V /
w
LIBRARY- .
Theological %S e m i n a r y ,
- PRINCETON, N^J^ '_
BR 742 .P3 1864
Pattison, Samuel Rowles,
1809-1901.
The rise and progress of
reliaious life in Enaland
Booh
RELIGIOUS LIFE IN ENGLAND.
THE
EISE AND PEOGRESS
EELIGIOUS LIFE IN ENGLAND.
SAMUEL ROWLES PATTISON.
Among whom ye shine as lights in the world, holding forth the Word
of Life."— Philipp. ii. 15, 16^
LONDON :
JACKSON, WALFOKD, AND HODDEU,
27, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCLXIV.
*' BEYOND THE NARROW SPHERE WITHIN WHICH THE POWER
AND ACTIONS OF MAN ARE RESTRAINED, IT IS GOD WHO REKJNS
AND ACTS."
GUIZOT.
"Avi^,
PREFACE,
Mr. Gladstone saj^s that revealed religion derives
its strength "from the fact that it not merely presents
to us a body of abstract truths, but carries with it
the executory powers neccessary to procure their accept-
ance,— the vital influences without which we cannot
receive, digest, and assimilate these truths."* The
true history of our religion must, therefore, consist in
tracing the working of these powers, and influences,
in successive generations of good men. By ex-
cluding from this narrative, so far as is practicable,
the consideration of all collateral history, it is not
intended to deny that secular public events have an
* *' The State in its Relations with the Church," p. 292.
VI PREFACE.
influence on the progress of the Kingdom of Christ.
But the specific task which I have proposed to
mj^self is, to discover and follow the single line of
evangelical doctrine and practice. Doubtless, when
larger fields of view shall open upon us, and fuller
powers of vision, brighter faculties, and larger
hearts shall be given to us, we shall perceive how
the whole web of worldly afiairs, so tangled in
appearance now, has been pervaded by the one beau-
tiful design of Divine mercy.
The Papal Church is constructing a biographical
history of enormous dimensions. It is framed on
the basis of the Eomish calendar, and consists of an
exhaustive life of every canonized Saint. All the
famous libraries of the world have been laid under
contribution in order to its accomplishment. For
nearly two hundred years, a succession of learned
men have given their lives to the task as a religious
duty. The BoUandists, the most diligent and de-
voted compilers, have given a name to the colossal
undertaking. It is still progressing; its steps are
PKEFACC. Vll
measured b}'- decades, and its least utterances are
folios. The fresh-looking A^olumo published in 1863
is the continuator of a series of which the first
members already bear the venerable hue of past
ages.
My aim is vastly more restricted than this, and
may well be expressed by the Latin proverb, ^^ Melius
ed pettre fontfH, quam acctari rivulon."
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
A.D.
CHAPTER I.
^nixohictxort,
CHAPTER II,
Cimmerian Epoch, 5.
Christianity from the
East, 8.
219. Romano-British period,
9.
314. British Bishops, 9.
Pelagius, 9.
Alban, 10.
400. Irish Saints, Patrick, II.
544. St. David, St. Asaph, 12.
562. Colmnba, lona, 12.
CHAPl'ER III.
^t ^.wonb planting.
597. Augustine the Monk, 14.
British Church, 15.
Anglo-Saxon Church, 16.
St Oswald, 16.
Bede, 16,
Anglo-Saxon Bible, 17.
Csedmon, 17.
669. Theodoras, 18.
694. Wilfred, IS.
Kilian, 19.
705. Aldhelm, Offa, 19.
^.Ifric, 19.
718. Px>niface, 20.
7l>S. Alcra'n, 20.
Alfred, 24.
994 Education, 24.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
A.D.
Slavery, 25.
Identity of Principles, 27.
CHAPTER IV.
1066. Effects of Conquest, 29.
1092. Anselm, 31.
Character of Chiircli, 32.
Darkest Ages, 33.
1190. Traces of Scriptures, 34.
Ecclesiastical Buildings,
35.
MediaBval Preacking, 35.
Chapels — Haddon-Hall,
36.
St. Bernard, 38.
Hidden Evangelism, 38.
Roman Breviary, 39.
Crusades, 39.
Religious Excitement, 40.
Pre-reformation signs, 40.
Pre- reformation protests,
42.
1158. Obscure Reformers, 42.
Mayors' Chronicles, 42.
Italian and other Refor-
mers, 43.
1087. Berengarius, 43.
Heresy, so called, 44.
1253. Hugh Greathead, 45.
British Monachism, 45.
Convent Life, 47.
A.D.
CHAPTER V.
Bradwardine at Mer-
ton, 49.
Richard Fitz Ralph, 50.
Signs of the Dawn, 51.
1362. Piers Plowman, 52.
1370. Wycliffe, 56.
First Tracts, 56.
Chaucer and Gower, 58.
1384. Wycliffe's Missionaries,
59.
Wycliffe's Inner Life, 59.
His Influence, 60.
1399. Queen Anne, 63.
CHAPTER VL
1389. Lollardism and Lay
Preaching, 65.
1391. Swinderby, Brute, 67.
William Thorpe, 68.
1401. Statute against heresy,
70.
1409. John Badby, 70.
Sir John Oldcastle, 71.
1416. Conventicles, 73.
University of Oxford, 74.
Ploughman's prayer, 75.
Complaint of clergy, 76.
1414. John Claydon, 77.
Spread of the Truth, 77.
1422. Lollards in Scotland, 80.
Ultimate Triumphs, 82.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
CHA.PTER. VII.
QL^lje dvourse of tlje glotrmeitt.
^ Mysticism, 84.
Dramatic Representa-
tions, 86.
Printed Books, 87.
Character of the Move-
ment, 88.
1422. Progress in various
places, 89.
Characteristics, 90.
Half-hearted Reformers,
93.
Tract Literature, 93.
Model in Scripture, 94.
CHAPTER VIII.
Ileigixs of imrg ^tkni\ anb
fenrg €igfetfe.
1530. Tracy's Testament, 96.
Witnesses to the
Truth, 97.
Practical Treatises, 98.
1527. Tyndale, 98.
Benet, 102.
1529. John Tewkesbury, 103.
Bainham and Bay-
field, 104.
Harding and Wife, 104.
Colchester Brethren, 105.
Provinces and Regis-
tries, 107.
Buckinghamshire, 107.
Scriptm-e readers, 108.
Cambridge and Oxford
Students, 112.
Becon, 113.
The Christian Brother-
hood, 113.
1528. YoimgMen, 113.
Garrett and his
Friends, 115.
1531. Bilney, 117.
Latimei-, 119.
1538. Pubhcationof Bible, 120.
Its reception, 121.
1548. Rogers's Concordance,
123.
•Fisber, of Rochester, 124.
Dean Colet, 125.
CHAPTER IX.
6bb)arb Sktlj.
1548. Demand for Preach-
ers, 127.
Itinerant Ministers, 128.
Hooper and Latimer, 128.
Hancock, 129.
Richard Taverner, 130.
Dramatic Representa-
tions, 131.
Miles Coverdale, 131.
Dr. W. Turner, 131.
Southern Europe, 132.
Protestant Teachers, 133.
Protestant Emigration,
134.
The Young King, 134.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
Sir John Cheke, 135.
Studies of the Higher
Classes, 136.
Lady Jane Grey, 137.
CHAPTER X.
C|e ^eip of f ««it glarg.
John Bradford, 141.
1555. Private Assemblies, 144.
Thomas Ptose, 146.
George Marsh, 148.
1557. Eagles, of Suffolk, 152.
Lawrence and others,
153.
Ridley, 154.
Smithfield Tragedies, 155.
Laurence Saunders, 157.
Perjjetuity of Truth, 158.
CHAPTER XL
Religious Language, 160.
Secondary Influences, 160.
Shakspeare, 161.
Lord Bacon and Coke,
163.
Sidney's Family, 166.
Sacred Poetry, 167.
Lecturers, 169.
Coverdale, 170.
Rise of Religious Par-
ties, 171.
A.D.
1583. Origin of Nonconform-
ity, 171.
1590. Rise of Puritanism, 175.
Independency, 175.
Phases of Nonconform-
ity, 176.
Separatists and Bap-
tists, 176.
Prophesyings, 178.
1599. Education, 180.
Outbreak of Noncon-
formity, 180.
Penry and his Friends,
181.
Hooker and Travers,185.
Mimicipal Ordinances,
186.
Religious Troubles, 188.
1592. Gatherings of the godly,
188.
Paleario, 189.
Return of Foreign Ref-
ugees, 190.
CHAPTER XII.
lames ^ixsi, Charles ^iix$t.
Editions of Scriptures,
192.
Influence on Literatiire,
193.
1600. Cambridge Home Miss-
ion, 193.
Missions on Mendip-
hills, 193.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
xm
Lord Bacon's testimony,
194.
1613. Purchas, 195.
Mr. Herring, 195.
1620. Baptists at Bristol, 196.
Dr. Harris, 197.
Shakspeare's contempo-
raries, 197.
Rise of preachers, 199.
Baxter's family, 200.
Sibbes, 201.
Milton's opinions, 201.
Progress of Nonconform-
ity, 202.
John Canne, 203.
John Carter, 204.
Lady Bowes, 205.
1627. Lectures, 205.
Herbert, 205.
Missionary workers, 207.
Woodward, 207.
John Eliot, the Apostle
of Indians, 207.
Home missionary spirit,
208.
Rothwell, 209.
Tendency of court, 211.
Lady Apsley, 212.
Usher's preaching, 212.
Early Puritans, 213.
Lady Falkland, 214.
1633. Henry Jessey, 215.
Pilgrim Fathers, 217.
Smart, of Durham, 217.
Character of the age,
219.
CHAPTER XIIL
Increase of personal re-
ligion, 220.
Dr. Owen, 221.
1643. Westminster Assembly,
223.
Cromwell's Soldiers, 224.
Mrs. Hutchinson, 225.
1650. Cromwell's Letters, 226.
His Inner Life, 227.
1653. Establishment of Religion
by Ordinance, 234.
George Fox, 236.
Religious experiences,
*237.
Selden and Usher, 239.
Hanserd Knollys, 242.
Kiffin, 243.
Dr. Gouge, 244.
Phihp Henry, 244.
Mr. Blackerby, 245.
Experiences, 247.
John Rogers,
Usher,
Puritan Literature, 246,
The "Friends," 247.
Establishment of Dissent,
251.
CHAPTER XIV.
®^e gjcigns of Cljarlcs ^aonb,
lam^es Baonb, ani) ®iUi;am
1660. Effects of the Restoration,
253.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
A.D.
1601. Savoy Conference, 254.
Course of Legislation, 254.
Howe, 255.
Bartholomew Act, 258.
Farewell Sermons, 259.
Pursuits of the Ejected,
260.
1662. Hughes, AUeine,271,273.
The Henry Family, 269.
Flavel, 267.
Bimyan, 274.
1665. The Plague, 261.
1666. Fire of London, 262.
Baxter's Works, 262.
Mrs. Baxter, 260.
Merchants' Lecture, 257.
1676. Cockermouth, 277.
1692. Ealph Thoresby, 277.
Howe and Spilsbury, 278.
Gouge of St. Sepulchre's,
278.
Wadsworth, of Cam-
bridge, 279.
1695. Young Men's Associa-
tions, 279.
1680. Earl of Rochester, 280.
Decay of Piety, 281.
Intercourse with Hol-
land, 282.
Flavel and Alleine, 283.
1682. Guthrie and TraiU, 283,
284.
1697. Dr. Horueck, 285.
Matthew Henry, 286.
Decline in standards, 286.
A.D.
CHAPTER XV.
Contempt for Religion,
291.
Reformation Societies,
291, 292.
Progress of Decay, 293.
1706. Dr. Watts, 295.
1722. Samuel Harvey, 298.
Mr. Barker, 300.
Defoe, 300.
1711. Address for Kew
Churches, 302.
Dr. Doddridge, 303.
Col. Gardiner, 306.
1729. The Wesleys, 308.
The Societies, 311.
Thomas Hanby, 315.
1735. Howel Harris, 316.
Whitefield, 312.
1743. Scottish Revival, 317.
Adam of Winteringham,
318.
The Countess of Hunt-
ingdon, 319.
Berridge, 324.
1740. John Nelson, 326.
1741. Deacon and Taylor, 327.
1746. Jonathan Edwards, 328.
ANALYTICAL CONTENTS.
A.D.
CHAPTER XVI.
Extent of Prior Decay,
329.
1760. Robert Hall Senior, 330.
1757. Abraham Maddock, 331.
1751. Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge,
333.
1754. Henry Venn, 333.
1775. Edwards the Engineer,
334.
Attempts at alliance,
335.
1767. Revival at University,
335.
The Apostle of Sussex,
336.
Lord Dartmouth, 337.
The Hills, 338.
Toplady, 339.
Ireland, 340.
Religious periodicals, 341.
1764. Cowper, .342.
London Churches, 345.
Booth, 347.
Jones, 347.
Picture of Leicester, 348,
1777. Burder, 348.
1784. Baptist Missions, 349.
1799. Bacon the sculptor, 351.
Wilberforce and his
friends, 352.
Simeon, Milner, 35
Wilson, 357.
llomanist Piety, 357.
Signs of the Future, 361 .
CHAPTER XVII.
Conclusion, 362.
''C^?*^
THE RISE AND PROGRESS
OF
EELIGIOUS LIFE IN ENGLAND.
CHAPTER I.
INTEODUCTIOK
Christianity on earth is essentially historical. We ourselves
are ever comparing that which it is now, with that which
it seemed to us to be at the commencement of our career :
we read the annals of our country, and find that it has an
historical development there ; we investigate the unfold-
ing of Western civilization, and discover it as the moving
power there ; we extend our view to the whole ancient
world, and find it to be the greatest fact left to us by tbe
entire past. Inseparably linked to chronology, it gives
interest to all time ; we are taught to carry our contem-
plation concerning its course backward amid the unknown
successions of primeval things, and forward to the ulti-
B
2 INTRODUCTION.
Jnate arrangements which shall stand in perpetual relation
to its completion. Its connexion with iilace may be but
of fleeting interest, but not so its associations with time^
for it is the true and only key to the dynasties of all
things.
Its history, therefore, is not like that of a sect or school
of arts or sciences or philosophy, but it stands unique
amidst the forces and facts of the world, availing itself of
all the laws of thought and sympathy, yet superior in
its origin and supreme in its action.
We cannot account for its prevalence in this country
on the ground of its congruity with the desires of man-
kind, or of its intrinsic power as an institution. It is
not a mere product of civilization, or consequence of the
social compact ; nor did it arise from Latin or barbarian
peculiarities of race. It does not owe its success to the
Church as a worldly corjDoration, for when the latter was
most powerful the former was in its weakest condition ;
nor to the state, else the Italian republics would have
possessed it in perfection. Its lineage is higher than all
these, for its kingdom is not of this world.
" God, who at sundry times and in divers manners
spake unto the fathers in time past by the prophets, hath
in these last days spoken unto us by His Son :" "that in
the dispensation of the fulness of times, he might gather
together in one all things in Christ."
