicing or
show any marks of joy upon an event, which tho' happy
to the whole, is melancholy and fatal enough, God
knows, to her, neglected to light her candles : upon
which a party of soldiers along with some townsmen
assaulted her house in the most violent and outrageous
manner, not only breaking the windows and demolish-
ing the shutters and the very frames of the sashes, but
even threatening to lay it level with the ground : so that
she was forced to fly with her children to a neighbour's
house and to leave her own to their mercy. The scandal
too of this illegal, injurious, and inhuman action was
aggravated by its being done within six yards of the
principal guard, the sentinel walking at the very door
without any offer to prevent it, and not forty from the
house where the officers and civil magistrates were
celebrating the day. I shall conclude with a piece of
wit handed about here, severe indeed, but just enough,
I must own, upon this occasion.
By the bare letter of the text, a laic
Might think the times were very Pharisaic :
Long prayers to Heaven are in the morning poured,
At night behold, the Widow's house devoured !
Yours, PHILELEUTHERUS MANCUNIENSIS.
It is scarcely necessary to remark that the above
composition, prose and verse alike, is universally
attributed to John Byrom.
APPENDIX B 189
3. From the Whitehall Evening Post, nth October,
1746.
Extract of a letter from Manchester, dated October
6th, from a person whose credit may be depended upon.
"At present this town is but a rough place. Down
with the rump : Down with the Hanoverians, Pres-
byterians : Down with the King, is so familiar to us
that we expect it as soon as daylight is over, though
some have been so impudent as to shout it in open
day. But we have had some of Eland's dragoons
here, near a fortnight, and now our people begin to be
a little quieter. Jacobite, Non-juring, and even
Popish Principles are now making a greater progress
here than ever, being propagated with equal industry
and success. The two rebel heads are revered and
almost adored as trophies of martyrdom. The father
of one of them (who is a non-juring bishop) as he
passes them frequently pulls off his hat and looks at
them above a minute with a solemn, consequential
smile. Some suppose he offers up a prayer for them,
others to them. His church daily increases and he is
in the highest credit and intimacy with most of our
clergy. "
Remarks on the above published in the Chester Courant,
nth November, 1746.
Manchester, October 27th. A stranger, when he is
told that "Popish principles are propagated with equal
industry and success and are now making a greater
progress here than ever," must naturally suppose that
we have a great many papists among us, and that the
number is much increased of late. Now God be
thanked, to the confusion of this slanderer, it is our
peculiar happiness to have fewer in proportion of that
denomination than any large populous town in the
Kingdom. But I fancy he will have recourse to the
ipo
THOMAS DEACON
old canting evasion of Papists in disguise, Papists in
their hearts, Popishly affected, etc., by which terms a
certain set of people mean all those who are strenuous
asserters of the doctrine and discipline of the Church of
England, as well against fanatical latitude and neglig-
ence as popish tyranny and superstition. He is pleased
in the next place to descend to a particular charge
against Dr. D n, of this place, whom he styles a
non-juring bishop. As to pulling off the hats, not
being quite so great a bigot as to refuse to speak to a
non-juring bishop, I asked the Dr. how far it was true ?
And he assured me that he had never passed by his son's
head but once, and then indeed he did pull off his hat.
Not caring to be so free as to ask him the reason, I shall
suppose with the faithful relator that it was either to
offer up a prayer to him, or for him ; the first is too
absurd to deserve an answer, and the latter if true is a
practice, which tho' disputed among the divines of the
Church of England, yet humanity can hardly tell how
to censure. The increase of his Church truly is a matter
of more concern, but here I cannot help smiling at the
word Church, brought in, not I daresay out of any
respect to the word, but to insinuate as if it was some
great and numerous assembly, dangerous to the body
politic, whereas upon the strictest examination I cannot
find above a score and those too of no great figure or
substance who are partakers with him in his religious
singularity. What connection is there between politics
and the Dr.'s restoring primitive ecclesiastical usages?
What has his Mixt Cup, Infant Communion, Trine
Immersion, etc., to do with King George and the
Pretender ? The last stroke of his malice is at the clergy
here for their respect forsooth to the Dr. The Dr., I
own, is respected by most of the clergy, and to please
this writer, I will add, by most of the laity too. What
then ? I could name to him in turn several rigid
dissenters in the highest credit and intimacy with some
APPENDIX B 191
of our clergy ; and if it be wrong (which indeed is a new
doctrine to me) for the clergy to respect and converse
with people of different opinions in religion, I think the
character of a clergyman of the Church of England in
much less danger from his acquaintance with a non-
juring bishop than with a Calvinistical Dissenter. 1
4. From the Manchester Magazine, 25th November,
1746.
Manchester, 2Oth November. The Jacobite pensioners
in the poetical way having acted their part and their wit
being near exhausted, their champions in prose, their
masters of reasoning and argument, are now ordered
forth from their club on duty, to keep up the spirits of
their friends and support the character of one of their
leaders, a practitioner in Physic, and a Priest (not of
the Church of England) who is endeavouring to
strengthen his Master the P.'s interest, and party, as
much as ever he formerly weakened it by his physical
pill. That this advocate of the party might have an
opportunity to show his skill he has reprinted an extract
of a letter in the Evening Post with remarks. I beg the
next time he meets with Dr. D n he will put the
question to him again, and I daresay he will find that
the Dr. will own he has paid his devotions to the heads
often : and let not his modesty prevent one request more,
that he may be satisfied whether any internal reverence
was designed to them or not. Praying for the dead and
bowing to the relicts of rebels, though he says it is a
disputed doctrine of the Church of England divines, he
will find very few that allow of it, except they are some
of Dr. D n's Manchester acquaintance. How great
a friend the Remarker himself may be to such doctrine
1. It is generally thought that Byrom was the author of these
Remarks, but I am disposed to think that they are to be attributed to
some other member of the Jacobite party, possibly to Thyer, the
Librarian. In the next extract it will be seen that Owen hint's at the
appearance on the scene of a new writer.
192
THOMAS DEACON
is very easily seen in his winking at and encouraging
the increase of the Dr.'s Church, a church among whose
articles are purgatory and praying for the dead, and
which is contrary to the Church of England in doctrine,
discipline, and usages : for he would make us imagine
that there is no harm in the toleration of it by putting
an evasive question, "What has the Mixt Cup, Trine
Immersion, Infant Communion, etc., to do with King
George and the Pretender?" Why nothing, as we all
know as well as he ; but that is not the case, for his new
converts are not so much in love with his cup, his
communion, or immersion, as with his rancour and
disaffection to the present Government, and none can
become members of the one that are not enemies to the
other. "The last stroke of malice,*' says this meek and
benevolent Remarker, "is at the clergy." But what
would anyone think of a clergyman who assisted in the
composing of his liturgy, and of another who acted in
a military capacity and headed a party in defence of his
house, which was darkened in contempt of the rejoicings
on the evening of the Thanksgiving Day, and the sense
of the town. 1
5. From the Chester Courant, Tuesday, Qth December,
1746.
This is written under Thomas Deacon's own name.
I find myself obliged out of a sincere regard to truth
and for my necessary vindication to send you the follow-
ing declaration. " Whereas an anonymous writer in
Whitworth's Manchester Magazine of November 25th
has thought fit to make free with my name and taken
upon him to assert that I adopt the political principles
of indefeasible and hereditary right, etc., into my
religion and make these an essential part of it, and that
none can become members of the Church to which I
1. It is scarcely necessary to say that this anonymous writer is to be
identified with Josiah Owen.
APPENDIX B 193
belong that are not enemies to the present Government,
I do hereby declare that the same is utterly false; that
I adopt no political principles into my religion, but what
are expressed in our Common Prayer Book entitled
*A Complete Collection of Devotions * which is entirely
free from all objections of this nature ; that the form of
admitting a member into our Church has not one word
in it relating to State matters ; and that I have told the
new converts mentioned by this author that I hoped they
did not apply to me upon the account of national affairs
and government prayers, for that we went upon a quite
different scheme.
6. From the Supplement to the Gentleman's Magazine
for 1746.
Dated December iQth, 1746, and signed " Philo-
patriae" (who was undoubtedly Owen) : a reply to the
Remarks on the letter in the Whitehall Evening Post.