But inasmuch as its essence is the personal obedient
reception of Divine revelation, its annals can consist of
little more than a succession of biographies of individuals
who influenced each other by the laws of association,
INTRODUCTION. 3
themselves still more influenced by the force derived from
a common source of life and truth and love. This renders
its delineation difficult, for spirituality ever shuns the
light when left to its own free choice; and we know, that
of the work of the Holy Spirit, " we hear the sound
thereof, but cannot tell whence it cometh or whither it
goeth."
The persons, too, who have ever formed the bulk of
its votaries, have been unknown to fame, and unskilled
in letters.
A cause so potent as to give ultimate shape to all
history must, however, have left some waymarks along the
highways and byways of Time. To trace these, and try
to connect them, by the aid of the very imperfect mate-
rials available, may yield us some present instruction.
To do it perfectly, will be one of the grateful occupations
of heaven.
In England the progress of piety has been a jDursuit
under difficulties. The truth had to be discerned and
selected whilst in fellowship with error; it had to be
eliminated in the face of opposition ; it had to be won
with courage and held with constancy, in spite of suc-
cessive failures apparently total : and this, too, after many
great combatants on its side had sunk in discouragement,
though not in despair. After heroic exertions made for
many years without either public fame or immediate frtiit,
it pleased God ultimately to crown the long course of
warfare with glorious triumph.
The very failures were consoling; for, unlike tlie denial
of political liberty, the prevention of religious freedom in
4 INTKODUCTION.
society, could never hinder its prevalence in the heart
of the combatant. Though the victory were defeiTed, yet
the individual always won. Even in outward bondage he
enjoyed all the immunities of inward emancipation.
The history of religion has been usually depicted in
Rembrandt-like style, — all darkness in one part of the
field, and all light in another ; but Guido's picture of the
dawn is a better symbol of the historical reality, for there
we see light from the eastern heavens shedding down and
becoming difi*used over the lower landscape, until the
dark shadows lingering over tower and town slowly dis-
perse, and glorious day comes on.
" 0 Spirit of the Lord ! prepare
All the round earth her God to meet ;
Breathe thou abroad hke morning air,
Till hearts of stone begin to beat.
" Baptize the nations far and nigh ;
The trmmphs of thy Cross record ;
The name of Jesus glorify,
Till every kindred call Him Lord."'
CHAPTER II.
^6e Jptrst planting.
A.D. TO A.D. 500.
In search of a commencemeut, "we must pass over the
primordial period of European life, whose scattered flint
implements are sole witnesses of the most ancient dwellers :
the age of stone monuments, too, characterized by crom-
lechs and cairn-burials, yields us no response ; nor do any
of the generations anterior to the Roman invasion echo
back a reply grounded on Divine oracles. No relic has
come down to us, from those remote distances, to indicate
the nature of the religious hopes of the original settlers,
or early colonists, of Atlantic Europe. Further researches
into the cave-resorts, grave-pits, and battle-fields of our
remote forefathers (if such investigation should ever
disinter aught save axes and arrow-heads) may bring to
light proofs of the prevalence of sufiering and of sin, and
indications of some recourse to the supernatural. We
need not these, however, to assure us of the inevitable
wretchedness occasioned by outliving all knowledge of
the true God. The records of Holy Scripture prove the
rapidity and certainty of human declension, consequent
b THE FIRST PLANTING. [the fikst t. cestb.
on the abandonment of Dh^ne teaching and the repudia-
tion of Divine guidance. Man, like the prodigal, takes
his portion, goes into the far country, and speedily becomes
little better than the beasts that perish, save in the fertility
of his resources for offence, or in some scanty recognition
of higher life, manifested more in superstition than in
obedience.
An attempt has been made, or rather renewed, of late
years, to deduce from the history of society a natural
law of progress, and to show that the march of improve-
ment has been an evolution of nature, effected, not by
means of, but in spite of, Christianity; and that the
latter has greatly contributed to the irregularities and
retardations of the natural stream of human advancement.*
It is no part of the present undertaking to venture out
into the province of the secondary injfluences of Christi-
anity ; but, in dealing with the history of religion, it is
impossible for any candid student not to perceive that
the whole present civilization of the world is just what
Christianity has made it, in spite of obstacles, and that
it is by no means the result of inherent social law. The
slightest comparison of Christian with Pagan communities,
either ancient or modern, will prove the error of those
who attribute the advancement of the world to anything
save revelation. The closer the comparison is carried on,
the more manifest will it become, that conformity to the
revealed will of God is the measure of true civilization
and human happiness. In resorting to the sources and
tracing the course of spiritual life, we are drinking at the
* By the late Mr. Buckle, in his "History of Civilization." .
THE FiEST V. CENTS.] THE FIEST PLANTING. 7
very fountains of social science as it regards man's highest
interests.
In the westward march of the wanderers who originally
peopled our shores, the degeneracy of their condition
had augmented at every step, until, on their arrival
here, the last traditions of patriarchal knowledge had
died out, and they had become reduced to unmitigated
barbarism. They had willingly left, and now totally lost,
the light from heaven. They knew not of the special
events taking place beyond the Mediterranean, whereby
God was preparing for the advent of Him who should be
a " light to lighten the Gentiles ; " nor of the approach
of that auspicious hour, of which it should ever after be
sung —
" This is the month, and this the happy morn,
Wherein the Son of Heaven's Eternal King,
Of wedded Maid and Virgin Mother born,
Our great redemption from above did bring. "
The nearest approach to this knowledge, was the indica-
tion, which by the observance of the rite of sacrifice they
gave, of the need of a propitiation in their approach to
God. This appears to be of the essence of all human
religions ; and as the tradition of a Redeemer lies at the
basis of all sacrificial observance, so Christ, though
unknown to the worshippers, is the true groundwork of
all historical religion. " Of Him, through Him, to Him,
are all things !" But our barbarous progenitors knew not
the dignity or end of the rites they used, they had lost
hope even in religion, and no one had yet come to say to
8 . THE FIRST PLANTING. [the first v. cznts.
them, — "Whom therefore ye ignoraDtly worsliip, Him
declare I unto you."
The first Christianity of this country was communi-
cated by an impulse of that wave which, beginning its
flow at Jerusalem on the death of the proto-mart}T
Stephen, passed over Asia Minor, by Macedonia, into
Greece; thence to Italy, Africa, Spain, and Gaul; every-
where fertilizing as it flowed. It came to us coloured
with some few conniptions which had been thrown into
its pure waters in their westward course, but still free
from the baneful mixtures which Rome afterwards added
to the noble current. The earliest historical relations
of British Christianity, — rejecting the hypotheses which
would assign its origin to Apostolic preaching, — or to the
influence of Claudia, celebrated by the verse of Martial,
and possibly the same as is referred to in the Epistle to
Timothy, — or to Bran, the father of the patriotic British
king Caractacus, — appear to have been with ecclesiastical
Gaul, of which Lyons and Yienne were the chief cities.*
From this circumstance, our historians have fondly
deduced the pedigree of British Christian doctrine and
discipline from Antioch, rather than from Home; and
this conclusion is supported by Neander and by Lappen-
berg, as well as by our own writers. t
* Several of the public museums of France and Germany (for
instance, those of Lyons and Maj^ence) contain a series of inscrip-
tious and antiquities of the Eomano-Gauloise epoch, showing the
transition from heathenism to Christianity, especially in epitaphs,
I am not aware that the collections of Romano-British antiquities
contain any distinctively Christian art-relics, though doubtless
many such have existed.
+ Neander, "Church History," vol. i., p. 30; Lappenberg,
vol. i., p. 48; Soames' "Anglo-Saxon Church," p. 41.
THE FIRST T. CENTS.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 9
There is veiy little direct evidence on a subject so
trivial in the estimation of the Latin writers, as the
introduction of the "new superstition" into a part of the
world so remote as Britain.
TertuUian's testimony, in the year 219, is, "In whom
but in Christ have all nations believed 1 Parthians,
Medes, Elamites, and the inhabitants of Mesopotamia,
&c., — all the borders of Spain, the various nations of Gaul,
and those parts of Britain inaccessible to the Boman
arms, — are now subdued to Christ."* Eusebius, in the
beginning of the fourth century, states that some mission-
aries of the Gospel had "passed over the ocean to those
which are called the British Isles." f Chrysostom and
Jerome, both writing in the fourth century, and Theodoret
in the fifth, severally afiirm that Britain and its people,
had received the glad tidings of salvation.
The profession of Christianity in Britain, which thus
commenced towards the close of the second century, is
also attested, first, by the fact that the Diocletian persecu-
tion, A.D. 303, extended to these remote parts; next, by
the circumstance that three British bishops were present
attheCoimcil of Aries, in Provence, A.D, 314; at Sardica
in 347 ; and at Bimini in 359. Its vitality and activity
are proved by the existence within its borders of fierce
doctrinal disputes, which originated in the teaching of
Morgan, usually known as Pelagius. The efibrts of the
latter were directed to the vain task of reducing into
systematic logical consistency, tenets eonceming liberty
and grace. The existence and extensive prevalence of
controversy on this subject shows that even at this period
* Adv. Judseos, vii. f Evang. Demonst., ui. 7.
10 THE FIRST PLANTING. [the first v. cekts.
the scope of Scripture and the nature of our subjective-
ness to its deliverances, were well known. There were
many persons who, amidst the din of this and other con-
troversies, effected an escape from the strife of polemics,
into the safe hiding-place of communion with God.
We may safely conclude that the faith of the Romano-
British believer, who preferred death to apostasy, was of
the right New-Testament sort ; but we have to draw on
imagination only, when we seek to complete the picture,
by surrounding the primitive brotherhood with all " the
things which accompany salvation." Such, however, is
the true nature of the life of God in the soul, that we
may well rest satisfied with the conviction, that the mea-
sure of it allotted to the soldiers of the Cross at that time,
arming them for the higher combats of faith, was also
found to yield in. daily life the peaceable fruits of right-
eousness.
Among the 48,000 Koman soldiers who for thirty-three
years constituted the Italian force here, succeeded by a
number for very many years only one-third less, there
were, doubtless, many disciples of our Lord.
The story of the youthful martyr Alban, is true in its
leading facts ; it is only one of a class of occurrences, the
details of which are lost in the obscurities of time, but
to be recovered and reinstated in true historic sequence
amidst the restitutions of eternity. Such events must
have happened ere Christianity could be established in the
face of Roman law. The latter required sacrifice to the
gods, the former rested on the fact of the one sacrifice
"once for all offered." The assertors of the one must die
THE FIRST V. CENTS.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 1 1
rather than conform to the other, because conformity-
involved the absolute denial of their faith.
The power of the Divine life, the identity at all times
of evangelical truth and obedience, are manifested in the
lives of St. Patrick and the missionary teachers who,
from Great Britain, carried the Gospel in this age into
regions beyond the pale of the Roman empire. In truth,
a missionary spirit is essential to Christianity. The reli-
gion of the Bible is so truly cosmopolitan, that it cannot
disavow its duty of overleaping the barriers of nationality
and race. If it had been content to be local, it would
have encountered no opposition ; the Pantheon would
have been open to a statue of the King of the Jews : but
its votaries could not ignore the obligation, inherent in
its profession, to proclaim throughout the world its doc-
trines and its facts, in order that others might believe
and be saved. This circumstance rendered it inevitably
antagonistic to all other forms of faith and worship :
hence was it that the demons of persecution trooped
from all quarters, in hostile attitude, towards the novel
intruders.
It was about the year 400 that St. Patrick, then a
bondman in Ireland, but who had been trained in the
knowledge of Christian doctrine by his mother, became
imbued with its power and true meaning. His experi-
ence, as quoted by D'Aubigne from Archbishop Usher,
is deeply interesting. He says — " The love of God
increased more and more in me, with faith and the fear
of His name. The Spirit urged me to such a degree, that
I poured forth as many as a hundred prayers in one day.
12 THE FIRST PLANTING. [the first v. cekts.
And even during tlie night, in the forests, and in the
mountains, where I kept my flock, the rain, and snow
and frost, and sufferings which I endured, excited me to
seek after God. At that time I felt not the indifference
which I now feel : the Spirit fermented in my heart." *
The ministry of St. David, and of St. Asaph, in
Wales, which closed about a.d. 544, — of Columba at lona,
from 563 to 596, though somewhat in advance of this
epoch, yet belong to it, as they all derived their impulses
from Komano-British Christianity.
Columba was born at Gartan, a wild place in the high-
lands of Donegal, in Ireland, in the year 521 ; he became
a pupil of Finnian, then a priest, went to Scotland, and
settled in lona in the year 562, and died in 597. He
was, says Dr. Lindsay Alexander, " an eminently pious
man ; a man exercising a continual faith in God, feeling
that, unworthy as he was, it was only through the merit
of Christ he could be accepted of God, and seeking the
favour and approbation of God as the richest reward he
could obtain. He was much given to prayer, both social
and private, "t
The earliest strata of our history, like the most ancient
layers of our rocks, present but few traces of former
life ; but in the one, as in the other, the traces we do
find instantly attest identity of Divine operation. The
faith of the martyr, the perseverance of the believer, the
spirituality of the life, — in a word, the Christology, of the
obscure specimens furnished by these old records, are all
* D'Aubigne, Rep., vol. v. p. 25, from Patrick Conf.
t lona.
THE FIRST T. CENTS.] THE FIRST PLANTING. 13
products similar to those with which we are familiar now,
and which we have been taught to expect by the exam-
ples of holy wi'it. There has been no revolution in the
constitution or government of the kingdom of Christ.
The trump of the archangel will call up strange forms
from the grassy graves of our remote forefathers ; they
will come from cromlech and cairn, from the soil of
buried cities, from the margins o the silent Roman roads,
but their utterances will be the same.
" They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb !
Their triumph to his death."
It is a grand idea of St. Augustine, to designate the
whole church of all time, " The City' of God," — the build-
ing made without hands, which grows up through all the
centuries, to stand when time shall be no more. At
present we live in its narrow streets, we cannot command
a view of the whole ; but when our stand-point is in
heaven, we shall be able to trace its vast circumference
and progressive architecture.
CHAPTER III.
"^U Scconti planting.
On the arrival of tlie Pagan Saxons, the religion of the
Britons became a mark for political proscription. It was,
with its luckless professors, driven into the remote dis-
tricts of Wales, Cornwall, and Strathclyde, where it soon
subsisted in lingering weakness, rather as a creed than as
a power.
The poor Britons have been reproached with not
having endeavoured to convert their oppressors to the
true faith ;* but their jDosition as a conquered people,
fugitive and enslaved, fully accounts for their subsequent
obscurity. Their private efforts and fruitless struggles
have found no place in historic annals.
The second planting of Christianity in this island (much
more corrupted than at the first) occurred in the year
597. It was accomplished by the mission of Augustine
the monk, who, with his followers, came from Pope
Gregory on that express errand.
The well-known story of the beautiful Anglian slave-
boys in the market-place of Pome ; the mission originated
by the Pontiff; the ceremonial at landing in the Isle of
* Blunt, "Hist. Eeformation."
CENTS, vii., VIII., IX.] THE SECOND PLANTING. 15
Thanet ; the preaching before Ethelbert ; the foregone con-
clusion of his Queen ; the adoption of the new creed by
the mass of Kentish men; the baptizing of 10,000 on one
Christmas-day, the re-diffusion of Christianity nominally,
after this fashion, throughout the island, are well known
to all readers of our ordinary histories.
The feeble light, however, of the persecuted Chris-,
tianity of the native people was never quite extinguished.
Their faith was not only alive, but was sufficiently
vigorous to struggle for its own usages and formulas, in
opposition to those brought by the Italian missionaries.
Tor many years, efforts for the retention of theii" own
liturgy and calendar were made by the representatives of
the Romano-British Church.
These remonstrants are usually regarded as the pre-
decessors of those who, in subsequent ages, protested
against the usurpations of Rome. But the strife was
respecting ritual only, and the growing power of the
Papacy prevailed. Both parties held the main truths of
the evangelical system as a creed ; but it was in both cases
overlaid with so great a burthen of human inventions,
that its action, and even its true character, were lost. The
pure doctrine finds no place in the monkish annals which
constitute our only materials for the history of the period.
Some slender hopes may be founded on the fact that
Gregoiy sent to King Ethelbert, (together with the
wretched relics and vestments on the glories of which the
chroniclers love to dwell) one copy of the Bible, two
Psalters, two copies of the Gospels, lives of the Apostles
and Martyrs, and an exposition of the Gospels and Epistles.
16 THE SECOND PLANTING.
[cents. TII. VIII. IX.
Doubtless, like the diamond, these 2:ems jrave out some
light in the dark.
The Anglo-Saxon Church, which subsisted for nearly
five centuries, was a church protected by the government,
richly endowed, possessed of all the learning and mental
power of the realm. Yet, as an institution, it was a
disastrous failure. It did not secure or promote the
diffusion of gospel truth. Amidst the mass of Anglo-
Saxon literature still preserved to us, it is impossible to
deny that there are tokens of vital piety in fragments few
and far between. As a whole, however, it is characterized
by the prevalence of trivial superstitions. Pretended
miracles, puerile tales, trumpery ritualisms, usurp the
place of Christ's pure and holy word. The pages of
Venerable Bede, who wrote in the eighth century, show
that already the simplicity of the truth "as it is in
Jesus " had been set aside for the dogma of many medi-
ators between God and man, and that the missionary
commission, given at first to the whole race of believers,
had been usurped by the priesthood exclusively. Personal
religion was not unknown, but other things had far
greater renown.
Bede tells us of St, Oswald, King of Northumberland,
interpreting to the people the preaching of Aidan. Bede
himself translated, as it is said, the whole Psalter and a
jrreat part of the Bible into English.
The following verses form part of a hymn attributed
to Bede. "Whoever was the writer, he was not un-
acquainted with the communion of the heart with God.
cEWTs. Tir. Tin. 'I] THE SECOND PLANTING. '17
** A lij^mii of glory let us siag ;
New hymns throughout the world shall ring :
By a new way none ever trod, ,
Christ mounteth to the throne of God.
May our affections thither tend,
And thither constantly ascend,
When, seated on the Father's throne,
Thee reigning in the heavens we own !
Be thou our present joy, 0 Lord ;
Thou wilt be ever our reward ;
And as the countless ages flee,
May all our glory be in Thee ! " *
The notices of personal character which we obtain from
a perusal of Anglo-Saxon literature, just suffice to cssure
us that the doctrine of salvation by the work of Christ
was not unknown. It was, doubtless, influential in
constituting the hope and happiness of many a soul other-
wise beniojhted and forlorn. But it does not shine forth
as the staple of their religious life ; evangelism was not
the characteristic of the age.
Indeed, the Saxons had not, at any time, the whole
Bible translated into their language. We find the laity
asking for it, and the clerics labouring to give it ; but
the work was never completely done. Whilst it was
admitted that the Scriptures should be the rule of life,
they used them too much as if they were a mere store-
house of mai-vels, as in the remarkable paraphrase of
Csedmon. Faintly in this rugged, beautiful poem are the
* "Voice of Christian Life in Song," p. 141.
C
f
18 THE SECOND PLANTING. [cekts. vii. vm. ix.
traces of the Saviour's own work of atonement recognized,
and yet the whole is intended to magnify his name.
"0 let us resolve,
Throughout this world,
That we the Saviour
Seek to obey :
Fervently, through God's grace,
Eemember the inspiration of the Spirit,
How the blessed there
Sit on high,
Even with the heaven -bright
Son of God."*
Theodorus, who was consecrated Archbishop of Can-
terbury in 669, on his first visitation, amongst many
directions concerning trivial things, is said to have
preached the pure Gospel : he directed that every father
should teach his child the Creed and the Lord's Prayer
in the vulgar tongue, t
We turn wdth fond but vain desire to these scanty
records for fuller information. The glimmering taper is
not sufficient to illuminate the palace of truth, but it
enables us to make out some of its foundations.
The best feature of the j^nglo-Saxon Church w^as its
missionary spirit. In the year 694, "Wilfred, Abbot of
E,ipon, organized a mission to Friesland, ^vhich, under the
leadership of Willibrod, became successful in planting the
Gospel along the coasts of the German Ocean opposite to
us, and whence our Saxon forefathers had emigrated.
Winfred, a native of Crediton in Devonshire, became the
* Thorpe's "Credmon," 305.
t Dr. Hook, "Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury," vol. i,,
p. 150.
CENTS. VII. VIII. IX.
THE SECOND PLA:NTING. 19
apostle of Germany. Though a strict adherent of the
Papacy, yet he evinced zeal for the honour of Christ,
for the conversion of souls, the spirituality of worship,
and the advancement of pure religion. In 680, Kilian
with twelve companions went to Franconia on the like
errand.
The bishops published homilies on Scripture topics,
several of which are still extant, to be read by the clergy
to their flocks. The Gospels were translated from the Latin
more than once. Many manuscripts of these translations
still exist among the rarer treasures in our libraries.
In the year 705, " when Aldhelm became Bishop of
Sherborne, he went to Canterbury to be consecrated by
his old friend Berth wold. At this time, ships arrived at
Dover with merchandise ; and, amongst other works, a
copy of the Old and New Testament was there, which he
bought and placed in the church at Sherborne."* It is
pleasant, too, to read of the same Aldhelm, disguised as a
minstrel, stationing himself on the bridge over the river
Ivel, attracting a crowd by his sweet music and song, and
then, having secured their attention; turning his theme
from the deeds of heroes to the glad tidings of the Gospel.
In the year 780, King Offa gave a great Bible to the
church at Worcester. Alfred translated portions of the
Psalter, and wrote devout reflections, in his version of
Boethius, for the spiritual instruction of the people.
The canon of ^Ifric to Wulfinus, a bishop in 970,
enacts that — "On Sundays and festivals, the priest
ought to explain to the people the sense of the Gospel in
* Maitland,
20 THE SECOND PLANTING. [crNTs. vn. vni. ix.
English, and, by the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles'
Creed^ to excite men to religion."
It would have been gratifying to have given a distin-
guished place in the noble army of martyrs to Boniface,
the Devonshire monk or missionary of 718, who carried
the knowledge of Christianity to the Germanic tribes,
and met his death in the year 755, whilst attempting to
win them to the cause of the Church. But the extant
records of his writings show that he had no higher motive
or ambition than to extend the dominions of his sovereign
the Pope.
Alcuin, the most learned man of the eighth century,
and a native of York, where he was born about the year
735, belongs more to France than England; for his chief
works were written either during his residence at the
Court of Charlemagne, or in his retirement at the Abbey
of Tours, where he died in 804. He was unquestionably
a man of deep personal piety, of devout habit, and of
large Scriptural knowledge. But his voluminous writings
seldom display the progress of his own inner life. For
sixteen years he superintended, at York, the college in
which he had been trained. It is refreshing to think of
the young man opening his literary career by a Scriptural
defence of the worship of Christ, and of the old man
closing it by a revision of the Latin text of the Bible.
Alcuin, in his instructions to Christian missionaries,
requires them to teach the doctrine that our Saviour
came into the world for the salvation of the human race ;
but he accompanies it with the direction that the pagans
should be previously informed for what sins they would
cESTs VII. VIII. IX.] THE SECOND PLANTING. 21
have to suffer everlasting puiiisliinents, and for what good
deeds they will enjoy unceasing glory with Christ.*
The same writer urges on his correspondents the para-
mount duty of studying the Scriptures. To one he says,
« Write the Gospel in your heart ; " to anotlier, " I wish
the four Gospels, instead of the twelve ^neids, filled your
breast;" "Read diligently, I beseech you, the Gospels of
Christ." Still more explicitly he writes — " Study Christ
as foretold in the books of the prophets, and as exhibited
in the Gospels ; and when you find Him, do not lose Him,
but introduce hiin into the home of thy heart, and make
Him the ruler of thy life. Love Him as thy Kedeemer
and thy Governor, and as the Dispenser of all thy com-
forts. Keep His commandments, because in them is
eternal life."t The dedication of his Notes on Genesis to
his friend Sigulf acquaints us with his mental activity,
and serves to show that the scholars of that day were no
mean students of Holy Scripture. It is as follows : —
" As thou, my dearest brother, hast so long been my
inseparable and faithful companion, and as I know with
what ardour thou studiest the Holy Scriptures, I have
collected and dedicated to thee a few questions upon the
Book of Genesis, which I remember thou hast at different
times proposed to me. I have done this that thou mayst
always have at hand a means of refreshing thy memory,
which often loses that which it should retain, if we do not
preserve those things we desire to remember, in writing.
This is especially the case with us, whose thoughts are
* Turner's "Anglo-Saxons," vol. iii., p. 487.
+ Ibid., p. 498.
22 THE SECOND PLANTING. [cents, tii. viii. ix.
distracted by temporal business, and who are frequently
exhausted by the fatigue of long journeys. As we cannot
encumber ourselves with ponderous volumes, we must
provide ourselves with abridgments, that the precious
pearl of wisdom may be lightened, and the weary
traveller possess something wherewith he may refresh
himself without fatiguing his hand with too heavy a
burthen. There are, however, in this book, many diffi-
cult questions, which at present I am neither willing nor
able to solve, and concerning which thou hast not desired
information. Those which are here treated of are chiefly
historical, and for which a simjDle answer will suffice :
the others, on the contrary, require more profound inves-
tigation, and a more copious explanation." The object
of the work is to point out the connexion between the
narratives of Genesis and the doctrines of redemption and
life of Christ. In his homage to the Di^dne Saviour, he
allows his fancy to run riot in search of types and
analogies ; but the scope of his teaching is usually correct
and valuable.
One of the capitularies of Charlemagne (probably
indited by Alcuin) is, " Let preaching always be per-
formed in such a manner that the common people may be
able to understand it thoroughly." * One of Alcuin's
letters to Charlemagne relates to the mode of the atone-
ment, and is a reply to the inquiries and suggestions of a
subtle Greek on this vital subject. The Anglo-Saxon
gladly recognized and taught the universal scope of the
offer of salvation made in revelation. His works abound
* Guizot, "History of Civilization," Lecture 21.
cr>-Ts. VII. viii. IX.] THE SECOND PLANTING. 23
in proofs of his ample knowledge of the springs of human
action, but they are somewhat deficient in the full appre-
ciation of higher things.
The vitiated atmosphere of earth sadly distorts the
images of heavenly things seen through its medium.
We must wait for the clear vision of the future ere we
can know as we are known ; but still it remains true that
the effect of the religion of Christ, on the personal stand-
ing and character of every one who receives it, is real
and decisive for eternity.
In the dissensions which arose between the advocates
of the newly-established form of Christianity imported
from Rome and the partisans of the ancient British faith,
we first discern the workings of the good and evil of the
mediseval church institutions. On the one side there
lies the grand dominant idea of the Papal Church ; — that
of a society united in spiritual bonds, independent of all
nationalities, and of time itself, rising in its unity trium-
phant over differences of race, manners, language, and
political government ; accepting one symbol ; bowing
before one general council ; submitting to the rule of one
officer as God's sole vicegerent and interpreter ; promoted
by agents whose passports insure universal introduction.
On the other, we see in the suppression of the right of
private judgment, abundant proof that this much-vaunted
unity was external only; that, in fact, it extinguished
the true unity which our Lord bequeathed to his fol-
lowers, for the sake of a hollow territorial uniformity.
When the Primacy, with congenial taste, accroached
to itself political power, it immediately turned it into an
^^ THE SECOND PLANTING. [cents, vn. -nii. ix.
engine of oppression against those whom, but for political
considerations, it would most have cherished. The tem-
poral views of the Papacy were fatal to true religious union.
The proverbs of King Alfred show that he held in high
regard the person and work of Christ, towards whom he
enjoins love and reverence, for "He is Lord of life."
His translation of portions of Scripture, Extracts from
St. Augustine, and other works, exhibit remarkable
discernment. From his introduction to his translation of
Gregory's " Pastoral Care," we learn that personally, and
almost alone, he promoted the diffusion of Scriptui-al
knowledge in the mother-toiigue of his people. He
aimed at filling the pulpits throughout the land with
earnest ministers who should be able to preach intelligibly.
He wished to create a nation of readers and a literature
founded on the Bible. His Will shows that thouejh not
free from some superstitions then inwoven with the form
of religion, yet he possessed, and chiefly valued its sub-
stance. We cannot recover all the lost sentences of the
religious journal which we are told that he kept, but we
know that it indicated communion with God by the one
Mediator and a humble reliance on heavenly aid.
Theodolph's capitular, in 994, enjoins the priests to be
prepared to teach the people by preaching to them the
Scriptures. No priest can excuse himself from teaching,
"for every one of you has a tongue by which he can
reclaim some."
True it is, that in the presence of the superstitious
pei-versions of Scripture then prevalent. Divine truth
could exert only a precarious influence ; but doubt-
tMTg. VII Tin. 1:^0 THE SECOND PLANTING. 25
less, notwithstanding this, many of the teacliers and the
taught, as they conned over the story of tlie life of Christ,
experienced the siirj^rise of a heavenly light, darting into
the dark chambers of their minds, converting them into
temples of the Most High.
One of the capitulars passed in the reign of ^thelred,
A.D. 994, directs that each of the Christian laity should
pray at least twice a day. In the same year we find a
law of the Witenaojemote directinoj that " Christians be
not sold out of the land ; also that they shall not be
condemned to death for trifling offences."
One proof of the influence of personal religion at this
period is afforded by the practice of bestowing freedom on
slaves from religious motives. This, became more and
more prevalent down to the days of King Harold. Some-
times there was more of superstition than religion in the
motive of the emancipation; but in many instances it is
expressed to be grounded on the love of Christ, and I
know not why we should doubt that the sacrifice arose
from an individual reception of the Gospel of salvation.
The parties went to the altar of some well-known church,
called on the priests to witness the act, proclaimed it to the
assembly, and had it registered in the church copy of the
Gospels as the most sacred and enduring of records. It is
not too much to believe also, that, in some cases, the light
and love which induced this action on the part of the
master reached as well to the heart of the grateful slave;
so that the latter became likewise free by a surer title,
and in an infinitely higher sense.
The advancement of Anglo-Saxon Christianity as an
2Q THE SECOKD PLANTING. [cents, vn. vni. ix.
ecclesiastical system was accompanied by its degeneracy as
an exponent of the truth. The tenets relating to the in-
vocation of saints and the worship of relics, which at first
appeared as sentimental excrescences, became of greater
relative importance as years rolled on, and ultimately
superseded Gospel truth itself Meanwhile, there were still
some who concerned themselves more with the kernel than
the husk or its accessories. The existence of a contro-
versy on the old topic of free-will and God's decrees,
proves that men's minds were not altogetlier engrossed
in ritual observances. The followers of Alcuin held to
the line of truth embraced by Augustine, whilst others
expressed the relentless logic of more extreme views.