"To say that the enemies of Protestantism and the
present Government are Popishly affected, you insinuate
to be no more than a canting evasion. But who are the
certain set of people you mention that make use of the
canting evasion above. Name your certain set if you
dare and then let the world determine. It seems accord-
ing to your estimate of things that the character of a
clergyman of the Church of England is much less
dangerous from his acquaintance with a non-juring
bishop than with a Calvinistical dissenter. I under-
stand you sir ; better be a Papist than a Presbyterian-
better be an intimate of Dr. D n, a non-juring priest,
who absolved Justice Hall and Parson Paul at the
gallows after the Rebellion in '15: who declared
publicly to them at Tyburn that the fact for which they
dy'd was meritorious; who in consequence thereof had
warrants issued out against him from the Secretary of
State's office, and thereupon was sent and supported by
194
THOMAS DEACON
the contributions of the party to study physic in Holland,
since which he returned to England and has lived un-
molested at M ster; better be an intimate of Dr.
D n's who had three sons in the late Rebellion, and
declared to a gentleman of distinction that he should
have thought himself obliged to join in it, only that he
had a dispensation to excuse him ; and who while the
rebels were in Manchester had the very distinguishing
honour paid him of being escorted by a file of musketeers
to the Pretender's lodgings; better be an intimate of
this man's than of a Calvinistical dissenter that is a
friend to King George, Liberty, and the Constitution.*'
7. From the Chester Courant, 2ist April, 1747.
This is probably from the pen of John Byrom, and is
a reply to the foregoing letter in the Gentleman's
Magazine.
"I must, in compliance with a challenge which this
hero in a desperate pother gives me, tell him who I mean
by the certain set I mentioned. I mean by this certain
set, that tribe of sectaries who have for more than a
century past shown the utmost enmity and hatred to the
Church of England, exemplified this hatred once by a
total subversion of episcopal government, and again
with an interested servile compliance with a Popish
Prince in his Popish designs merely to raise themselves
to some degree of power which had been wisely denied
them before. I shall agree with my nettled opponent,
to calm him a little, that this Certain Set are intention-
ally at least enemies to Popery and arbitrary power too,
except when they can grasp it themselves. He must
needs make use of a personal invective against Dr.
D n, every article of which, except his having three
sons in the Rebellion, which I doubt not was the mis-
fortune of many an honest brother dissenter, is false,
as the Dr. himself will at a proper time make appear.
APPENDIX B 195
Nay, so stupidly malicious is this false accuser, that
several of his accusations, viz., his absolving, etc., are
of that nature that thousands now living can of their
own knowledge declare the contrary.
8. From the Chester Courant, 26th April, 1748.
Written under the name of Thomas Deacon at Man-
chester on 1 8th April. The letter begins by referring
to the attack made upon him by Owen in the Supplement
to the Gentleman's Magazine for 1746, and to the state-
ment made in the Chester Courant, that the "Dr. will
at a proper time make appear" the falsity of the accusa-
tions against him. It proceeds to say that Owen of
Rochdale has acknowledged in his pamphlet, "Jacobite
and Non-juring Principles," etc., that he was the author
of the above mentioned letter in the Gentleman's
Magazine. Deacon's vindication may now be quoted
at some length.
"I do therefore think this the proper time to perform
my friend's promise and to make the falsity of the above
personal invective appear : which I consider will be best
done by answering it, article by article."
1. "Who absolved Justice Hall and Parson Paul at
the gallows after the Rebellion in the year '15." A
clear and peremptory denial of a charge unsupported by
proof must always be deemed a proper and sufficient
answer : but in this case I can not only positively affirm
that I did not officiate with those unfortunate gentlemen
in their dying moments : but also inform the public that
the clergyman who did was the Rev. Mr. Francis Peck,
M.A., formerly of Trinity College, in Cambridge. Nay
I can venture further to assert that neither he nor any
other person did then and there absolve them.
2. "Who declared publicly at Tyburn that the fact
for which they dy'd was meritorious." This I affirm
to be as false as the foregoing article : I declared no
196
THOMAS DEACON
such thing to them at Tyburn, either publicly or
privately.
3. " Who in consequence thereof had warrants issued
out against him from the Secretary of State's office."
This conclusion must necessarily be as false as the facts
upon which it is founded,, and this is the first time that
I ever heard of any warrant from the Secretary of State's
office being issued out against me in my whole life. It
is impossible for me to prove a negative in this case ;
but I challenge the writer to produce his authority for
the truth of this assertion.
4. "And thereupon was sent and supported by the
contributions of the party to study physic in Holland."
Every part of this branch of the accusation is false. In
the first place, I could not possibly go abroad, for
reasons which I have already shown never subsisted :
and in the next place, I do solemnly declare that I was
neither sent abroad by any party nor supported there by
any contributions. On the contrary, to the confusion
of this slanderer, I stayed in London and appeared
publicly there every day for above three months after the
execution of the Rev. Mr. Paul and John Hall, Esq. :
and when I went into Holland it was not at all upon the
account of my behaviour with regard to them, which I
never yet heard the Government was displeased with,
but upon a quite different occasion. When I resided
there, I lived upon my own fortune : and so far was I
from studying physic that I had not at the time the
least intention of engaging in that profession ; but
entered upon it and prosecuted it afterwards in London
under the particular direction and with the kind assist-
ance of my best of friends, the very worthy and learned
Dr. Mead.
5. "Since which he returned to England and has lived
unmolested at M ster." If the having my house
searched for papers by military violence under cover of
a warrant signed by two Justices of the Peace, who it
APPENDIX B 197
is very well known have no authority to issue warrants
in such cases; if its being attacked more than once by
a furious mob and unrestrained soldiery; if the living
for some time under constant apprehension of its being
pulled down to the ground and the being compelled to
remove my children out of their beds to prevent their
being buried under its ruins; I say if this be "living
unmolested," then this writer has for once spoken truth ;
but if being used in this arbitrary and tyrannical manner
could not but be attended by some "molestation," then
he is guilty of falsehood in this as in all the preceding
articles.
6. "Who had three sons in the late Rebellion." As
this concerns not me directly, I shall say nothing to it,
but leave it to the judgment of every candid reader.
7. "And declared to a gentleman of distinction that
he should have thought himself obliged to join in it only
that he had a dispensation to excuse him." This is a
charge of such a kind that I can only answer it by
sincerely affirming that I neither had any such "dispen-
sation" nor made any such "declaration," and therefore
I must look upon it if not as a forgery of this writer's
yet at least as a misapprehension of his friend the
"gentleman of distinction," and I shall leave the world
to judge whether, if I had taken such a dangerous step
as to obtain a dispensation of this nature, it is at all
probable that I should have enhanced the danger by
revealing it to a person who was likely to "distinguish"
himself by publishing it to my disadvantage. But it is
time to come to the concluding articles.
8. "And who while the rebels were at Manchester had
the very distinguishing honour paid him of being
escorted to the Pretender's lodgings by a file of
musketeers." Had this very distinguishing honour, as
he terms it, been paid to me, I fancy I should only have
enjoyed it in common with several persons of unques-
tioned attachment to the present Government, but to
THOMAS DEACON
make this narrative regular and uniform, this too is
false, for I was not escorted by any musketeer or
musketeers whatever.
I thought that I was obliged no longer to delay the
doing this justice to myself; especially as I found that
the silence, which for prudential reasons, I had hitherto
observed on this head, had been by some represented
as an acknowledgment of the truth of what I had been
accused of. And I shall leave the world to judge what
credit for the future will be due to a writer who could
either be so base and shameless to assert things which
he knew to be false, or (to suppose the best) so mon-
strously weak and credulous, as confidently to relate for
undoubted facts what the least enquiry would have
shown him to have been entirely groundless."
9. From Owen's "Dr. Deacon Try'd by his own
Tribunal."
The person you say who officiated with Paul and
Hall in their dying moments was the Rev. Mr. Francis
Peck. To convict you without further ceremony, let
us hear what Mr. Lorrain says, then Ordinary of
Newgate. He expressly declares that your two unfor-
tunate gentlemen desired a non-juring priest to pray
with them at Tyburn, which was granted. He prayed
with them a considerable time and then made off.
Afterwards, he says, I offered to pray with them, but
they were not very desirous I should, neither would
they kneel at my prayers as they did at the non-juring
minister's; upon which I told them that since they
were unwilling to kneel down with me I would stay till
they were tied up, which I did, and then prayed. Now
sir, by your second rule, that of credible evidence, you
stand here self condemned and convicted; convicted of
downright forgery or falsehood in saying that it was
Mr. Francis Peck (whereas from Mr. Lorrain's account
APPENDIX B 199
it was he himself) that officiated with them in their dying
moments. When they were removed out of the sledge
at Tyburn and give me leave seriously to ask were not
you in the sledge with them I call upon you I
challenge you to answer this. They desired they might
have a priest of their own stamp to attend them.
Accordingly, says the aforesaid Mr. Lorrain, "Such a
minister whoever he was, or wherever he came from, I
know not, stepped into the cart and prayed by them a
considerable time and then made off." That one
educated a few years before both at Westminster School
and at Cambridge should be such a son of obscurity
that amongst thousands of spectators Mr. Lorrain could
learn from nobody who he was, or whence he came from,
murders all credibility. How much more exactly doth
this account quadrate with the character of Thomas
Deacon, Priest. Accordingly let me ask you did not
you travel in the sledge with Hall and Paul through
Holbourn ? Were not you as you went along saluted
with the hisses and insults of the crowd, and did you
not meet with a very different reception from your good
friend, brother, and fellow-labourer, Dr. Sacheverell, as
you passed by him in Holbourn ? Did he not greet you
with a very reverend bow and most respectful salutation ?
This account I have received. Your own bare word is
the only evidence that we have at present that Dr. Mead
was your tutor in physical science. Some persons have
a peculiar talent of being extremely intimate with their
superiors whom they never saw, of being their very
good friends, although they never knew them. The
truth is if I am rightly instructed, somebody interceded
in your favour with Dr. Mead, represented you as a
person that entertained some odd chimerical notions
that would obstruct your advancement in the other
liberal professions, and therefore inclined to devote
yourself to physic. Dr. Mead's great humanity was
easily prevailed on to procure you admission for a short
200
THOMAS DEACON
time to one of the hospitals to attend the practice there
and afterwards to give you some slight recommendation,
which I am told was the case in fact. The recommen-
datory letter was to Manchester. Either in 1719 or
1720 it is certain you practised physic in Manchester.
The 1 8th of May last I spent an evening at Daventry
in Northamptonshire with an Officer of the King's
Army who had frequently visited one of your sons taken
prisoner at Carlisle, and who afterwards dy'd at Kendal.
In the course of conversation the officer declared that
your son had often told him and many others who had
visited him in his illness that it was absolutely against
his inclination that he went into the Rebellion, but that
he had just reason to be apprehensive that you, You
Sir, his father would have turned him out of doors if
he had refused ; that he would never have engaged in it
upon any other consideration.
201
APPENDIX C.
A Brief Synopsis of Letters Written by Deacon and
Quoted in this Work.
It may be noted that all the letters are written from
Manchester.
1. To John Byrom in London, 6th December, 1726.
See page 71.
2. To John Byrom in London, 2ist December, 1726.
See page 72.
Both these letters are concerned with the dispute
between Bishop Peploe and the Chapter of the Colle-
giate Church of Manchester with regard to the appoint-
ment of the Rev. Richard Assheton as Chaplain.
3. To John Byrom in London, 24th June, 1727. See
page 84.
In this letter Deacon announces his intention of
removing from Manchester to take up the practice of
the late Dr. Cole at Stepney.
4. To John Byrom in London, February 2ist, 17^. See
page i 66.
5. To John Byrom in London, April 2ist, 1731. See
page i 68.
6. To John Byrom in London, April 27th, 1731. See
page 169.
I have said elsewhere that Deacon is seen at his very
best in these three letters, and the standard attained is
certainly high. All the letters are concerned with the
projected publication of the Translation of Tillemont's
"History of the first six centuries.'*
202
THOMAS DEACON
7. To John Byrom in London, 24th May, 1737. See
page 67.
This is concerned with the publication of Byrom 's
system of Shorthand. The humour associated with
Byrom's title of 'Grand Master' is well sustained.
8. A letter to Dr. Deacon's Presbyters in London, 2Oth
July, 1744. See page 101.
This was written on the occasion of Deacon assuming
the oversight of the 'Orthodox Church' in London,
formerly under the care of Archibald Campbell.
9. A letter to Mr. Pierce on his desertion from Dr.
Deacon's communion, April 27th, 1750. See
page 139.
This is interesting as the last known writing of
Deacon and as indicating that the uncompromising
attitude to the 'Revolution' Church of England adopted
in the speeches of Hall and Paul in 1716 was maintained
by Deacon to the end.
Index
205
INDEX.
Abjuration Oath, 12n.
Apostolic Constitutions, 37.
Deacon's estimate of, 38.
Griffin's estimate of, 37.
- Dr. Hook's estimate of, 38.
account of, in New Catholic Encyclopedia, 39.
re-introduction to Western Christendom, 39.
Arian doctrine contained in, 39.
and Lay Baptism, 39.
Assheton, Rev. Richard, Chaplain of Collegiate Church, Manchester, 70,
171.
dispute concerning the appointment of, 71, 72, 73.
Assheton, Rev. Robt., Fellow of Collegiate Church, 63, 70, 171.
Assheton, Sir Ralph, of Middleton, 171.
Assheton, Rev. Wm., B.D., Rector of Prestwich, 87.
Bedford, Hilkiah, Non-juring Bishop, 89, 92.
Bell, Rev. Wm., of Linton, nr. Edinburgh, 101, 137.
presents Deacon MSS. to Chetham Library, 101.
Beswick, John, Lieutenant in Manchester Regiment, 109, 110, 118.
Blackburne, John, Non-juring Bishop, 32, 89, 91, 94.
Bland, Sir John, M.P. for County of Lancaster, 72.
Bolton, Rev. Roger, Fellow of Collegiate Church, 63, 70.
Bowdler, Thos., of the Admiralty, 42, 171.
Bowdler family, 42.
Bowdler's edition of Shakespeare, 42.
Brett, Thos., LL.D., Non-juring Bishop, 11, 26, 31, 33, 44, 47.
received into* the Non-juring Communion, 12.
further change of opinions, 12, 92, 93.
letters to Thomas Deacon concerning re- union of Non- jurors, 90.
signs declaration of re-union, 95.
Brett, Thos., the younger, Non-juring Bishop, 89, 95.
British Magazine, 95.
Byrom, Edward, 185.
the younger, 85, 129.
206
INDEX
Byrom, Elizabeth, 105.
and Charles Edward, 108.
her interesting journal, 105-114.
Byrom family, 57.
Byrom, John, 57.
birth, 57.
education, 57.
travels on the Continent, 58.
political convictions, 58.
visits the Pretender, 58.
and the Roman Church, 59.
"Christians Awake," 59.
marriage, 59.
system of Shorthand, 59, 65, 66.
friendship with Deacon, 59.
and Deacon's consecration, 98.
and the "'45," 105-11.
efforts on behalf of C. C. Deacon, 121, 124.
Latin verses to Lord Harrington, 123.
" Epistle to a Friend," 126.
attack on Owen of Rochdale, 127.
described by Owen as " Master Tool," 127.
" Sir L. Bred Owen," 132.
Last effort on behalf of Deacon, 141.
Byrom's "Private Journal and Literary Remains," discovery and pub-
lication of, 59, 60.
Campbell, Archibald, Non-juring Bishop, 7, 8, 14, 31, 39w, 89.
referred to in Lockhart papers, 9.
consecrates Deacon as Bishop, 97.
" Middle State," 161.
Cartwright, Wm., Non-juring Bishop, 151, 153, 155.
marries Thos. Deacon's daughter, 155.
Cattell, Rev. Thos., Fellow of Collegiate Church, 63, 68, 71, 129, 185.
extraordinary discovery said to have been made in his papers, 129.
Chadwick, Thos., Lieutenant in Manchester Regiment, 109n, 118.
Chester Courant, The, organ of the Tory Party, 98, 126, 127, 187, 189,
192, 194, 195.
Chetham Hospital of Manchester, 54.
Library, 25, 43, 74.
gatherings at, 74.
Clarke, Rev. John, one of Deacon's presbyters, 49, 139.
INDEX 207
Clayton, Rev. John, 68, 74, 75, 77, 79.
his intimate association with Deacon, 75, 76.
with the Wesleys, 75, 173,
welcomes the Pretender, 106.
presented to the Pretender, 108.
last service to Deacon, 141.
- MS. catalogue of his library, xvii, 96, 185.
Clowes, Joseph, 66,68, 85, 106.
Collier, Mrs. Cecilia, 15, 171. See also Deacon, Cecilia.