The popular literatui-e which characterizes the later
period of Anglo-Saxon Christianity is not calculated to
afibrd any high idea of the knowledge or taste of the
learned.. It consists of lives of tlie saints, which were
written and dispersed in great nuuibers, but in which
fiction prevails to an extent whicli rendei-s it now im-
possible to separate the fact from the fable. The same
legends were also pictorially represented on the church
walls. The genuine seeker after Divine truth was em-
barrassed and confused by these misleading guides.
It is extremely difiicult to obtain materials for our
work from the older annalists. The history of external
things may be recovered from the waymarks left along
the track of time ; but internal things, the successive
consciousness of successive generations, can never be fully
recalled.
From such slender stores we gladly escape into the
CENTS, vii. vni. IX.] THE SECOND PLANTING. 27
lawful charities of a wide induction, using tbe well-chosen
words of an American writer : —
"During all these ages of corruption, however, the
Spiritual Church existed, represented in the persons of
devout men, who walked with God amid the night of
error, sufferers from the evil of their times, unable to
explain or to break away from them, but seeking in their
monastic cells, or in the walks of ordinary life, that puri-
fication and peace which are received only by faith ; and
the ecclesiastical historian finds grateful relief, as he
gropes through the dark ages, in being able continually
to point to these scattered lights, which, like the lamps in
Koman tombs, gleamed faintly but perennially amid the
moral death of the visible Church." * *
The objective histoiy of redemption will ultimately be
the most interesting of all tales. The work of God in
this land will form no inconsiderable chapter in that great
history. It gleams out occasionally in the pages of ordi-
nary chronicles, but it has been evolved by a series of
causes principally operating out of our view; working
out results, not in accordance with men's anticipations,
but in spite of them.
One feature characterizes the subject which, at first
sight, appears to deprive it of interest ; namely, the
absolute identity of vital religion wherever and when-
ever found. We discern the same enlightened appre-
hension, the same enlivened heart, whether the grace
of God has produced them in the barbarous Celt or
the refined Englishman — whether in the gloom of the
* Dr. Stevens, "History of Methodism," chap. i.
28 THE SECOND PLANTING. [cekts. m. Tin. n.
eighth or the light of the eighteenth centiiiy. But the
grand succession of human events through and in which
true Christianity is displayed to us, renders its career one
of continual diversity.
All unknown to the majority of our countrymen, there
was at this time spreading under the shadows of the
Maritime Al})s, and along the rich plains of Provence, the
evangelism which, under the name of the Albigensian
heresy, was afterwards so ruthlessly stamped out, partly
by the aid of English soldiery.
CHAPTER IT.
^ 6 c Is" 0 1 lu a n s.
Doubtless, all the political movenents of human society
are connected with the advancement of Christ's kingdom ;
though we cannot, at present, always see the connexion.
This kind of knowledge properly belongs to the future
condition of our being, when we shall be unembarrassed
by the limitations which now clog our powers and obstruct
oiu- view.
The Korman Conquest left unaltered the state of things
spiritual. Whatever there was of true piety in Britain,
was still a rare and hidden product.
The invaders were in good odour with Rome before
their descent on England. In accordance with the
fashion of the times, the Duke of Normandy had sought
and obtained the Pope's sanction for his great enterprise.
It was begun and continued in the sacred name of God ;
a perversion, alas ! too common on the pag^s of history
to excite any remark.
The Norman ecclesiastics, whilst deeming themselves
accountable to Rome alone for their faith and practice,
yet held of the local nationalities the land attached to
30 THE NORMANS.
[cents. XI. STI.
their benefices. In this respect they were amenable to
law. They struggled to get rid of this subjection, and
to have it acknowledged that they held the temporals as
well as the spirituals from the Pope. This was the source
of the quarrel about investitures, which constitutes so large
a portion of the so-called history of the Church in this
dreary period. The claims of the Gospel and of man's
spiritual necessities, were never once considered or referred
to, in the contest which culminated in the murder of
Becket at Canterbury. True it is that the encroachments
of Rome led to a reaction towards national freedom ; but
this was grounded on motives of patriotism only. A few
fine outbursts of manly protest against the claims of the
Papacy were uttered now, and remembered in coming years.
Nor is the inquiry more inviting with regard to the
inner life of this period. Men of vast intellectual capacity
there were ; men who had an intelligent, lofty perception
of spiritual truth ; but in their teaching they ignored
alike the simplicity of the Gospel and the inductions of
common sense. They elaborated an eclectic system of
scholastic notions concerning all things; a system quite
unconnected with, or rather setting aside, the actual woes
and wants of humanity. Altogether unlike was it to the
provision made by Him who " knew what was in man."
Never can the sentiment of Cowper be more aptly quoted
than with reference to the fine-spun logomachy of the
schoolmen :
' ' Oh, how unlike the complex works of man,
Heaven's easy, artless, unencumber'd plan ! "
And yet Anselm, archbishop of Canterbury in 1093,
CKNT8. XI. XII.] THE NORMANS. 31
was a Christian of no common order, of large lieaii;
and mind, profoundly learned, acute and pious. His
works are lasting monuments of genius applied to some
of the highest problems of humanity. His teaching on
the atonement is a masterly exposition of the judicial
aspects of that infinitely great transaction. He failed,
however, to give or to restore to the common people the
knowledge of Christ, although they would have received
it with gladness and gratitude. In the works of Anselm,
the intricate sentences and subtle reasoning conceal an
unwavering faith in Christ as a Divine Saviour: his
teaching, though deformed by the ugly scaffolding of
formal logic, is nevertheless based upon the Scrijjtural
foundation of man's guilt and Christ's satisfaction, man's
need and God's aid. Humble, and at times almost
desponding, yet his firm grasp of the power and love of
Jesus makes him a joyful conqueror in the conflicts of
the inner life. His biographer Eadmer says, "Christ
was never absent from his lips." He crowned his long
life of various effort by composing a treatise on the con-
cord between grace and free-will, and expired whilst, at
his request, his attendants were reading to him the dying
sayings of our Lord.
We may well sympathize v/ith the sentiments of Mr.
Stoughton, expressed in his Lecture to Young Men in 1862,
wliilst speaking of Anselm, — that he would not for the
world resign the reverence and love he felt for him, and
Bernard, and Augustine, and Cyprian, and Chrysostom.
" None of them were so much disciples and advocates of
a church system, as they were believers in a personal
32 THE NORMANS.
[CENTS. XI XII.
redeeming Christ. Whoever looks below the surface of
such men's characters will find the same elements of
spiritual life, — faith, purity, obedience, self-denial, love.
Gould they now meet us and enter into conversation, we
should find some difiiculty in understanding them at first.
Their speech and ours would need some sort of translation ;
but getting below metaphysical theology, and foi-ms of
worship, and ecclesiastical discipline, and certain personal
predilections, when each came to speak to tlie other of
God, as a personal and ever-present Father, — of Christ,
as the Son of God, the Brother and Redeemer of man, — of
the Spirit, as the soul's sanctifier, and the Divine presence
in the ch\irch, — heart would answer to heart, and men
divided by ages, and by other things broader than ages,
would be drawn into a circle of blessed sympathy, and
would clasp hands and kneel d.wn together before the
one cross and the one throne. We should all join in the
Te Deum Laudamusr *
Public aifairs connected with religion at this epoch furnish
us with no materials for the history c f personal piety. In
resorting to contemporary annals, we soon find that " the
Church," in their language, means something very difierent
from the institution designated by this name in the New
Testament.
In the latter we find it used to denote a society of
persons believing iu the Divine mission and person of our
blessed Lord, f In mediaeval phraseology, it means the
* Exeter Hall Lectures, 1862, p. 123.
t " The most radical and fundamental idea of the Church is,
that it is the comjiany or society of those who are called by God
enNTs. XI. XII.] THE NORMANS. 33
clergy alone as an order. In its character of a secular
corporation tlie Cliurcli was deservedly popular. It was
less exacting in its government than were the feudal
landowners : its honours were open to all. Its temj)oral
position required that it should possess right to allegiance
and the power of coercion. Its dangerous nature arose
from this double aspect, — the addition of the terrors of the
sword to the terrors of conscience. These twofold powers,
aided by its unbroken succession, rendered it the most
potent combination for government ever exhibited to the
world. Had not man's urgency for personal salvation led
him to the study of the Bible, and by its lessons ultimately
to break through the barriers of the Church, the whole
civilized world must have become permanently subjected
to hierarchical government.
The claim of infallibility made on its part, was allowed,
not only by barbarous or effeminate people, but by the
strong-minded leaders of the age. Man's right and duty
of private judgment was surrendered ; absolutism spread
over the nations like the fatal flow of poisonous waters
from a mine. The Church claimed the right of coercion ;
its punishments were awarded, not against sin, but against
fi^ee thought and free speech.
Christianity, being faith in the revelation concerning
Chiist, and obedience to Him; it would at first sight
appear to be simply impossible to pervert these into faith
in ma7i, and implicit obedience to him ; yet, sucli is
to a knowledge of supernatural tnith, and an acquaintance with
the way of salvation."— Principal Cunningham, "Historical
Theology," Introd.
D
34 THE NORMANS. [cents, xi. xii.
the skill of Satan, that this was actually accomplished.
It theuce results that, for the subject of our present
inquiry, the history of the so-called Church is pi'actically
useless.
A few conclusions may be drawn from facts inciden-
tally recorded.
In the reign of Rufus, Godfrey, abbot of Malmesbury,
stripped of their coverings twelve copies of the Gospels, in
order to contribute the price of these costly wrappings
towards the purchase of Normandy. In the year 1190,
William de Longchamp, bishop of Ely, pawned thirteen
copies of the Gospels to raise 160 marks towards the
ransom of Eichard Coeur-de-Lion, including one copy of
great value said to have belonged to King Edgar. The
fond reverence indicated by their adornments was paid,
we fear, not to the precious truth enshrined, but to the
piece of ecclesiastical furniture which was thus deco-
rated.
Had the Anglo-Saxons, instead of sumptuously adorning
the book for their sacristy, multiplied its pages for the
perusal of the people, how different had been the history
of the world !
When disappointed of the object of our search in
princely courts or monastic cells, shall we find it in the
home of the Franklin or the hut of the slave 1 No
encouraging response comies back from the dark caverns,
— no voices of the day !
It is not impossible that a beam of transmitted light,
struggling through the dust of ritual, may have struck on
the conscience of some solitary one and guided to the
CENTS. XI. XII.] THE NORMANS. 35
Saviour. Truly a forlorn liojie, and yet all that we can
express.
For about two hundred years after tlie Conquest, for
six average generations of English life, all opinion is
hushed,- — not a finger is raised, — there is one common
prostration. Great activity prevailed in the " Church,"
total torpor in the kingdom of Christ, save where some
undercurrent carried forward the waters of life without
the music or sparkle of their daylight flow.
This age is also characterized by that which, at first
sight, would appear to be directly connected with our
subject, — namely, the erection of costly edifices for the
worship of God. These noble structures were raised by
the ofiierings of piety for purposes of Christian service.
Beautiful are the Romanesque buildings of the Norman
epoch, beautiful the transition tracery of the Early
English ; gracefully diverging from the stiff patterns of
Greece and Rome, and yet reminding of both, — plastic yet
solid, poetical in detail, solemn in mass. In proportion
as they are now adequately restored to us by the con-
scientious travail of the architect, it becomes apparent
that they were never intended, and can never be applied,
for the services of a simple Scriptural worship. The voice
of "the i^reacher, the ear of the listener, the eye of both,
are all bereft of their offices. There is no congruity
whatever between these dark, solemn temples, and the
religion whose denomination they bear. Daily, for a
thousand years, in some of their lofty naves has there
reverberated the echoes of sentences in honour of the
Redeemer, but, during the greater portion of the tiuie in
36 THE NORMANS. [cents, xi. xii.
a sealed lansjuaofe, and durins: all tLe time in an obscure
method. The stately ceremonial, the imposing procession,
the swelling organ, and ringing voice, have been repeated
until the very atmosphere is full of memories ; but never,
for ages, was the free, glorious Gospel proclaimed, so that
all in the temple could hear " all the words of this life j"
never, to the apjDrehension of the multitude, did the
niusic of God's own message of forgiveness for Christ's
sake reverberate through their "long-drawn aisles and
fretted vaults."
Doubtless, at all times there have been some faithful,
persevering ones, who have penetrated the sevenfold
envelopes of mediaeval ceremonial, and seized the kernel of
truth within ; but there is no instance recorded, of any
powerful work for God originated through the medium of
+he dim revelations of doctrine enfolded in the Komish
ritual.
The chapels attached to the few Plantagenet mansions
now left — e. y., Haddon Hall — are so inuch smaller than
the dining-room, that they could never have contained
even the half of the denizens of the castle. They are
evidently adapted only to the performance of the of&ces of
the Church, and of individual devotions at a few shrines
there set up. Very rarely in the dark ages do we read
of pious clerks or missionary chaplains ; very rarely do
we find traces of godly faith in the deep bays of the
drawing-room, or arbours of the pleasauuce. Some
witnesses for the truth there were, who held with mar-
vellous and marvelling faith to the creed of Romanism,
and yet lived in humble confidence in Jesus as the only
CENTS. SI. XH.] THE NORMANS. 37
Saviour. They died and left no sign, nor had they any
following.
Popular writers have been much in the habit of dark-
ening the sombre aspect presented by the faint spirituality
of the Middle Ages. It is unjust to decry it altogether.
The scarcity of Holy Scripture, the paucity of Gospel
teaching, the absence of Gospel sympathies, the obscurity
in which the doctrine of justification was involved; —
these cannot be denied. But the eclipse was never total.
Here and there a pilgrim may be discerned with his face
Zionward, " striviug to enter in." The men were better
than their ritual ; the pulpit, which in later times has, it
is said, been corrected by liturgies, was then iu advance
of them. The sermons of mediaeval* preachers abound in
large quotations from Sci-ipture, — not always well applied,
but always treated as absolute authority. They thus
testify for preachers and hearers that the facts of Holy
Writ were common knowledge. Undoubtedly, there is
in these compositions more of superstition than of sense,
more of allegory than plain speaking; but, amidst all their
defects, there were sentences which enabled men to
discern the blessed truths of the Gospel of salvation.
The honour of God is not promoted by representing
Romanism, either before the Reformation or since, as a con-
dition of unmitigated religious perversion and ignorance.
Gross darkness and extensive corruption pievailed, but yet
there was to be found "faith on the earth." Wherever
found and whenever, the latter asserts its own substantial
identity. The truth-bearei's are always in strict alliance
with each other, though they neither know of nor desire
38 THE NORMANS. [cents, xi. xn.
the union. No Babel can ever confound that language.
St. Bernard strikes the key-note for the whole choir when
he sings : —
'O-
" O Jesus ! Thy sweet memory
Can fill the heart with ecstasy ;
But passing all things sweet that be,
Thine actual presence, Lord !
Never was sung a sweeter word,
Nor fuller music e'er was heard,
Nor deeper aught the heart hath stirr'd,
Than Jesus, Son of God.
What hope, O Jesus, thou canst render
To those who other hopes surrender ! —
To those who seek thee, oh, how tender !
But what to those who find !
When thou dost in our hearts appear,
Truth shines with glorious light and clear ;
The world's joys seem the drop they are.
And love burns bright within." *
We dare not conclude, that of the multitude of wor-
shippers successively entering the portals of mediseval
churches, each giving a passionate glance at the crucifix,
and kneeling before the altar of the patron saint, there
were absolutely none who found their way to the
Saviour. We do trace in the dim records unmistakable
proofs that there were a few, at least, who regarded with
faith " The Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of
the world;" we will not give up the hope that there are
many jewels yet to be recovered from the dust of the
* " Jesu dulcis. " Translated in "Voice of Christian Life in
Song," p. 163.
CENTS. XI. sii] THE NORMANS. 39
crowded sepulchres, around the ancient fanes throughout
our beloved country.
"As evening's pale and solitary star
But brightens while the darkness gathers round,
So faith, unmoved amidst surrounding storms,
Is fairest seen in darkness most profound."
The Roman Breviary displays a symbolical connexion
between the appointed order of daily service and the
facts of our Lord's life on earth. Each service is asso-
ciated with one of those mysterious acts and sufferings
which constitute the historical groundwork of our faith
in the atonement. This arrangement, which must have
appeared to some persons to be utterly without significance
because purely artificial, yet has to others been a source
of grateful sympathy and a means of spiritual refresh-
ment. So thousands of minds have been excited to loffcy
thought or fervent devotion by the utterance of the grand
invitatory services at Matins, the urgent ejaculatory
prayers at Prime, the Scripture lessons and collect at
Vespers, and the hymn at Compline. But biography
shows that in the great majority of instances these
sei-vices have been an unprofitable weariness, whilst to
the mass of the people they have been mere dumb
show.
The Crusades, which for two hundred years occasioned so
much excitement and action, and which have left so many
traces of their influence in arts and arms, appear to have
had no effect whatever on spiritual life. Beyond the fact that
some of the few warrior pilgrims who returned, founded
40 THE NORMANS. [cents, xi. xn.
chantries or larger ecclesiastical establislimeiits, we have no
record whereby to connect them with the religious history
of our country. The originals of the crossed and mailed
figures on altar-tombs, girt with sword, were, we fear,
animated by feelings altogether different from the spirit
of the true champions of the Cross. It is not until after
this page of history is closed that we perceive the dawn of
free religious thought in England. Defective alike in
object and method, we look in vain through the annals
of the Holy Wars for any trace of personal spiritual life.
We may imagine it to have existed and been nourished
by the higher associations of the enterprise, but we have
no record which opens to us this aspect of the strange
phenomenon then exhibited in Christendom.
The eleventh century was throughout Europe a period
of great ecclesiastical and religious excitement. The
power of the Papacy had no sooner become consolidated
and fully organized, than it was rebelled against by indi-
viduals and communities all over the so-called Christian
world. The doctrines of the Church had no sooner been
thoroughly eclipsed by the inventions of men, than the
seekers for the hidden forbidden truth appeared in all
countries. The early doctrinal reformers are said to have
spnmg from the East under the name of Paulicians, and
to have travelled through Bulgaria and Hungary into
Lombardy, and thence into Italy, the South of France,
Germany, and even England. It was rather the desire
for better things, the yearning for purer Divine light,
that characterized this movement, than any single feature
common to all the manifold varieties into which it spread.
CENTS. XI. XII. J THE NORMANS. 41
We learn its purport only bv the lurid light of the fires
which flamed in its wake from land to land.
A very cursory glance at the history of mediseval con-
troversies will serve to convince us of the vast seething
and surgiug of opinion on religious subjects during the
dark ages. Many persons amidst the turbulence of these
disputes found their way to the peace which Christ ever
gives to his true followers ; and most of them served to
exemplify the truth of the Master's saying, "If they have
persecuted me, they will also persecute you."
Indeed, there were never wanting men who in the bosom
of the Church protested against its misdeeds. The records
of heresy must here furnish us with testimonies for the
proof. The events suggested by the Yellowing enumera-
tion extending through about two centuries, show that
there was a continuous agitation for more or less of evan-
gelical conformity, for the sacred right of private judg-
ment, and for the honour of Scripture.
A.D.
1000. Wilgard of Kavenna and his followers put to
death. The first capital punishment for
heresy in Italy.
„ Leutard of Chalons imprisoned.
1017. A dozen persons burnt at Orleans for heresy.
1030. Gandolfo, a missionary heretic, at Arras.
1034. Heretics burnt at Milan
1046. Hangings and burnings in Germany and France
1079. Berenger, bishop of Angers.
1130. Peter de Bruys burnt at St. Gilles.
1135. Ai'nold of Brescia.
42 THE NORMANS. [cents, xi. xii.
A.D.
1147. Henry tlie monk died in prison.
1160. Peter Waldo of Lyons.
1183. Waldenses excommunicated.
„ Whiteliorst.s and other sects of reforming friars.
1209. Disciples of Amaury of Chalons bnrnt.
1229. War of extermination against Albigenses ended.
1234. Heretics persecuted at Oldenburg and throughout
northern Germany.
„ Paterini burnt at Rome.
1260. Sect of "Apostles" begun at Parma.
1270. Dolcino burnt at Vercelli.
The proud boast of the great Romanist writer, that the
doctrine of the Papal Church could stand the test of uni-
versal consentaneousness in time and space, is dissipated
by the most cursory glance into ecclesiastical history.*
Such instances serve to show us how much more has
occurred in the transactions of time than our historical
records reveal. The picture-gallery of the past is so
scantily and irregularly lighted, that we see but the
shadowy outlines of things; only here and there is a
subject disclosed to us with all its figures and accessories
complete. In the Chronicles of the Mayors and Sheriffs
of London, in the possession of the Corporation, we read
about this time of a transaction which just serves to
make darkness visible : — "a.d. 1247. In this year, on
the Translation of Saint Edward the King and Con-
* Vincent de Lerins, ' * Quod semper, quod ubique, quod ab
omnibus. "
CENTS. XI. XII.] THE NORMANS. 43
fessor, a portion of the blood of oiu' Lord Jesus Christ was
brought to London, being sent by the Patriarch of Jeru-
siilem to his lordship the King, and was deposited at
Westminster." *
Grim visions do we get, about the year 1158, of luck-
less Italian reformers, a band of thirty, under two leaders,
who, driven from the valleys of the Lower Alps, sought
refuge here. Unlike the England of modern days, our
soil then rejected these forlorn ones. On account of their
heresies, they were, " by the king and the prelates, all
burnt in the forehead, and driven out of the realm j and
afterwards, as Illyricus writeth, were slain by the Pope."t
Another band, of Germans, met with a similar recep-
tion, and a fate still more painful. The old Saxon jDenalty
of outlawry was enforced against them. They were
judicially declared friendless, and consigned to the ele-
ments : the sentence was obeyed ; these foreign brethren
of our blessed Lord perished of cold and hunger and
exposure, in the depth of a northern winter, in the very
centre of Old England, within sight of noble feudal castles,
hospitable granges, and religious establishments.
Matthew of "Westminster says that, in the year 1087,
Berengarius had many followers in England ; Possevin
states that Baldwin, archbishop of Canterbury, wrote, in
the year 1180, a treatise " Conti'a Reliquias Berengarii."
The Council held at Chichester in 1289 condemned the
fraternity of " Apostles." It is not, of course, to be inferred
that all who opposed the ruling belief and discipline
* Chronicles translated by Riley, 1863.
+ Foxe, vol. ii., p. 198.
4:4: THE NORMANS. [cents, xi. xii.
were true followers of Christ ; but the existence of such
continuous wide-spread dissent is a proof that many
persons were individually seeking for light and truth ;
and we may safely infer that in such a pursuit, followed
with perseverance, guided by Scripture, hallowed by
prayer, many persons found for themselves the prohibited
ti'easure.
In the year 1210, whilst England was under the Papal
interdict for the contumacy of King John in not accept-
ing the Pope's nomination of Stephen Langton as arch-
bishop of Canterbury, (the same prelate who was then a
diligent Bible student and teacher, and afterwards the
patriotic compiler and upholder of Magna Charta,) we
first read of heresy in the sense of evangelical opposition
to the dominant system. It was introduced from the
South of France, where it was at this time born and soon
afterwards most cruelly strangled. An old chronicler,
with meagre detail and confused spelling, informs us that
" in this year certain Ambigensis ( Albigenses) were burnt
in London."
It is painful to find that in this terrible manner the
truth is to be transmitted down through the ages. What
must be the intrinsic value of a belief, the difficulties of
which, in its contact with society, required and repaid
such sacrifices !
The punishment of heresy during the middle ages
effected a double injury. It sought to extinguish both
truth and freedom. The power of the sword in matters
of religion was apparently countenanced by Hebrew \yve-
cedent, and was certainly authorized by the code of Jus-
cF.yTs. 151. xii.l THE NORMANS. 45
tinian. * It is sometimes stated that it was a morbid
introduction brought on by perverted Christianity; but
this is not correct. To the latter belongs the disgi^ace
of having adopted and used it ; but the evil notion of reli-
gious constraint by Government is founded on errors in
jurisprudence previously common in the Pagan world.
Hugh Greathead, bishop of Lincoln, who died in 1253,
was a celebrated Greek scholar, and a man of true piety
as well as of rare accomplishments. He recommends
that all priests who cannot preach should resign ; and that
if they are unwilling to do so, they should weekly explain
the Gospel to the people. He promoted translations of the
Scriptures, and advocated numerous independent works of
this kind, in order that accuracy and perspicuity might be
attained. He was not only a good and great, but a bold
man, preaching before the Pope in a strain of holy indig-
nation against the arrogance, impiety, and incompetence
of the clergy. His powerful precepts and example led
many a forlorn one to the fountain of life.
If we turn from the province of active life to that of
the contemplative, and visit the cloister, we find but
feeble traces of evangelical power.
Monachism was introduced into England as early as the
fifth century, if not before. Columba was a monk, as was
Bede. During the ages characterized by the ruthless in-
vasions of the Northmen, the religious establishments
were the asylums of piety and civilization ; often
destroyed, but again renewed, with all their corruptions
and defects, the only witnesses for God and heaven in
* Code, Book First.
46 THE NORMANS.
[CENTS. XI. SII ,
those times of trouLle. Tlie monasteries of Ireland,
especially, became schools renowned thronghont Europe
for tlie promotion of religion and science, whence Chris-
tianity and the seeds of civilization were transported to
other c ountries. *
The monastic system received its first systematic reform
from Cuthbert in 747, its second from Dmistan in 965,
its third from Lanfranc in 1075, its deathblow, in these
islands, from our Legislature in 1539.
For upwards of eight hundred years, in many of the
most beautiful valleys of the kingdom, daily and nightly
orisons arose from companies of religious recluses ; the
music of the convent bell floated over woods and pastures
green, its call to heavenly things ; the broad gates of the
abbey were opened with equal hospitality to the cavalcade
of princes as to the meanest beggar. Much of temporal
benefit was done, many defects of mediaeval society com-
pensated. Good men, thoughtful men, earnest practical
men, occasionally arose and became influential. In all
parts of the country we find traces of their labours and
monuments of their skill.
History is silent as to the manifestation of that special
powerful spiritual life which it was the professed object of
these institutions to promote. If they had been success-
ful in this, it would have changed the character of their
own and following ages; but we are compelled to state,
that as an attempt to advance the reign of God in the
soul, and of Christ in the Church, it was a total failure,
and became a source of evil instead of sfood. It dis-
* Neander, "Memorials of Christian Life," p. 416.
CENTS. XI. XII.
THE NORMANS. 47
countenanced the truth concerning the atonement of
Christ, which is the only solution and solace of the
difficulties which press humanity.
Monasticism as an institution never became thoroughly
acclimated in England, either in its contemplative eastern,
or its more active western phase. The great monks of
our country were missionaries only : such were Patrick,
Columba, Boniface, and Lillebrod. We have no fathers
and founders of the system amongst our great names.
Two beautiful pictures, the one of the temporal, the
other of the spiritual aspect of convent-life, are to be
found in modern literature, besides the lofty eulogiums
of Montalembert.
The first is furnished by Mr. Froucle : — " Ever at the
sacred gates sat Mercy, pouring out relief from a never-
failing store to the poor and the suffering ; ever within
the sacred aisles the voices of holy men were pealing
heavenwards, in intercession for the sins of mankind;
and influences so blessed were thought to exhale around
those mysterious precincts, that the outcasts of society —
the debtor, the felon, and the outlaw — gathered around
the walls, as the sick men sought the shadow of the
apostle, and lay there sheltered from the avenging hand
till their sins were washed off from their souls. Through
the storms of war and conquest, the abbeys of the middle
ages floated, like tlie ark upon the waves of the flood,
inviolate in the midst of violence, through the awful
reverence which surrounded them."*
The other is by Dr. Hook, who admits, however, the
* Froude, vol. ii., p. 406.
48 THE NORMANS.
[CENTS. XI. XII.
limited extent to wliicli his language applies : — " The
monastery was, however, more especially the city of
refuge to tliose who sought deliverance not so much from
the vengeance of Norman law, as from the tyranny of
sin, the power of Satan, the love of the world, the fear
of eternal death. Here their eyes and hearts were
directed to the cross of Christ, and they were taught to
rely on Him crucified. They were told of the blood of
Christ, which could cleanse the most aggravated sin, and
of the Spirit of Christ, who can sanctify the most polluted
nature."*
The religious life of the cloister appears to have been
singularly unsuccessful in producing any local or general
social religious effect. No purely evangelical succession
or school sprang up from monasticism in this country.
Doubtless, there were men who by the force of personal
piety made gospel truth the tradition of their convent
home, but no such exhibition was sufficiently illustrious
or permanent in England to raise it into Church history.
* " Lives of the Archbishops," vol. ii., p. 18.
CHAPTER V.
Keligion has in all ages vindicated its Divine origin
by manifesting independence of human institutions.
The elaborate machinery of the Papal Church obstructed
it ; the worldly policy of European States polluted it ;
yet, like the hidden current of lava, it always flowed on
beneath the crust of visible things. Just as the most
dreary wastes in the world yield some vegetation to
interest and reward the naturalist, so the Christian may
rejoice in the belief that the most barren wastes of
history have had their living spiritual plants ; the latter
may dwell hidden in clefts and caves, but are of the
Lord's planting, and destined to bear flowers of amarantli
in paradise above.
The Gospel was well expounded and well defended in
Merton College, Oxford, by Thomas Bradwardine, called
"the profound doctor," who became Divinity Professor,
and afterwards Chaplain to King Edward the Third,
and who, for a very brief space, was Archbishop of
Canterbury. His teaching on the vital question of
justification by faith in the atonement of Christ, is quite
50 THE WYCLIFFITES. [cent. xiv.
clear, and was maintained with ability. In this respect
he was the doctrinal precursor of the more illustrious
man of the same college who laid the foundation of the
future English Church, John de WyclifFe. Both were
Augustinians, deriving their cast of thought from the
writings of the great Bishop of Hippo ; but, better even
than this, both were thorough practical Christians.
Merton College, as it now exists, is one of the few places
in England where we can trace an unbroken connexion
of association, between the present and the remote past.