Collier, Jeremy, 14. 31, 34, 44, 89, 94.
consecrated Bishop, 7.
is outlawed, 10.
ordains Deacon, 17.
authorizes Non-jurors Prayer Book, 47.
" Short View of the Immorality and Profaneness of the English
Stage," 11.
Copley, Rev. John, Fellow of Collegiate Church, 70, 72, 165.
bitter hostility to Samuel Peploe, 70.
Cross, Sign of the, restored in Confirmation, 46.
Dawes, Sir Wm., Archbishop of York, 54.
Dawson, "Jemmy," 109.
execution, 118.
described in Shenstone's poem, 118, 119.
Deacon, Mrs. Cecilia, 13, 14.
second marriage, 15.
Deacon, Charles Clement, 26, 109, 120.
efforts made for reprieve of, 121-124.
- transported for life, 123.
Deacon, Edward Erastus, M.D., 152.
Deacon, J., " Non- juror," 16n.
Deacon, Robt. Renatus, 78, 79, 109.
- death of, 115.
Deacon, Mrs. Sarah, 61, 78, 85.
- death of, 79.
Deacon, Thomas, birth, 13.
Baptism, 14.
education, 16.
ordination, 17.
connection with the " '15," 19.
composes Hall and Paul's speeches, 19.
travels to Holland, 21.
enters upon study of Medicine, 21.
INDEX
Deacon, Thomas, takes part in "Usages" controversy, 29-35
"Letter" to Bishop Spinckes, 34.
removal to Manchester, 49, 61.
marriage, 61.
house in Manchester, 62, 114.
friendship with Manchester Clergy, 63.
with John Byrom, 62.
- and the English Church, 64, 93, 140, 178, 184, 202.
connection with John Byrom's shorthand system, 65, 66, 67, 168.
and the dispute with Bishop Peploe, 71.
and the Chetham Library, 74.
- his children, 78, 151.
- and the Wesleys, 75, 76, 173, 176.
medical career, 81.
position as unlicensed practitioner, 81.
and inoculation, 82.
takes practice at Stepney, 85.
returns to Manchester, 85.
subsequent success in medical practice, 86.
refuses to join Dr. Brett in scheme for re-union with "our old
friends," 93.
is consecrated Bishop, 97.
his congregation in Manchester, 99, 100.
in London, 101.
episcopal letter to congregation in London, 101.
is presented to the Pretender, 108.
connection with the " '45," 111, 113.
compelled to leave Manchester, 113.
letter to, on the death of his son, 120.
vindications of himself, 126, 132, 192, 195
letter to Mr. Pierce on his desertion, 139.
death and burial, 141.
epitaph, 142.
estimate of his character, 143-149.
portrait at Chetham Hospital, 143 and frontispiece.
published works :
"Doctrine of Purgatory," 29, 159.
" Translation of Tillemont's ' History of the Arians,' " 35, 163.
" New Communion Office," 41, 162.
" Private Devotions," 162.
"Remarks on Rev. S. Downes' 'Historical Account,' &c.," 166.
" Translation of Tillemont's ' First Six Centuries,' " 166, 171.
INDEX 209
Deacon, Thomas, published works :
" Compleat Devotions," 100, 172-177.
" authorized copy of, 100.
"Form of Admitting a Convert," &c., 26, 177.
" Comprehensive View," 179.
" Apologetical Epistle," 131, 182.
Unknown works, 185.
Deacon's brother, 85, 120.
Deacon, Thos. Theodorus, 61, 78, 79, 109.
- joins " Manchester Regiment," 106.
- dying speech, 116.
- last letter to his father, 119.
execution, 121.
head exposed on Manchester exchange, 124.
Deacon, Capt. William, 13, 14, 15.
Deacon MSS. in Chetham Library, 25, 90, 94.
Dog and Partridge Inn, Manchester, 62n.
Doughty, Henry, Non-juring Bishop, 89.
Barbery, Matthias, 35.
dialogue between Timothy and Thomas, 35.
Eastern liturgies, 37, 45, 47.
Edward VI, first liturgy of. See Liturgies.
" Epistle to A Friend," by John Byrom, 126.
Epitaph of Thos. Deacon, at S. Ann's, Manchester, 143.
- of Kenrick Price, 154.
- of Wm. Cartwright, 156.
- of Thos. Podmore, 158.
Eucharistic doctrine held by Non-jurors, 44n.
Evelyn's diary, compared with John Byrom's, 60.
Fletcher, George, Captain in Manchester Regiment, 106, 109, 118.
Forbes, Bishop Robert, 96, 137rc, 155n.
Fowden, William, Constable of Manchester, 107.
compelled to read proclamation of James III, 107.
Friend, Sir John, execution of, 10.
Gadderar, James, Non-juring Bishop, 7, 9, 14, 31.
Gandy, Henry, Non-juring Bishop, 17, 31, 32, 73, 89, 95.
Gastrell, Francis, Bishop of Chester, 54.
refuses to confirm appointment of Samuel Peploe, 69.
Gordon, Robt., Non-juring Bishop, 42, 137, 140
his worship in London, 96.
210
INDEX
Greenhill, William, Founder of Stepney " Meeting," 22n.
Griffin, John, Non-juring Bishop, 37, 89, 92.
publishes " The Common Christian Instructed," 37.
Hall, John, of Otterbourne, 18.
dying speech, 20.
Hall, Rev. P., of Bath, xvi, 40.
" Fragmenta Liturgica," 41, 49.
Harbin, George, 73.
Harrington, Lord, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, 122, 123.
Hartley, Dr. David, and Byrom's shorthand, 67, 68.
Hawes, Samuel, Non-juring Bishop, 7, 11, 31, 32, 89.
Hearne, Thomas, 5, 70.
Heyrick, Bichd., Warden of Manchester, 53.
Hibbert-Ware, Dr., explanation of Jaccibite revival in Manchester, 56.
estimate of Deacon's character, 146.
Hickes, George, Non-juring Bishop, 3.
- proceeds to France to obtain royal consent from Jamea II, 3, 4
consecrated Bishop, 4.
publishes his " Thesaurus," 6.
consecrates three non-juring bishops, 7.
last will and testament, 14.
connection with the Deacons, 16.
and first liturgy of King Edward VI, 28.
- death, 29.
Hooper, George, Bishop of Bath and Wells, 6.
Hook, Dr., and the Apostolic Constitutions, 38.
Instrument of Union between non- jurors, 95.
denounced by Roger Laurence, 95.
Jacobite forces, arrival in Manchester, 105.
departure from Manchester, 108.
return on retreat to Carlisle, 113.
Jacobites, trial of, at Southwark, 1746, 115n.
James II and non-juring consecrations, 3, 4.
James III proclaimed in Manchester, 107.
praised by Wm. Law, 58.
Jansenists and Non-jurors, similarity between, 163.
Jebb, Samuel, 26, 82, 83.
Johnson, Dr., and non- jurors, vii, 7, 8, 11, 35.
account of Archibald Campbell, 8.
INDEX 211
Jurin, Dr. James, 82.
Ken, Thos., Bishop of Bath and Wells, viii, 1, 2, 4, 12n.
desires the healing of the non-juring schism, 7.
Kerslake, Tho., of Bristol, 25, 26, 27n.
presents Deacon MSS. to Chetham Library, 25.
Lambeth degrees, dispute concerning, 69.
Laurence, Roger, Non-juring Bishop, 17, 39, 47, 97.
denounces "instrument of union," 95.
is consecrated Bishop, 97.
- death, 98.
Law, William, viii, 15.
praises the Old Pretender, 58.
relieves Deacon in last necessity, 141.
- " Serious Call," 176.
Leslie, Rev. Charles, 35, 46.
and " Usages Controversy," 36.
Lever, Sir Darcy, LL.D., 68, 87.
- Lady Dorothy, 87, 88.
- befriends Deacon in the troubles of the '45, 113, 114.
Lindsay, Rev. John, of Trinity Chapel, Aldersgate St., 30.
Linfield, Rev. James, one of Deacon's Presbyters, 49, 137.
Liturgies.
- First liturgy of King Edward VI, 27.
compared with the present liturgy, 27, 28.
and the Usages, 29.
- Clementine liturgy, 37, 44, 45, 173-175.
unscriptural references in, 175n.
new communion office of 1718, 37, 41.
- brief description of, 43, 45, 46.
permanent result, 46.
- William Whiston's, 40.
- Edward Stephen's (1696), 41.
of Scottish Episcopal Church, 46, 175, 181.
of American Episcopal Church, 46.
Lyon, Rev. David, of S. Andrews, 137.
- Rev. Robt., M.A., of Perth, 137n.
Macaulay, Lord, and non-jurors, vii, 10, 158.
Maddox, Samuel, ensign of Manchester Regiment, 110, Ilia.
turns King's evidence at trial of the Jacobites, 123n.
Mainwaring, Dr. P., 86.
212
INDEX
Manchester, description of, in 1720, 51.
- Collegiate Church, 52, 53.
cotton trade, 52.
- S. Ann's Church, 53, 79, 125, 142.
Chetham Hospital and Library, 54.
Jacobitism in, 55, 57.
great influence of Collegiate Church, 56.
S. John's Church, 85.
taken by Jacobite forces, 105.
- Charles Edward in, 106.
James III proclaimed in, 107.
regiment raised in, for Charles Edward, 108.
surrender at Carlisle, 115.
violent political excitement in, 124.
- Clergy and the Pope, 128.
alleged treasonable correspondence, 130.
" Manchester Vindicated," 134.
Manchester Magazine, The, 126, 127, 187, 191.
Mayor, Professor J. E. B., and non-jurors, vii.
Mead, Matthew, 22.
Mead, Dr. Richard, 22, 81, 83.
Middleton, Dr. Conyers, 182.
Newcome, Rev. Henry, of Manchester, 53, 57.
New Communion Office of 1718. See Liturgies.
Nicholls, Rev. Bejn., M.A., Curate of S. Ann's, Manchester, 125.
Sermon on the Rebellion of the " '45," 125.
Non-ab jurors, 12n.
Non-jurors, list of original, 1.
and new succession, 2.
and new consecrations, 4.
authorize an Official Prayer Book, 47.
and Clerical titles, 165.
reunion of opposing sections of, 89-94.
Non-usagers, I2n.
defence against their opponents, 32.
Occasional Conformity Act, 7.
Overton, Rev. Canon, "History of Non-Jurors," 1, 43, 94.
Orme, Rev. Robert, 30.
Owen, Josiah, of Rochdale, 19, 111, 112.
Charges against Deacon, 112, 126, 192, 193, 194, 198, 199.
INDEX 213
Owen, Josiah, " Sermon on the late Rebellion," 125.
- "Jacobite and Non-juring principles freely examined," 127.
- charges against the Clergy of Manchester, 128.
- "Dr. Deacon Try'd by his own Tribunal," 132, 198.
Parkinson, Rev. R., Canon of Manchester, 59, 60.
Parkyns, Sir W., execution of, 10.
Paul, Rev. Wm., 18.
dying speech, 20.
execution of, 20.
Peck, Rev. Francis, M.A., of Trinity Coll., Cambridge, 19, 195.
Peploe, Samuel, Warden of Manchester and Bishop of Chester, opposes
the rebels of the " 15," 69.
appointed Warden of Manchester, 54.
dispute concerning the appointment, 54, 69.
appointed Bishop of Chester, 70.
estimate of character of, 74.
and Deacon, 148.
Pepys, Samuel, and Non-jurors, 11, 42.
Perceval, A. P., "Doctrine of the Apostolical Succession," 97.
Perceval, Thos., of Roytpn, 129.
" Letter to the Clergy of Manchester," 132.
- " Manchester Politics," 133, 180.
Pierce, Mr., letter to Deacon on deserting his communion, 138.
Podmore, Thomas, the learned barber, 156.
"Layman's Apology for Primitive Christianity," 156.
ordination, 157.
copy of letter of orders, 157.
removes to Shrewsbury, 157.
- death, 158.
epitaph in Millington's Hospital, 158.
Pretender, Charles Edward, in Manchester, 106.
Price, Kenrick, Non-juring Bishop, 153.
consecration, 141.
consecrates Wm. Cartwright at Shrewsbury, 154.
epitaph in unknown church, 154.
Rawlinson, Richd., LL.D., Non-juring Bishop, 89, 95, 165, 171.
is consecrated Bishop, 89.
Rawlinson MSS., 17, 30, 89, 97.
Ray, James, of Whitehaven, 99, 109.
account of Deacon's congregation, 99.
Richmond, Duke of, 122, 123.
Robinson, Dr. Bryan, 83
214
INDEX
Sacheverell, Dr., 19.
Sacred Trinity Church, Salford, 75 and note.
Bancroft, William, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1, 2.
- delegates his authority to Bishop Lloyd, 2.
Scottish Episcopal Church, 10.
Scottish Bishops and English consecrations, 10.
Sion College Library, xiv, 14, 47.
Smith, George, Non-juring Bishop, 89, 90, 91, 92, 95.
edits " Ecclesiastical History of Bede," 92n.
Spinckes, Nathaniel, Non-juring Bishop, 7, 11, 31, 89.
attacks Deacon's views on tradition, 34.
Stanhope, Charles, 122.
Stebunheath, 13.
Stepney " Meeting," 22 and note.
Stratford, Nicholas, Warden of Manchester and Bishop of Chester, 53,
54.
Syddall, Thos., 110, 111.
appointed Adjutant of Manchester Regiment, 106.
dying speech, 117.
his head fixed on Manchester exchange, 124
Syddall, Mrs., her house destroyed by the military, 188.
Tillemont, Sebastion le Nain, 163, 164, 170.
Deacon's admiration of, 163.
Du Pin's account of, 163.
Thyer, Robt., Librarian at Chetham College, 74, 76, 77, 134.
Townley, Francis, Colonel of Manchester Regiment, 108.
appeal to, by John Byrom on subject of profane swearing, 109.
Trinity Chapel, Aldersgate St., 30.
Turner, Francis, Bishop of Ely, 1, 2, 4, 73.
Unction, restored by Non-jurors, 46.
Usagers, 12n.
superior scholarship of, 36.
Usages controversy, definition of, 27.
Deacon's account of, 29-33.
formal schism accomplished, 33.
brief account of pamphlets concerning, 34.
pointed comments on, by Rev. Chas. Leslie, 35.
Wagstaffe, Thos., the elder, Non-juring Bishop, 4.
is consecrated Bishop, 4.
practises medicine without license, 5.
death, 5.
INDEX 215
Wagstaffe, Thos., the younger, 47, 91, 92.
keeper of Church records of Non-jurors, 48.
Chaplain to James III and Charles III in Eome, 91
and the Vatican Library, 92.
his popularity in Rome, 92.
Wesley, Rev. Charles, 68.
Wesley, Rev. John, 75, 76, 173.
- peculiar shorthand, 69w.
possible connection with Deacon, 76.
Whalley, Thos., Constable of Manchester, 107
Whiston, William, 40.
derives Arian views from Apostolic constitutions, 40
deprived of Lucasian professorship, 40.
lectures on scientific subjects, 40.
- and the " Vicar of Wakefield," 40.
composes a liturgy, 40, 44.
- and Deacon, 169.
White, Thomas, Bishop of Peterborough, 1, 2, 4.
Wroe, Rev. Richard, Warden of Manchester, 54.
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also with the children's pursuits out of school hours. . . . The problem
Professor Findlay has set himself to work out in the Demonstration
School is, How far is it possible by working with the children through
successive culture epochs of the human race to form within their minds
not only a truer conception of human history, but also eventually a
deeper comprehension of the underlying purpose and oneness of all
human activities?" Morning Post.
83, Soho Square, London, W. 7
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EDUCATIONAL SERIES.
No III. THE TEACHING OF HISTORY IN GIRLS' SCHOOLS
IN NORTH AND CENTRAL GERMANY. A Report by EVA
DODGE, M.A., Gilchrist Student. Demy 8vo, pp. x. 149. Is. 6d. net.
(Publication No. 34, 1908.)
" We cordially recommend this most workmanlike, and extremely
valuable addition to pedagagogic literature." Education.
" Gives a clear and detailed account of two well-organised schemes
of historical teaching in Germany." School World.
No. IV. THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION IN THE
UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER, 1890-1911. Demy 8vo,
14d pp. Is. 6d. net, paper ; 2s. 6d. net, cloth.
(Publication No. 58, 1911.)