Bradwardine and Wycliffe both trod the same cloistered
passages we now see there, ^7ie?^ marvellous in freshness of
elaborate architecture, now dark and worn by the action
of five centuries.
In 1356, when London was ringing with the tidings of
the victory of Poictiers and the exploits of the Black
Prince, one of the favourite ecclesiastics of Edward the
Third was preaching there the doctrines of grace. This
was Bichard Fitz-Balph, who was made, first, Dean of
Lichfield; then, in 1333, Chancellor of Oxford; and,
afterwards. Archbishop of Armagh. He died in 1360,
having, as he confessed, been led from Aristotle to Christ.
We have only a fragment of one of his prayers left to
us, but it is decisive as to the ground of his hope of
salvation : — " Holiest and sweetest Jesus ! to thee be
praise, and glory, and thanksgiving ! Thou, who hast
said, ' I am the way, the truth, and the life ! ' — way
without a turning, truth without a shadow, life without
an end ! — Thou hast shown me the way, taught me the
truth, promised me the life ! "
CBNT. XIV.] THE WYCLIFFITES. 51
So has it ever been. The ancient promise has been
fulfilled in the happy experience of God's children, in
spite of surrounding darkness and peril. They have
rejoiced in the fulfilment of the prediction — " For the
Lord shall comfort Zion : He will comfort all her waste
places ; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and
her desert like the garden of the Lord ; joy and gladness
shall be found therein, thanksgiving, and the voice of
melody."*
Intellectual and social activity had now somewhat
suddenly recovered from the collapse of the Conquest.
Society was astir, from the tbrone of the prelate to the
hut of the bondman. In some minds the new zeal
took the form of protest against th'e fiscal or political
exactions of the Papacy, or against the vices of the
monastic order, or the ignorance of the secular clergy ;
but, we hope not a few, sought and obtained new life in
Christ Jesus. Dr. Hamilton characterizes this period
with his usual felicity of language : — " Sometimes in
February, or early in March, there comes through all the
land a prophecy of spring. The atmosphere is strangely
mild; primroses peep through, and the redbreast grows
bold and warbles a regular roundelay. But the wind
shifts, the snows return, and the whole precocious summer,
buds, blossoms, music, and all, are buried in the frosty
sepulchre. Such an anticipatory flush of spiritual life
passed over Europe towards the close of the fourteenth
century. Tauler in Germany, Conrad of Waldhausen,
and Matthias of Janow, and, a little later, Huss and
* Isaiah li. 3.
62 THE WYCLIFFITES. [cent. xiv.
Jerome of Prague, Marsilius of Padua, our own William
Occam, the University of Paris, all spoke out against
Papal usurpation, or gave utterance to sentiments so
free, so scriptural, so spirit-rousing, that it seemed as if
the Heavenly Bridegroom were saying to His Church,
* E-ise up and come away : for, lo, the winter is past, the
rain is over and gone ; the flowers appear on the earth,
the time of the singing of birds is come, and the voice of
the turtle is heard in our land.' And, doubtless, the spirit
of God was in the movement. It was ' a little reviving '
towards the close of the long mediaeval winter ; but the
Council of Constance followed, with the burning of
heretics, and of the Book which had made them heretics ;
and another century was to pass before that general
resurrection of buried truth, and that grand outburst of
life and freedom, which we call the Reformation."
From the nature of the case, we are best acquainted with
the political aspect of the great protest which now uni-
versally began to be made against the ecclesiastical system.
Hallam says, " The greater part of the literature of the
middle ages, at least from the twelfth century, may be
considered as artillery directed against the clergy, I do not
say against the Church, which might imply a doctrinal
opposition by no means universal."*
We may obtain a full insight into the religious activity
of the period from the remarkable series of allegories
written, probably in 1362, by Langland, a monk of
Malvern, called "Piers Plowman's Vision." This con-
tains a spii'ited survey of the then ecclesiastical world,
* " Histoiy of Literature," vol. i., p. 138.
CEST. xiv.i THE WYCLIFFITES. 53
accompanied by indications of a desire for a healtliy
theology and for Chnrcli reform. It will probably
surprise many persons to find, that in those days, the
writer presumed his readers, of all classes, to possess
perfect familiarity with the letter of Scripture. Little
account is made of the intercession of saints, or even
of the Virgin ; right apprehensions are shown of the
saving work of Christ, and of the renewing efficacy of the
Holy Spirit, the force of the law as a rule of life, and
the inefficacy of nominalism of any kind.
We may fain hope, from the popularity of this lively,
clever production, that there was then considerable sym-
pathy not only with the opposition to Roman supremacy,
but with saving truth, even amongst those who, like Piers,
despised the " Lolleres," classing them with vagrants and
vagabonds. One of their names of reproach, " Biblemen,"
doubtless marks the popular estimate of a Lollard.
The early multiplication of plain non-illuminated copies
of the MSS. of this work, many of wdiich are still pre-
served, proves that it was the book of all who could read,
or get it read to them. The leading idea is produced
over and over again in other publications in succeeding
years, showing the hold which it obtained on the popular
mind.
The mingled light and darkne^^s of mediaeval days,
(occasionally affording enough of the former to lead an
earnest soul to Christ,) is characteristically displayed in
the monk's address to Mother Church.
" Thanne I courbed on my knees,
And cried hire [her] of grace ;
54 THE WYCLIFFITES. [cent. xit.
And preid hire piteously
Prey for my sinnes,
And also kenne [make me to know] kyndly
On Clirist to bi-leve,
That I might werchen his wille
That wrought wie to man.
Teche me no tresor [Tell me no fable],
But tell me this ilke [same],
How I may save my soule ! —
Thou that seint are y-holden" [accounted].*
Two other passages may be paraphrased in some of the
obscure parts.
" There are none sooner saved,
Nor of truer faith,
Than ploughmen and hinds,
And laboui'ers common.
Shoemakers and shej)herd.s,
And other ignorant folk,
Pierce with a paternoster
The palace of heaven.
They pass purgatoiy penance-less,
When going from hence,
Into bliss of paradise ;
For their simple faith.
Though imperfectly, they knew,
And obscurely they lived."
And so —
" Theology has held me
Tenscore times :
* "Vision," p. 17.
CENT. XIV.] THE WYCLIFFITES. 55
The more I muse therein,
The mistier it seemeth ;
And the deeper I dive,
The darker I find it.
Forsooth, it's no science
To cultivate subtilly;
Hateful it would be
Without love, which is its law.
Ye that seek Saint James [of Compostella]
And saints of Rome,
Seek Saint Truth ;
He may save you all."
Another instance may be quoted, showing the struggle
between man's notions and God's. 'Baptismal regenera-
tion is taught, and yet contrary conclusions expressed in
the conviction of the writer.
" In much perplexity I cogitated.
And with myself disputed.
Whether I were chosen or not chosen.
I thought on Holy Churche,
That upheld me at the font
For one of God's chosen.
But Christ bade us all
Come if we would,
Turks and schismatics."
And again —
" For moore belongeth to the Iji^tel bairn.
Ere he the lawe knowe.
Than the nempnynge of a name.
And he never the wiser."
56 THE WYCLIFFITES. [czmt. xiv.
Wycliffe was, however, the real regenerating instrument
of the middle and lower classes in England : other agen-
cies had been at work, but it w^as his translation of the
Scriptures, his plain popular summaries of the Christian
doctrines and precepts, his numerous sermons, and his
vigorous evangelizing efforts, which first called up the
spirit of the English commonalty. He distinctly con-
ceived, and diligently executed to the extent of his
opportunities and influence, the work of carrying the
glad tidings of the Gospel throughout the land. He is
the precursor (by, alas, how long an interval !) of those
noble home missionary efforts which, under various names,
are now promoting the spiritual welfare of our country.
In Wycliffe's Sermons we read — "The Gospel relates
how Jesus went about in the places of the country both
great and small, as in cities and castles or small towns,
and this to teach ns to profit generally unto men, and not
to forbear to preach to a people because they are few,
and our name may not in consequence be great. For we
should labour for God, and from Him hope for our
reward. There is no doubt that Christ went into small
uplandish towns, as to Bethpage and Can a in Galilee ;
for Christ went to those places where he wished to do
good. And he laboured not thus for gain, for he was not
smitten either with pride or with covetousness." *
So precious were the fragments of Gospel light, that
written books containing them were actually entailed.
At the end of one of the MSS. of the "Pore Caitiff,"
in the British Museum (MSS. Harl. 2335) is the following
* Vaughan's Wycliffe, vol. ii., p. 23.
CENT. XIV.] THE WYCLIFFITES. 57
note : — " This book was made of the goods (i. e., at the
charges) of John Gamalin for a common profit (i. e., for a
public benefit), that the person that hath power to commit
it have the use thereof for the time of his life, praying
for the soul of the same John. And he that hath this
aforesaid use of commission, when he occupieth it not,
leave he it for a time to some other person. Also that
the person to whom it was committed for the term of life,
under the foresaid condition, deliver it to another the
term of his life. And so be it delivered and committed
from person to person, man or woman, as long as the
book endureth."
The "Pore Caitiff" served its generation. It was the
type of the religious tracts of modern days. It was
indited in the fashion then prevalent ; but contains the
everlasting truth, beyond all controversy, and above all
price.
Seldom do we see the sower actually at work in the
fields ; but the results of his labour are visible in the
landscape on every hand. By the time the yellow grain
waves over the field, the hand that sowed it is, perhaps,
gone for ever. So, in the days of the Plantagenets, the
observer in the field of English history becomes sensible
of the presence of a new party in the community, which
has come without heralds or clamour. We have heard
faint murmurs of evangelism before now, in the sighs of
the mystic, the postulates of the scholar, or the con-
fessions of some ill-understood prisoner. But now, under
the eaves of princely portico or peasant's hovel, the
good seed having been cast into the ground, the blessing
58 THE WYCLIFFITES. [cent, xiv
comes. Men slept aucl rose, night and day, and it grew,
they knew not how.
There were not wanting, in the Establishment, persons
who clearly saw the defects of the dominant system. From
the synodal constitutions of Simon Langham, bishop of
Ely, in 1364, we may extract the following: — "Let all
shepherds of souls and parish priests, when they have
finished the divine offices in the church, devote them-
selves with all diligence to prayer, and the reading of the
Holy Scriptures ; that by the knowledge of the Scriptures
they may, as belongs to their office, be prepared to satisfy
every man demanding a reason concerning hope or faith.
And let them always direct their attention to the
doctrines and precepts of the Bible (like the staves
passing through the rings of the ark), so that devotion
may be nourished and increased by constant study, as its
daily food."
Chaucer had a just appreciation of the scope of Chris-
tian teaching, and it may reasonably be concluded that
he wrote (in 1389) from observation of living instances
of parish priests who were guiding others to the Saviour
they themselves had found.
" A better priest I trowe that no wher now is.
He waited after no pompe ne reverence,
Ne maked him no spiced conscience,
But Cristes lore, and his apostles twelve.
He taught ; but first he folwed it himselve."
So his contemporary, Gower, in his poetical works,
discloses salvation by faith in the work of Christ alone. *
* " Confessio Amantis," book v.
CEKT. XIV.] THE WYCLIFFITES. 59
The life of Wycliffe is tliat of a man of great natiu*al
parts and shrewdness, eminently practical and wise ;
rising, by his abilities and attainments, to the high-
est seats of learning, and yet preserving in full force
the freshness of personal piety. He became Master of
Balliol College in 1361 ; next, Warden of Canterbnry Hall
in 1365 ; began to publish his independent views on the
doctrine and practices of the Church ; espoused the anti-
Papal side in politics; was ejected from his wardenship
in 1370, after an unsuccessful appeal to the Pope ; became
parson of Lutterworth, took his doctor's degree in 1372,
sent out Gospel itinerants ; was denounced by the Pope
in 1377 ; appeared at St, Paul's in triumph over his
enemies in 1378; died in peace in l384.
He was not only a herald of salvation himself, but the
restorer of Scriptural methods as well as doctrines. He
abandoned and condemned the metaphysical style of the
schoolmen with the authority of a master in the art, and
addressed himself with the simple weapons of Scripture,
directly to the plain common sense and affections of the
people. More than three hundred of his preparations for
the pulpit are among the MS. treasures of the British
Museum. By their simple perspicuity and Gospel plain-
ness, they show that he had seized hold of God's great
engine for spiritual work. His expository method, styled
*' postulating," led the way to the most instructive kind
of pulpit teaching.
The progress of his inner life was unusual. First came
a strong patriotic conviction of the political evil and
degradation wrought by the Papacy; next, an equally
60 THE WYCLIFFITES.
[cent. XIV.
powerful impression of the doctrinal errors of the Romish
Church ; lastly, a thoroughly evangelical conception of
the need and nature of the truth concerning the work of
Christ. Under the influence of the first, he stirred up
the zeal of England's statesmen, and raised a country
party ; guided by the second, he waged war without
quarter against the religious orders of the Church ;
prompted by the third, he translated the Bible into the
vulgar tongue, and sent foi-th itinerant missionaries, two
by two, throughout England, to preach the newly-recovered
saving truth. This is the real foundation of the English
Keformation. The seed thus sown in faith by the way-
side, though submerged by local and even national floods
of persecution, yet preserved its divine vitality, and ulti-
mately sprang up and everywhere bore fruit. The testi-
mony of the heroic Huss to the eflfect of Wycliffe's writings,
doubtless, well characterizes them : — " I am drawn to
them by the manner in which they strive to lead all
men back to Christ."
The multiplication, in portions, of WycliflTe's translation
of the Scriptures, and the effect of the preaching of his
russet-clad emissaries, excited a feeling throughout the
country towards evangelical truth which has never since
wholly disappeared.
'* The Sacred Book,
In dusty sequestration wrapped too long,
Assumes the accents of our native tongue ;
And he who guides the plough, or wields the crook,
With understanding spirit now may look
Upon her records, listen to her song,
And sift her laws." *
* Wordsworth.
CENT. XIV.] THE WYCLIFFITES. 6 1
The growth of homely English piety was for many
years to be obstructed, stunted, and trodden down. But
it vindicated the divinity of its vital principle, and became
the essential characteristic of society. It energized
successive generations of believing men, who, through
evil report and good report, laboured to promote the
Redeemer's cause in this kingdom.
"Wycliffe," says Dr. Reinhold Pauli, "most com-
pletely departed from that which his contemporaries
undei-stood by the Church ; for in their eyes it was only
an institution composed of the higher and lower clergy,
as well as of his sworn opponents, the monks, and to
which the laity belonged merely in respect to the outer
limits that had been drawn around *it by the hierarchy.
According, however, to his conception of the Church, it
consisted of all true believers, who had access to the
Divine mercy independently of any human intervention ;
while hypocrites and godless persons, even though they
ranked among the highest jjrelates, did not belong to it.
This is the same idea of the priesthood, which so essen-
tially contributed to the development of the Reformation
in Germany."*
The readiness with which the reformer obtained his
evangelists, as well as the welcome with which they
w^ere everywhere received, proves that all things were
ready; — the harvest for the reapers, and the reapers
for it. In 1384, the citizens of London encountered the
opposition of the clergy, and overcame it, in their choice
of a Wycliffite mayor, John of Northampton.
* "Pictures of Old Euglaud," translated by Otte, p. 271.