This book, published in commemoration of the twenty-first anniversary
of the education department, includes an article nearly 50 pages long by
Prof Sadler on University Training Colleges, their origin, growth and
influence, a history by Mr. W. T. Goode of the department of education
in the University, a register of past and present students and a record
of the publications issued from the department. It is illustrated by
photographs of the University and some of the leading persons connected
with the education department.
ENGLISH SERIES.
No. I. THE LITERARY PROFESSION IN THE ELIZABETHAN
AGE. By PH, SHEAVYN, M.A., D.Lit., Special Lecturer in English
Literature and Tutor for Women Students ; Warden of the Hall of
Residence for Women Students.
A series of brief studies dealing with the conditions amidst which the
profession of literature was pursued under Elizabeth and James I. It
treats of their relations with patrons, publishers, and reading public, and
with various authorities exercising legal control over the press ; and
discusses the possibility of earning a sufficient livelihood, in this period,
by the proceeds of literary work. Demy 8vo, pp. xii. 221. 5s. net.
(Publication No. 49, 1909.)
". . . . scholarly and illuminating book. It opens a new series in
the Manchester University publications, and opens it with distinction.
A more elaborately documented or more carefully indexed work need
not be desired. The subject is an engrossing one ; and, although the
author has aimed rather at accuracy and completeness than at the arts of
entertainment, the result remains eminently read able. "-
Manchester Guardian.
" Quite interesting to the general literary reader as well as to the
special student for whom, perhaps, it is directly meant. We are always
ready to read of the Elizabethan age in authorship, and it loses none
of its attractions in Miss Sheavyn's hands." Daily Chronicle.
34, Cross Street, Manchester
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ENGLISH SERIES.
No. II. BEOWULF : Edited, with Introduction, Notes, and Glossary, by
W. J. SEDGEFIELD, Litt.D., Lecturer in English Language.
Demy 8vo, pp. xii. 300. 9s. net. (Publication No. 55, 1910.)
"It is his carefulness in this matter of the text that will win Mr.
Sedgefield the chief thanks of students. This record of variants is full
and accurate, and the fuller notes which follow the text itself should
be very helpful both to the pupil and the expert. In the glossarial
index Mr. Sedgefield has accomplished a task hitherto unattempted
in England." Manchester Guardian.
HISTORICAL SERIES.
No. I. MEDIAEVAL MANCHESTER AND THE BEGINNINGS
OF LANCASHIRE. By JAMES TAIT, M.A., Professor of Ancient
and Mediaeval History. Demy 8vo, pp. x. 211. 7s. 6d. net.
(Publication No. 3, 1904.)
" Patient and enlightened scholarship and a sense of style and pro-
portion have enabled the writer to produce a work at once solid and
readable." English Historical Review.
"A welcome addition to the literature of English local history, not
merely because it adds much to our knowledge of Manchester and
Lancashire, but also because it displays a scientific method of treatment
which is rare in this field of study in England." Dr. Gross in American
Historical Review.
" La collection ne pouvait debuter plus significativement et plus heure-
usement que par un ouvrage d'histoire du Moyen Age du a M. Tait, car
1'enseignement medieviste est un de ceux qui font le plus d'honneur a
la jeune Universite de Manchester, et c'est a M. le Professeur Tait qu'il
faut attribuer une bonne part de ce succes." Revue de Synthese
historique.
No. II. INITIA OPERUM LATINORUM QUAE SAECULIS XIII.,
XIV., XV. ATTRIBUUNTUR. By A. G. LITTLE, M.A., Lecturer
in Palaeography. Demy 8vo, pp. xiii. 273 (interleaved) . (Out of print. )
(Publication No. 5, 1904.)
" Whoever has attempted to ascertain the contents of a Mediaeval
miscellany in manuscript must often have been annoyed by the occurrence
of a blank space where the title of the treatise ought to be. Mr. Little
has therefore earned the gratitude of all such persons by making public
a collection of some 6,000 incipits, which he arranged in the first instance
for his private use, in compiling a catalogue of Franciscan MSS."
English Historical Review.
33, Soho Square, London, W. 9
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HISTORICAL SERIES.
No. III. THE OLD COLONIAL SYSTEM. By GERALD BERKELEY
HERTZ, M.A., B.C.L., Lecturer in Constitutional Law. Demy 8vo,
pp. xi. 232. 5s. net. (Publication No. 7, 1905.)
" Mr. Hertz gives us an elaborate historical study of the old colonial
system, which disappeared with the American Revolution He
shows a remarkable knowledge of contemporary literature, and his book
may claim to be a true history of popular opinion." Spectator.
" Mr. Hertz's book is one which no student of imperial developments
can neglect. It is lucid, fair, thorough, and convincing."
Glasgow Herald.
" Mr. Hertz's ' Old Colonial System ' is based on a careful study of
contemporary documents, with the result that several points of no small
importance are put in a new light .... it is careful, honest work ....
The story which he tells has its lesson for us." The Times.
"Both the ordinary reader and the academic mind will get benefit
from this well-informed and well-written book." Scotsman.
"Mr. Hertz has made excellent use of contemporary literature, and
has given us a very valuable and thorough critique. The book is in-
teresting and very well written." American Political Science Review.
"An interesting, valuable, and very necessary exposition of the
principles underlying the colonial policy of the eighteenth century."
Yorkshire Post.
No. IV. STUDIES OF ROMAN IMPERIALISM. By W. T.
ARNOLD, M.A. Edited by EDWARD FIDDES. M.A., Lecturer in
Ancient History, with Memoir of the Author by Mrs. HUMPHRY
WARD and C. E. MONTAGUE. With a Photogravure of W. T.
Arnold. Demy 8vo, pp. cxxiii. 281. 7s. 6d. net.
(Publication No. 16, 1906.)
" Mrs. Humphry Ward has used all her delicate and subtle art to
draw a picture of her beloved brother; and his friend Mr. Montague's
account of his middle life is also remarkable for its literary excellence."
Athencmin.
" The memoir .... tenderly and skilfully written by the ' sister
and friend,' tells a story, which well deserved to be told, of a life rich
in aspirations, interests, and friendships, and not without its measure of
actual achievement." Tribune.
" This geographical sense and his feeling for politics give colour to all
he wrote." Times.
" Anyone who desires a general account of the Empire under Augustus
which is freshly and clearly written and based on wide reading will find
it here." Manchester Guardian.
" Nothing could be better than the sympathetic tribute which Mrs.
Humphry Ward pays to her brother, or the analysis of his work and
method by his colleague Mr. Montague. The two together have more
stuff in them than many big books of recent biography."
Westminster Gazette.
The Memoir may be had separately, price 2s. 6d net.
10
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MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS.
HISTORICAL SERIES.
No. V. CANON PIETRO CASOLA'S PILGRIMAGE TO
JERUSALEM IN THE YEAR 1494. By M. M. NEWETT,
B.A., formerly Jones Fellow. Demy 8vo, pp. viii. 427. 7s. 6d. net.
(Publication No. 26, 1907.)
" Tra mezzo ai tanti libri esteri di semplici divulgazione su fatti e
figure della storia italiana, questo emerge piacevalmente e si legge
volontieri. E diverse di carattere e di trattazione. Esume .... dalla
polvere degli archivi e delle biblioteche qualche cosa che ha un valore
fresco ed interessante, un valore storico e un valore umano."
A.A.B. in the Archivio Storico Italiano.
" L'introduction se termine par toute une dissertation du plus grand
interet, documentee a 1'aide des archives venitiennes, sur le caractere
commercial des pelerinages, dont les armateurs de Venise assumerent,
jusqu 'au XVIIe siecle 1'entreprise."
J.B. in the Revue de Synthese historique.
" Miss Newett has performed her task admirably, preserving much of
the racy humour and shrewd phrasing which mark the original, and
adding, in the introduction, a general treatise on the Venetian pilgrim
industry, and in the notes copious illustrations of the text."
HORATIO F. BROWN in The English Historical Review.
" Miss Newett's introduction is an admirable bit of work. She has
studied carefully what the archives of Venice have to say about pilgrim
ships and shipping laws, and her pages are a mine of information on
such subjects." Dr. Thomas Lindsay in the Scottish Historical Review
"This is a deeply interesting record, not merely of a Syrian pilgrim-
age, but of Mediterranean life and of the experiences of an intelligent
Italian gentleman at the close of the Middle Ages two years after the
discovery of America. It would not be easy to find a more graphic
picture, in old days, of a voyage from Venice to the Levant."
American Historical Review
No. VI. HISTORICAL ESSAYS. Edited by T. F. TOTJT, M.A.,
Professor of Mediaeval and Modern History, and JAMES TAIT, M.A.,
Professor of Ancient and Mediaeval History. Demy 8vo, pp. xv. 557.
6s. net. Reissue of the Edition of 1902 with index and New Preface.
(Publication No. 27, 1907.)
"Diese zwanzig chronologisch geordneten Aufsatze heissen in der
Vorrede der Herausgeber ^esc/m/,behandelnzur Halfte ausser-englische
Themata, benutzen reichlich festlandische Literatur und verraten iiberall
neben weiten Ausblicken eine methodische Schulung die der dortigen
Facultat hohe Ehre macht." Professor Liebermann in Deutsche
Literaturzeitung .
" Imperial history, local history, ecclesiastical history, economic history
and the methods of historical teaching all these are in one way or another
touched upon by scholars who have collaborated in this volume. Men
I, Soho Square, London, >\ . 11
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MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS.
HISTORICAL SERIES.
HISTORICAL ESSAYS (Continued).
and women alike have devoted their time and pains to working out
problems of importance and often of no slight difficulty. The result is
one of which the university and city may be justly proud." The late
Professor York Powell in the Manchester Guardian.
"Esso contiene venti lavori storici dettati, quattro da professori e sedici
da licenziati del Collegio, e sono tutto scritti appositamente e condotti
secondo le piu rigorose norme della critica e su document!." R. Predelli
in Nuovo Archivio Veneto.
"La variete des sujets et 1'erudition avec laquelle ils sont trait^s font
grand honneur a la maniere dont 1'histoire est enseigne a Owens College."
Revue Historiqu*.
" Par nature, c'est un recueil savant, qui temoigne du respect et de
Peculation que sait exercer pour les etudes historiques la jeune et deja
ce"lebre universite." Revue d'histoire ecclesiastique (Louvain).
" All these essays reach a high level ; they avoid the besetting sin of
most of our present historical writing, which consists of serving up a hash
of what other historians have written flavoured with an original spice of
error They are all based on original research and written by
specialists." Professor A. F. Pollard in the English Historical Review.
" Sie bilden einen schonen Beweis fur die rationelle Art, mit der dort
dieses Studium betrieben wird." Professor O. Weber in Historische
Zeitschrift.
The index can be purchased separately, price 6d. net.
No. VII. STUDIES SUPPLEMENTARY TO STUBBS' CONSTI-
TUTIONAL HISTORY. Vol. i. By Ch. Petit-Dutaillis, Litt.D.,
rector of the University of Grenoble. Translated from the French
by W. E. Rhodes, M.A., and edited by Prof. James Tait, M.A.
Demy 8vo, pp. xiv. 152. 4s. net ((Publication No. 38, 1908.)
"The volume will be virtually indispensable to teachers and students
of history." Athenceum.
" This task has been carefully and well performed, under the supervi-
sion of Professor Tait, who has written a short but adequate introduc-
tion. This little book, ought, without delay, to be added to every
public or private library that contains a copy of the classic work to
which it forms an indispensable supplement."
Dr. W. S. McKechnie in the Scottish Historical Review.
" These supplementary studies impress one as a discreet and learned
attempt to safeguard a public, which is likely to learn all that it will
know of a great subject from a single book, against the shortcomings
of that book." Professor A. B. White in the American Historical Review.
" C'est un complement indispensable de 1'ouvrage de Stubbs, et Ton
saura gre a 1'Universite de Manchester d'avoir pris 1'initiative de cette
publication." M. Charles Bemont in Revue Historique.
"Ce sont des modeles de critique ingenieuse et sobre, une mise au point
12
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MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS.
HISTORICAL SERIES.
STUDIES SUPPLEMENTARY TO STUBBS' CONSTITUTIONAL
HISTORY (Continued).
remarquable des questions les plus importantes traitees jadis par
Stubbs." M. Louis Halphen in Revue de Synthe.se historique.
"ZuderenglishenUebersetzung dieser Excurse, durch einen verdienten
jiingeren Historiker, die durchaus leicht wie Originalstil fliesst, hat Tait
die Vorrede geliefert und manche Note, die noch die Literatur von 1908
beriicksichtigt. Die historische Schule der Universitat Manchester,
an Riihrigkeit und strenger Methode von keiner in England iibertroffen,
bietet mit der Veroffentlichung der werthvollen Arbeit des Franzosen
ein treffliches Lehrmittel. Professor F. Liebermann, in Deutsche
Literaturzeitung.
No. VIII. MALARIA AND GREEK HISTORY. By W. H. S. Jones,
M.A. To which is added the History of Greek Therapeutics and
the Malaria Theory by E. T. Withington, M.A., M.B. Demy 8vo,
pp. xii. 176. 5s. net. (Publication No. 43, 1909.)
" Mr. W. H. S. Jones is to be congratulated on the success with which
he has conducted what may be described as a pioneering expedition into
a practically unexplored field of history .... the publishers are to be
congratulated on the admirable way in which the book has been turned
out a joy to handle and to read." Manchester Guardian.
" This interesting volume is an endeavour to show that the decline of
the Greeks as a people for several centuries before and after the
Christian era was largely due to the prevalence of malaria in its various
forms." Glasgow Herald.
" [The author] .... has amassed a considerable store of valuable
information from the Greek classics and other sources which will prove
extremely useful to all who are interested in his theory."
Birmingham Daily Post.
No. IX. HANES GRUFFYDD AP CYNAN. The Welsh text with
translation, introduction, and notes by ARTHUR JONES, M.A., Jones
Fellow in History. Demy 8vo. Pp. viii. 204. 6s. net.
(Publication No. 50, 1910.)
" No Welsh historian of the future can afford to neglect this scholarly
attempt to give the work of Griffith ap Cynan a true historical setting.
The introduction is an ideally well-balanced estimate of a singularly
quaint and beautiful piece of history." Glasgow Herald.
" The Editor has prefaced his text with a comprehensive and nearly
always convincing introduction of more than 100 pages, besides copious
notes. Nearly every page of both contains matter of Irish history,
sometimes really new, since taken from the document never deeply
studied before, and always valuable from the new light thrown by the
collation of independent, ' international ' testimonies. ... It will at
once be seen that we have here a document of the first interest to
ourselves ; the University and the Editor have put us in their debt for a
valuable contribution to our history." Freeman's Journal.
33, Soho Square, London, W. 13
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MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS.
HISTORICAL SERIES.
No. X. THE CIVIL WAR IN LANCASHIRE. By ERNEST BROXAP,
M.A. Demy 8vo, pp. xv. 226. 7s. 6d. net.
(Publication No. 51, 1910.)
"By a judicious use of it he has produced an eminently readable and
informing work. . . . The University of Manchester, which, but for
the pressure of the political situation, would have been founded in
1642, is to be congratulated upon its choice of an historian of the war in
Lancashire. " A thencaum.
" Mr. Broxap's monograph must be welcomed as the most important
of thos*e hitherto given to history to illuminate the county aspect ot
the Civil War The whole book is very carefully revised and
accurate in its details, full and satisfactory, ana the order in which the
story is told is excellent. The index is also sufficient, and the whole
study is amply annotated. Altogether, both the author and the
Manchester University Press are to be thoroughly congratulated upon
the volume." Morning Post.
" It is clear that Mr. Broxap has minutely studied all available
original materials and that he uses them with care and discrimination.
. . . the highest praise that can be given to the author of a historical
monograph is that he set out to produce a book that was wanted,
does that extremely well, and does nothing else, and to this praise
Mr. Broxap is fully entitled." Westminster Gazette.
No. XI. A BIOGRAPHY OF THOMAS DEACON, THE MAN-
CHESTER NON-JUROR. By Henry Broxap, M.A. Demy 8vo,
pp. xix. 215, 2 plates. 7s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 59, 1911.)
THE EJECTED OF 1662: Their Predecessors and Successors in
Cumberland and Westmorland. By B. NIGHTINGALE, M.A.
[In the Prets.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO IRELAND UNDER THE COM-
MONWEALTH. By ROBERT DUNLOP, M.A., Lecturer on Irish
History. In 2 volumes, demy Svo.
This work will consist of a series of unpublished documents relating
to the History of Ireland from 1651 to 1659, arranged, modernized, and
edited, with introduction, notes, etc., by Mr. DUNLOP.
[In Preparation.
MEDICAL SERIES.