62 THE WYCLTFFITES.
[CENT. xiy.
The pages of Foxe abound in testimony that from this
time, evangelical religion, as a protest against ritualism,
became a subsisting, continuing manifestation among the
commonalty of England. Henceforward we may trace
its progress. The first views we get of inner Evangelical
life amidst the lowlier classes of our land, display a
people surprised and grateful at the reception of God's
free mercy, and then prepared to do battle to the death
in defence of so dear a treasure.
In the British Channel the pebble-banks advance in
a direction contrary to the surface-run of the tides, being
influenced by some powerful under-current : so was it
with the doctrines of Wycliffe. All the tides of human
society ran in an opposite direction, and yet evan-
gelical truth grew and advanced beneath and in spite
of them. We find traces of its influence in the south
of Europe, notwithstanding the imperfect methods of
intercommunication in those days. In the year 1497,
Savonarola, the ardent patriotic reformer of Italy, was
excommunicated. In the deliberations of the Florentine
Council upon his fate, after he had been condemned by
the ecclesiastical court, the proposal for his imprisonment
for life was combated by the argument, that, though
imprisoned, he might still write, and his writings be
as obnoxious as those of "that pestilent fellow Wyc-
liffe." The Florentine merchants in London entered into
the dispute, and formed parties, pro and con., in the great
controversy, raised by Wycliffe in England, and Savona-
rola in Italy.
A hard task, however, was that of the solitary men of
CUNT. XIV.] THE WYCLIFFITES 63
God in early raediseval times : tliey hadno Cliristian litera-
ture to feed upon, save some crumbs of the bread of life ;
no friends to aid tliera; no public to sympathize with
them; obloquy and misrepresentation, jmins and penalties
awaited them ; darkness all around, and in the horizon
no streaks of the dawn. Yet how many there were, who,
under these adverse circumstances, lived to God and for
God ; breathing the atmosphere of a Divine life ; quietly
waiting, in the confidence that when their allotted race
should have been run, God would realize, in the Church
and in the world, the majestic purposes and high hopes
of their hearts ! Truly this was " the patience of the
saints."
We would fain know something more than we do, of
that "good Queen Anne" who lies buried beneath a cano-
pied tomb in Westminster Abbey. She was not only a lover
of the Scriptures, and a promoter of evangelical truth, but
her sojourn in England, from the festival of Christmas 1381
to her death in that of Whitsuntide 1394, was conducive
to the communication of Wycliffe's views to her fetherland
of Bohemia, and thus became an important link in the
succession of spiritual life in Western Europe. It is
interesting to conceive of personal religion flourishing in
her youthful nature, amidst the exciting revelries and
disorders of her young husband's court. She had to
preside at toiu'naments, and to share in the costly spec-
tacles in which Richard the Second, the spoilt son of the
Black Prince, took chief delight. The tumults of his
reign must have rendered her queenly happiness pre-
carious from the first. The love of the English people
G4 THE WYCLIFFITES. [cent. xi-«r.
for the gentle accomplished young foreigner who delighted
to study the four Gospels in the new translation of
Wycliffe, whose character and conduct cheered the last
years of the great reformer, and whose memory became a
household word after her brief career of life, was based
upon her outspoken sympathy with the free message of
God's grace to mankind.
Wycliffe's translation was finished the year before
Queen Anne came to England. Its homely sentences are
still intelligible to us ; no wonder that we regard them
as possessing peculiar interest. As copyists plied their
vocation to supply a demand unknown before, they were
unconsciously ministering to the power of an endless life.
Notwithstanding the comparative abundance of copies
of Wycliffe's translation yet extant, they are held in high
esteem. In July, 1863, a beautiful MS. of the precious
volume was sold by auction in London by Sotheby and
Wilkinson for £350.
CHAPTER YI.
• The quick spreading of the Wycliffite teaching, and
the nature of the methods by wliich it was carried on, are
well shown in the preamble of an Act of Parliament
passed three years before the death of the venerable
reformer, in the fifth year of the reign of Richard the
Second (1382), which is as follows : —
" Item, forasmuch as it is openly known that there be
divers evil persons within this realm, going from county
to county, and from town to town, in certain habits under
dissimulation of great holiness, and without the licence of
the ordinaries of the place, or other sufficient authority,
'preacliing daily not only in church and churchyards,
but also in markets, fail's, and other oi^en ^places, where a
great congregation of people is, divers sermons, containing
heresies and notorious errors, to the great emblemishing
of the Christian faith, and destruction of the law, and of
the estate of Holy Church — " The act provides a penalty
and is in conformity with a prior proclamation to the same
efiect issued the same year. It is satisfactory to reflect
on the vigorous efibrts in favour of the truth, indicated
66 THE LOLLAEDS.
[cent. XV.
by this violent opposition on the part of the ecclesiastical
powers which then virtually ruled the State.
One of the tenets of Lollarclism condemned at Leicester
in 1389 is, that "every layman may preach and teach
the Gospel everywhere ; " affording a most decisive proof
of the genuine earnest character of the revival movement.
In time of urgent need all ordinary barriers are overleaped
by religious zeal.
The poor Lollard was impelled and sustained by faith
in God's word alone. He knew not of the great cloud of
witnesses who had trodden the same path before him, nor
dreamt of those who should follow him still more nume-
rously, in succeeding ages. He was ignorant of history,
and traditions were all against him. He stood alone, save
that God was with him, and that he knew right well.
If it is true concerning human affections, that "One touch
of nature makes the whole world kin," so is it with the
divine : one touch of grace unites the whole brotherhood
in heaven and on earth. But this blessed association was
unknown to the obscure heroes of the early Ileformati(m.
They wrought simply and severely for God, and unto
Him.
" Faith makes man's heart,
That dark, low, ruin'd thing,
By its rare art,
A palace for a king.
Higher than proud Babel's tower by many a storey :
By faith Christ dwells in ns, the hojie of glory. "
F. Tate.
It has been stated by no mean authority, that Lollard-
ism died entirely out, Wycliffe's labour perished, and the
CENT. XV.] THE LOLLARDS. 67
whole pre-Reformation movement became extinct.* This
is true only of its political action against Rome, and is
not true of its evangelical effects, for the fire was burning
unobserved ; and, afterwards, when public events necessi-
tated or encouraged a manifestation of personal religious
conviction, the foundations laid in Lollardism formed
the solid base of the whole structure of English Protes-
tantism.
Wycliffe's teaching became, indeed, immediately fruit-
ful ; but the pages of history contain but few distinct
memorials of its progress.
In 1391, William Swinderby, a priest of the diocese of
Lincoln, encountered trouble, condeipnafcion, and disgrace
for the profession of evangelical doctrines. He submitted
to the demands of his ecclesiastical superiors, and, in a
qualified way, recanted certain of his opinions ; but he
still held to those which prove the genuineness of his
faith in the Atonement. His appeal to the Parliament is
an eloquent, stirring address, full of Scriptural argu-
ments. It opens with the noble prayer : " Jesu, that art
both God and man, 'help Thy people that love Thy law,
and make known, through Thy grace. Thy teaching to all
Christian men !" He quaintly says, " This land is full
of ghostly cowards, in ghostly battle few dare stand."
Doubtless, there were many who hid their convictions, and
were disciples, though in secret.
At the same time, "Walter Brute, an educated yeoman
of the diocese of Hereford, was finding his way to .the
enjoyment of spiritual peace through Him who has said
* Froude, vol. ii.
68
THE LOLLARDS.
that He is " the way, the truth, and the life." The cottages
and hamlets of his neighbourhood witnessed the evangelic
exertions of this predecessor of the lay preachers. His
elaborate manifesto of belief, given by Foxe, reflects the
confused condition of theology in those times of transition ;
but there is also displayed the pure light which directed
him to " the Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of
the world."
The most notable of the immediate successors of
Wycliffe was Master William Thorpe, whose history, re-
corded by his own hand, was freely circulated in MS.,
and ultimately printed by Tyndale. This document aifords
internal evidence that he had many friends and sym-
pathisers. His examination or trial took place on the
3rd of July, 1407.'^" On his part he displayed ample
accurate Scripture knowledge, combined with manly,
sound sense, ready wit, and deep piety. He held fully
the whole scheme of evangelical doctrine. For twenty
years he had diligently taught it as an itinerant. He
speaks of many men and women of his acquaintance who
"stand in the truth, and are in the way of salvation." We
are thus introduced into the secrets of old Lollardism.
It was not a political creed, or even social reformation,
but something far higher and better in its nature.
The conclusion of Thorpe's account shows the workings
of his inner life. "And so then I was led forth and
brought into a foul unhonest prison, where I came never
before. But, thanked be God, when all men were gone
forth then from me, and had barred fast the door after
* "State Trials," folio ed., vol. i.
CENT. XV.] THE LOLLARDS. GO
them, by and by after, I, therein by myself, busied me to
think on God, and to thank him for His goodness. And
I was then greatly comforted in all my wits, not only for
that I was then delivered for a time from the sight, from
the hearing, from the presence, from the scorning, and
from the menacing of mine enemies ; but much more I
rejoiced in the Lord, because that through His grace He
kept me so, both among the flattering specially, and
among the menacing of mine adversaries, that without
heaviness and anguish of conscience I passed away from
them. For as a tree laid upon another tree, athwart or
across wise, so was -^ the archbishop and his three clerks
always contrary to me, and 1 to them. Now, good God !
for Tliine holy name, and to the praising of Thy most
blessed name, make us one together, if it be Thy will (by
authority of Thy Word, that is tnie perfect love), and else
not. And that it may thus be, all that this writing read
or hear pray heartily to the Lord God, that He for His
great goodness, that cannot be with tongue expressed,
grant to us, and to all other which in the same wise, and
for the same cause specially, or for any other cause, be at
distance, to be knit and made one in true faith, in stedfast
hope, and in perfect charity. Amen,"*
Of him may be said, in the beautiful words of Lord
Macaulay, " While the multitude below saw only the flat,
sterile desert in which they had so long wandered, bounded
on every side by a near horizon, or diversified only by
some deceitful mirage, he was gazing fi-om a far higher
stand, on a far lovelier country, following with his eye
* "Stcate Trials," vol. L
70 THE LOLLARDS. [cent. xv.
the long course of fertilizing rivers, through ample pas-
tures, and under the bridges of great capitals, measuring
the distances of marts and barns, and portioning out all
those wealthy regions from Dan to Beersheba."*
Henceforth we have to plunge into the actual shock of
the battle between light and darkness, in search of the
votaries of truth. The history of religion is not a tale of
peace, but of terrible war. Evil in its most hateful form
is manifested in strenuous opposition to the good. We
are shocked and distressed at the dreadful character of
the scenes, in some of which the Tempter has apparently
triumphed. The " agony and bloody sweat " of the Man
of Sorrows was symbolical of the baptism wherewith His
Church was prepared for final, but long-delayed, triumph.
No sooner do we open the annals of persecution, than
we are struck with the fortitude and patience of the
sufferers. A cheerful tone pervades their confessions.
They learnt to direct upwards to heaven the energy of
affection which might not expand on earth. We find in
tlieii" sayings, no morbid reflections on their sad destiny,
no bitter accusations against their enemies, but, on the
contrary, exulting joy in God their Saviour, and firm hope
in the future. They " endured as seeing Him who is in-
visible," and comforted one another with thoughts kindled
at the same source as Luther's Hymn :
" This jmsoD where thou art,
Thy God will break it soon,
And flood with light thy heart.
In His own blessed noon."
* "Essays," p. 413.
CENT, xv.l THE LOLLARDS. 71
For traces of the higher life in man we mast often
search amidst the lower forms of man's social condition,
and there find them under terrible outward disadvantage.
The fearful statute " De Heretico Comburendo,"
2 Hen. IV., c. 15, (1401,) tells us by what means the
truth, which it arrogantly aimed to burn out of the land,
was being promulgated. It states, that " divers false and
perverse people of a new sect .... usurping the ofiice of
preaching, do perversely and maliciously, in divers places
within the said realm, under the colour of dissembled
holiness, preach and teach these days openly and privily
divers new doctrines and wicked heretical and erroneous
opinions, contrary to tlie same faith and blessed determina-
tions of the Holy Church ; and of such sect and wicked
doctrine and opinions they make unlawful conventicles
•md confederacies, they hold and exercise schools, ayid
nake and write hooks ; they do wickedly instruct and
iiform people."
This terrible engine of cruelty was not allowed to
become rusty. The second sufferer under its enactments
was an artisan of Worcester, John Badby.
Early in the morning of the loth of March, 14-09, the
ciy of London was in an unusual ferment. An august
tribunal was assembled in conclave at St. Paul's. The
Dike of York, the Earl of Westmoreland, tlie Chancellor
Beiufort, the archbishops, and numerous other dignitaries
of ehurch and state, were there. The occasion of the
gatiering was merely that Badby had expressed himself
to le of opinion contrary to the dominant creed on the
subject of the real presence, and held the doctrines
iJ THE LOLLARDS. [cent. xv.
of Wycliffe. He was the first of tlie working class in
England prosecuted for heresy, the predecessor and type
of a great number of the same class who afterwards
dared to suffer and die in testimony of their personal
religious convictions of evangelical truth. After his
condemnation in the early morning, a brief respite was
allowed him until noon ; the king's writ obtained, the
terrible preparations in Smithfield made, and then at
mid-day, in the presence of Prince Hal (who vainly
attempted to snatch him from the actual fire by promises
of worldly advantage if he would reeant), in the face of
a crowd of the best and wisest people of the realm,
this devoted man was " done to death," calling upon the
Lord.
Henceforth there was no cessation of activity for the
Gospel on the one hand, and against it on the other. The
laws indicate that the truth was being promulgated undef
fearful difficulties by the time-honoured methods commoi
among faithful men from the first.
The most illustrious in rank of the Lollards, and one ff
the bravest of English martyrs, was Sir John Oldcastfe,
Lord Cobham. This nobleman was a mirror of kniglt-
hood. Born in the palmy days of chivalry, trained m
courts and camps, living whilst the tournament wa^ a
fashion of the times, he became obnoxious to the frightful
charge of heresy, and after trial, imprisonment, esc^e,
and betrayal, was ultimately cruelly put to death atlvSt.
Giles's Cross. His whole demeanour was worthy of] the
heroic age. On learning that he had been accusea he
manfully wrote, signed, and sealed a declaration o his
CENT. XV.]
THE LOLLARDS. 73
belief, and took the document straight to the King. Henry
the Fifth, though free and brave in his youth, became the
servile tool of bigoted Italian priests in his maturer age.
He refused to receive the paper from his brave old com-
panion in arms. Then the good knight demanded to be
tried by his peers, after the old custom : —
" Than desired he in the Kinges presens, that an
hundred knightes and esquiers might be suffered to come
in upon hys purgacyon, which he knewe wolde clere him
of all heresy es, Moreouer, he offered hyraself, after the
lawe of armes, to fight for life or death with any man
lyuing, Christen or Hey then, in the quarrel of his faith,
the King and the lordes of his councill excepted. Fynally,
with all gentlenesse he protested before all that were
present, that he wold refuse no manner of correction
that shuld after the lawes of God be ministered unto
him ; but that he wold at all times with all mekeness
obey it."* The subsequent examination of the brave
knight shows that he was skilled in the Scriptures, quite
sound in the faith, and that he experienced the personal
enjoyment of peace with God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ, in whom he had affectionate and reverential faith.