No. I. SKETCHES OF THE LIVES AND WORK OF THE
HONORARY MEDICAL STAFF OF THE ROYAL INFIRMARY.
From its foundation in 1752 to 1830, when it became the Royal
Infirmary. By EDWARD MANSFIELD BROCKBANK, M.D., M.R.C.P.
Crown 4to. (illustrated), pp. vii. 311. 15s. net.
(Publication No. 1, 1904.)
"Dr. Brockbank's is a book of varied interest. It also deserves a
welcome as one of the earliest of the ' Publications of the University of
Manchester.' " Manchester Guardian.
14
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MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PUBLICATIONS.
MEDICAL SERIES.
No. II. PRACTICAL PRESCRIBING AND DISPENSING. For
Medical Students. By WILLIAM KIRKBY, sometime Lecturer in
Pharmacognosy in the Owens College, Manchester. Crown 8vo,
pp. iv. 194. 5s. net.
(Publication No. 2, 1904, Second edition, 1906.)
"The whole of the matter bears the impress of that technical skill
and thoroughness with which Mr. Kirkby's name must invariably be
associated, and the book must be welcomed as one of the most usefu/
recent additions to the working library of prescribers and dispensers."
Pharmaceutical Journal.
"Thoroughly practical text-books on the subject are so rare, that we
welcome with pleasure Mr. William Kirkby's ' Practical Prescribing and
Dispensing.' The bock is written by a pharmacist expressly for medical
students, and the author has been most happy in conceiving its scope
and arrangement." British Medical Journal.
No. III. HANDBOOK OF SURGICAL ANATOMY. By G. A.
WRIGHT, B.A., M.B. (Oxon.), F.R.C.S., Professor of Systematic
Surgery, and C. H. PRESTON, M.D., F.R.C.S., L.D.S., Lecturer on
Dental Anatomy ; Assistant Dental Surgeon to the Victoria Dental
Hospital of Manchester. Crown 8vo, pp. ix. 205 5s. net. Second
edition. [Philadelphia: Blakiston.] (Publication No. 6, 1905.)
" Dr. Wright and Dr. Preston have produced a concise and very
readable little handbook of surgical applied anatomy. . . . The subject
matter of the book is well arranged and the marginal notes in bold type
facilitate reference to any desired point." Lancet.
No. IV. A COURSE OF INSTRUCTION IN OPERATIVE
SURGERY in the University of Manchester. By WILLIAM
THORBURN, M.D., B.S. (Lond.), F.R.C.S., Lecturer in Operative
Surgery. Crown 8vo, pp. 75 (interleaved), 26 Figures in the Text.
2s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 11, 1906.)
"This little book gives the junior student all that he wants, and
nothing that he does not want. Its size is handy, and altogether for its
its purpose it is excellent." University Review.
No. V. A HANDBOOK OF LEGAL MEDICINE. By W. SELLERS,
M.D. (London), of the Middle Temple, and Northern Circuit,
Barrister-at-law. With 7 Illustrations. Crown 8vo, pp. vii. 233.
7s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 14, 1906.)
"'This is quite one of the best books of the kind we have come
across." Law Times.
33, Soho Square, London, W. 15
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MEDICAL SERIES.
No. VI. A CATALOGUE OF THE PATHOLOGICAL MUSEUM
OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MANCHESTER. Edited by J.
LORRAIN SMITH, M.A., M.D. (Edin.), Professor of Pathology.
Crown 4to, 1260 pp. 7s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 15, 1906.)
"The catalogue compares very favourably with others of a similar
character, and, apart from its value for teaching purposes in an im-
portant medical school such as that of the University of Manchester, it
is capable of being of great assistance to others as a work of reference."
Edinburgh Medical Journal.
"In conclusion we need only say that Professor Lorrain Smith has
performed the most essential part of his task the description of the
specimens excellently and an honourable mention must be made of
the book as a publication." British Medical Journal.
No. VII. HANDBOOK OF DISEASES OF THE HEART. By
GRAHAM STEELL, M.D., F.R.C.P., Professor of Medicine, and
Physician to the Manchester Royal Infirmary. Crown 8vo,
pp. xii. 389, 11 plates (5 in colours), and 100 illustrations in the text.
7s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 20, 1906.)
" It more truly reflects modern ideas of heart disease than any book
we are acquainted with, and therefore may be heartily recommended to
our readers." Treatment.
" We regard this volume as an extremely useful guide to the study of
diseases of the heart, and consider that no better introduction to the
subject could possibly have been written."
Medical Times and Hospital Gazette.
" We can cordially recommend Dr. Steell's book as giving an excellent
and thoroughly practical account of the subject of which it treats."
Edinburgh Medical Review.
No. VIII. JULIUS DRESCHFELD. IN MEMORIAM. Medical
Studies by his colleagues and pupils at the Manchester University
and the Royal Infirmary. Imperial 8vo, pp. vi. 246. With a
Photogravure and 43 Plates. 10s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 35, 1908.)
"A worthy memorial of one who left no small mark upon the study of
clinical pathology in this country." British Medical Journal.
"The papers which compose the bulk of the volume have been re-
printed from the Manchester Chronicle, vol. xiv, and they are of both
interest and permanent value." Scottish Medical Journal.
"The editor, Dr. Brockbank, can be congratulated upon editing a
volume that will fitly perpetuate the memory of his eminent colleague."
Medical Review.
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MEDICAL SERIES.
No. IX. HANDBOOK OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES. By R. W.
MARSDEN, M.D. Crown 8vo, pp. vi. 296. 5s. net.
(Publication No. 39, 1908.)
" This book aims at giving a practical account of the various infectious
diseases, suitable for ready reference in everyday work, and the author
has, on the whole, succeeded admirably in his attempt." The Lancet.
" The subject matter is well arranged and easy of reference."
The Medical Officer.
" Throughout the book the information given seems thoroughly
adequate, and especial attention is paid to diagnosis."
Scottish Medical Journal.
No. X. LECTURES ON THE PATHOLOGY OF CANCER. By
CHARLES POWELL WHITE, M.A., M.D., F.R.C.S. Imperial 8vo
pp. x. 83, 33 plates. 3s. 6d. net. (Publication No. 42, 1908.)
" The volume is a model of scientific self-restraint. In four chapters
the author covers in simple language much that is of main interest in
the present phase of investigation of cancer . . .
" The volume ... is well illustrated with statistical charts and
photomicrographs, and its perusal must prove profitable to all who wish
to be brought up-to-date in the biology of cancer." Nature.
" Full of scholarly information and illustrated with a number of
excellent black-and-white plates." Medical Press.
" These lectures give a short resume of recent work on the subject in
an easily assimilable form." St. Bartholomew's Hospital Journal.
No. XI. SEMMELWEIS: HIS LIFE AND HIS DOCTRINE. A
chapter in the history of Medicine. By Sir WILLIAM J. SINCLAIR,
M.A., M.D., Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the Univer-
sity of Manchester. Imperial 8vo, pp. x. 369, 2 plates. 7s. 6d. net.
(Publication No, 46, 1909.)
" Semmelweis has found a worthy biographer who has made a
noteworthy contribution to medical literature, and whose understanding
of the work and sympathy for the trial of his subject are obvious."
Dublin Journal of Medical Science
"Das wahrhaft vornehm geschriebene Buch des auch bei uns in
Deutschland hochverehrten englischen Kollegen spricht fiir sich selbst.
Es ist berufen, in dem Vaterlande Lister's auch dem grossen Martyrer
Semmelweis Gerechtigkeit zuteil werden zu lassen."
Zentralblatt fur Gynakologie.
"There should be a wide public, lay as well as medical, for a book
as full of historical, scientific and human interest as this 'Life of
Semmelweis.' ... Sir William Sinclair's book is of the greatest interest,
and we are glad to welcome an adequate English appreciation of
Semmelweis, who certainly ranks among the 'heroes of medicine.'"
Nature.
"It is a book all obstetricians and research men should read."
Scottish Medical Journal.
"A most instructive, and interesting biography of the discoverer of
the cause of puerperal fever. . . . The book is well printed and bound."
Medical Review
83, Soho Square, London, W. 17
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MEDICAL SERIES.
No. XII. MODERN PROBLEMS IN PSYCHIATRY. By E. LUGARO,
Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases in the University of Modena.
Translated from the Italian by DAVID ORR, M.D., Assistant Medical
Officer and Pathologist to the County Asylum, Prestwich ; and
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