He had openly embraced evangelical views, and had
employed itinerant preachers to promulgate them, after
the example of Wycliffe.
When brought from the Tower to the Hall of the
Dominicans, within Ludgate, before the archbishop,
bishops, doctors, officials, and priests, he says, in answer
to the ursrent entreaties for his recantation and con-
* " state Trials," vol. i., p. 39.
74 THE LOLLARDS.
[cent. XV.
fession, — " 'Nay, forsooth will I uot, for I never yet
trespassed against you, and therefore will not do it.'
And with that he kneeled down on the pavement,
holding np his hands towards heaven, and said, ' I shrive
me here unto Thee, my eternal living God, that in my
frail youth I offended Thee, O Lord, most grievously!
Many men have I hurt in my anger, and done many
other horrible sins; good Lord, I ask Thee mercy.' And
therewith weepingly he stood up again, and said with a
mighty voice, ' Lo, good people ! lo ; for the breaking
of God's law and His great commandments they never
yet cursed me, but for their own laws and traditions
most cruelly do they handle both me and other men ; and
therefore both they and their laws, by the promise of
God, shall be utterly destroyed.' With a stout heart, at
the end of his trial he spoke to his judges before the
multitude with cheerful countenance. ' Though ye judge
my body, which is but a wretched thing, yet I am certain
and sure that ye can do no harm to my soul, no more
than could Satan to the soul of Job. He that created
that, will of His infinite mercy and promise save it. I
have therein no manner of doubt. And as concerning
these articles before rehearsed, I will stand to them even
to the very death, by the grace of my eternal God.'"*
Sentiments and language echoed one hundred years after-
wards, by the great German reformer at the Diet of
Worms.
The Constitutions of Archbishop Arundel in 1408, the
statute 2 Henry Y., c. 7 (141o), and the Injunctions of
* Foxe, vol. iii., p. 337.
CENT, xv.j THE LOLLARDS. 75
Archbishop Chichely Id 1416, all prove the prevalence
of gatherings of God's people secretly for worship and
conference. The last directs a judicial inquiry to be
made in every parish for " secret conventicles," as well as
for suspected books in the English language. The first
proposition of Lollardisni condemned by Archbishop
Warham, in 1530, is indicative of the true character of
the movement, and denotes the fountain of its energy,
for it is, that " Faith ownlee doth justify us."
If the j)re-Reibrmation darkness had been at any time
total, it could not have been dispersed as it was by home
instrumentality.
In tlie year 1414, the University of Oxford presented
to the King certain articles for the reformation of the
Church. The monarch was one whom Shakspeare
describes in the eulogistic strains of the priesthood, but
whom the poor Lollards prayed for from another stand-
point.
" Hear him but reason in divinity,
And, all- admiring, with an inward wish,
You would desire the king were made
A prelate."
The University articles display the reflex influence ot
the rising evangelism on the Establishment. The 29th
runs as follows : — " Whereas according to the doctrine of
our Saviour, all who have the cure of souls ought to feed
the flock of Christ with the food of salutary doctrine, and
to drive the wolves from the sheep by the barking of
holy preaching ; yet some are promoted in the kingdom
of England who are entirely ignorant of the language of
76 THE LOLLARDS. [cent. xv.
the country, and are therefore dumb, and unable to
instiTict their parishioners ; it seems expedient that no
person should hold a benefice in any country unless he
understands the vulgar language of that country."
The existence of vital godliness flourishing like the
first flowers of sj^ring under inclement skies, is also proved
by a work entitled " The Ploughman's Prayer," first
printed by I'yndale, but written and circulated long
before his time. There is a plaintive tone about this
interestLQg production that rather tells of apprehended
than actual violence. ISTo mention is made of Wyclifle or
any other person, but the sentiments are given as though
they were the thoughts of many hearts. The burthen of
the song is the sinfulness of the times, and the perversion
of those who should be teachers. The invocation at the
commencement, at once shows, that fliith in Christ was
the ruling principle in the writer's heart. " More need
was there never to cry to Christ for help than now,"
The substitutions of the Church of Rome for the life-oivins;
food of the Gospel were never more powerfully or pithily
exposed than in this tract. It is written in earnest,
evangelical, forcible language. It concludes by a prayer :
"Therefore, we lewd men prayen Thee that Thou wilt
send us shepheardes of Thine own that willen feed Thy
flocke in Thy lesewe (meadow), and goe before therselfe,
and so written Thy lawe in our harts, that from the least
to the most all they may knowen Thee." " And, Lftrd,
geue us Thy poore sheepe patience and strength to sufier
for Thy law the cruelnes of the mischievous wolues.
And, Lord, as Thou hast promised, shorten these dayes.
CENT. XV.] THE LOLLARDS. 77
Lord, we axen this now, for more need was there
neuer !"
In the " Creed of Piers Ploughman," written during
the Wycliffite agitation, the doctrine is far more antago-
nistic to Rome than in the " Vision " before referred to.
Tlie scope of this poem, like the former, shows the pre-
valence of very general religious excitement.
The great social problem of those days, the extinction of
serfdom, had come to the surface of things. Though it
had received some checks from the excesses which led to
the death of Wat Tyler, yet it had been well discussed,
and had come to be considered as a matter which must
be handled at all cost, and would not brook long delay.
There was much individual thought : in the multitude
of cogitations the question of questions, " What shall I
do to be saved r' was frequently heard. The lethargy
was passing away.
A broadside of Caxton's printing was discovered in
1859, between the leaves of a book in Lord Spencer's
library. It contains a prayer, comprising an invocation
of Christ as a Divine Saviour, God incarnate; a petition
for forgiveness through His blood, and for obedience in
His love. The intercessory offices of the Virgin are barely
acknowledged, whilst sole reliance on the work of our
Lord is reiterated with much fervour.*
The complaint of the clergy, presented to Henry the
Fifth in 1413, is, "The Here tikes and Lollards of Wicleue's
opinion were suffered to preach abrode, so boldly to
gather conuenticles unto them, to keep scoles in men's
* See "Athenajiim," Dec. 24, 1859.
78 THE LOLLARDS. [cent. xv.
houses, to make bokes, compyle treatises, and write
ballets ; to teach priv^ately in angles and corners, as in
wodes, fields, medowes, pastours, groves, and in canes of
the ground." * A truly graphic account, giving plain
testimony concerning the great evangelical ante-Refor-
mation movement then pervading the masses of English
society.
About five years after the second Smithfield tragedy,
a. London tradesman, John Clayden, a currier, suffered
death in the same place, for having evangelical books in
his house, and evangelical sympathies in his heart. The
good man was accused of reading the condemned books,
especially one called " The Lantern of Light :" he con-
fessed that he could not read, but " he liiid heard the
fourth part thereof read of one John Tuller," and that
" he had great affection for the book from a sermon that
was written there." It is a touching picture presented to
us by this illiterate man, ignoble on earth, but noble in
heaven, groping for divine wisdom as for hidden treasure,
finding it in a MS. sermon, and then having the same
fairly written on parchment in English, and carefully
" bound in red leather," promulgating its truths judi-
ciously, suffering imprisonment, and, ultimately, meekly
submitting to martyrdom.
The depositions of the persecutors of Lollardism furnish
many glimpses of the dawning light which was beginning
to be reflected from the lowliest portion of English
society : they also serve to show the connexion between
the love of truth and the desire for education.
* "State Trials," folio, vol. i., p. 48.
CENT. XV.] THE LOLLARDS. 79
Thus we read that the wife of an artisan in Mai*tham,
in the diocese of Norwich, had, in her anxietj to do good,
requested one of her neighbours (from whom the informa-
tion was extorted) that she " and Jean her maid " would
come secretly in the night to her chamber, to hear her
husband read the law of Christ unto them, " which law
was written in a book that her husband was wont to read
to her by night."
From the deposition of a wretched informer named
Wright, we gather — " Item, That Anise, wife of Thomas
Moore, is of the same sect, and favoured them and
receiveth them often ; and also the daughter of Thomas
Moore is partly of the same sect, and can read English."
"Item, That Nicholas Belward, son of John Belward,
dwelling in the parish of Southelmham, is one of the
same sect, and hath a New Testament which he bought
in London for four marks and forty pence, and taught the
said William Wright and Margery his wife ; and wrought
with them continually by the space of one year, and
studied diligently upon the said New Testament."
The history of the Church largely illustrates the mode
of God's moral government of man. We see the highest
ends worked out by feeble instrumentality, and often left
incomplete, when a slight interference might apparently
have been an incomparable improvement or acceleration.
But man's freedom is to be preserved at all cost; miracle
is excluded; the wearisome battle must be fought by the
appointed combatants, and by them alone. So, indi-
vidually, the stores of Divine knowledge cannot be un-
locked by any man for his brother. Every one must for
80 THE LOLLARDS. [cent. xv.
himself take the key appointed for him alone, and thereby-
become divihely wise.
The records of the Privy Council in 1437 disclose a
transaction which mm/ have been the result of mission
work, but may also have been, instead of that, merely an
instance of successful mendicancy. We have no criterion
whereby to determine the real value of the instance.
The entry in question is that of a petition to the council
from Guillyaume Pieres, a " Sarasyn," who had been con-
verted to the Christian faith, and had been baptized in
the Church of St. Magnus, at the foot of London Bridge,
['^ jadys mescreant, ore est convers a loy Bieu, lui Roy
07iinipotent,^^^ setting forth that, from the desire of his
heart towards the true God, he had forsaken his country
and kindred, and had forfeited all his possessions ; where- •
upon he pi-ays for a contribution towards his support.
He is granted by the croAvn two pence jDer day.*
We are apt to become restless in the act of contemplat-
ing the long periods of time during which the cause of
Christ appears to us to have been almost stationary.
But, out of our sight, God is ever working, and, as in the
case of the earth beneath, preparations are going on with
all the unerring precision of physical law.
There was, in truth, much heroism at this time being
enacted in obscure places. The meek and lowly followers
of our blessed Saviour were now quietly fulfilling Plis
commands, and disappearing one by one. They were
hopeful, though they could not unitedly express their
* "Privy Council Proceediugs," vol. v.
CENT. XV.] THE LOLLARDS. 81
joyful anticipations ; tliey were content to wait, for so they
interpreted their Lord's will concerning themselves. Very
few names have escaped the historic oblivion by which
they became quickly hidden from view. James Retby, a
disciple of Wycliffe, promulgated his master's opinions
in Scotland, where they spread in the diocese of
Glasgow. The herald of salvation met with the common
fate; he was persecuted and burnt for heresy. But he
laid the foundation of an extensive and permanent
spread of Lollardism throughout the western parts of
that kingdom.
As the living experiences of those who are enlightened
from above, whereby they perceive the excellency and
suitableness of the Gospel as a provision for their souls,
display similar principles working in all varieties of cases,
so the dying experiences of the sad victims of intoler-
ance also show the identity of the convictions, hopes,
and consolations of the sufferers.
The fact of this identity, when there could be no common
action, is worthy of note ; as is also the tenacious faith-
fulness of men, many of whom were uneducated and poor.
The humble daisy unfolds its petals at the dawn, and
continues open though clouds obscure the sky all day : so
these children of God, having once lifted their hearts in
faith towards their heavenly Father, continued stedfastly
regarding him, though the firmament of his providence
was overclouded during all their pilgrimage.
The pen of the English historian now occasionally
begins to find materials for notice, besides the territoria
wars of princes, and the squabbles of ecclesiastics.
G
82 THE LOLLARDS. [cent, xv .
" There was a third party in the country — the only
one which, in a true high sense, was of importance at all,
and for the sake of which, little as it appeared, the whole
work was to be done, — composed at that time nearly of
poor men — poor cobblers, weavers, carpenters, trade ap-
prentices, and humble artisans, — men of low birth and
low estate, who might have been seen at night stealing
along the lanes and alleys of London, carrying with them
some precious load of books, which it was death to possess,
and giving their lives gladly, if it must be so, for brief
tenure of so dear a treasure." *
We obtain indirect proofs of the existence of this
third party from the records of subsequent persecutions.
Thus it is said of William Cowbridge, who was burnt at
Oxford in 1538, that he was the son of the high bailiff
of Colchester, a wealthy man of high repute, whose
ancestoi's ^'even from Wycliffe's time had always been
favourers of the Gospel." f
The incurring of penalties by men claiming the right of
private judgment in matters of religion, proves that we
are not v/holly governed by expediency ; since the
latter would always lead to an accordance with ruling
power. There is therefore that within us, which, at the
call of God and duty, can rise superior to the claims of
self-interest.
The circumstances have changed; truth has been publicly
vindicated ; the criminals of Lollardism were the ancestors
in opinion of the legislators and judges of the present
day; the judges of those days would rank with barbarians
* Froude's Hist., vol. i., p. 152. _ f Foxe, vol. v., p. 18.
CT.^T. XV.] THE LOLLARDS. 83
now. The tenets of the Lollards, touching the supre-
macy of the rights of conscience, are wholly triumphant
in the place where once they were trodden under foot.
The noble apologies once uttered amidst scoffs have now
become axioms of legislative wisdom.
' ' The common cry
Will, as 'tis ever wont, affix the blame
Unto the party injured : but the truth
Shall, in the vengeance it dispenseth, find
A faithful witness." Dante.
So was it when the great Aj)ostle of the Gentiles stood
at the bar of Csesar ; so was it also, when his and our
infinitely higher Master stood at the .bar of Pilate. On
each occasion God's cause in the world seemed to be on
the point of becoming extinguished. Yet never was it
so grandly triumphant. The times when it has apparently
been brought nigh to a perpetual end, have been epochs
in which its hidden Divine force has been culminating for
future victory.
CHAPTEK YII.
®6e OTomse of tije jRilolicmcnt.
Doubtless, in those confused times, when the religious
agitation had fairly begun, there were many persons, both
in the ranks of the Romanists and of the Lollards, who
were guided to the cross of Christ whilst seeking peace
for theii' souls. Never has the great theatre of human
action, since our Lord's advent, been totally free from
the presence of His followers. The recognitions of heaven
will comprise some strange surprises. The motley liveries
of earth often separate brethren. Many w^ho have ana-
thematized each other, have nevertheless been together
loving the Lord Jesus Christ, though after a strangely
separate and incomplete method.
The literature of evangelic Romanism does not do
justice to its votaries ; it is greatly defective in Sj^irit-
ualism, inasmuch as the biographers have been for the
most part ritualists, not sympathizing with the deepest
feelings and highest aspirations of the soul realised through
the influences of the Holy Spirit.
Mysticism, the most attractive form of mediaeval piety,
never much prevailed in England. On the Continent it
SECOND PiKT.] THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. 85
has always had a large following. It is still the asylum
of personal religion amidst the shows and symbols of
Romanism.
In desolation unrepining,
Without a hope on earth to find
A mirror in an answering mind,
Meek souls there are, who little dream
Their daily strife an angel's theme,
Or that the rod they take so calm
Shall prove in heaven a martyr's palm."
Keble.
It is obvious from the w^ritings of these good men, that
they studied one of the highest of, human accomplish-
ments,— the successful cultivation of the inner life. The
vigour of divine affection thus attained, made all mundane
affairs trivial, in comparison with the eternal felicities
towards which they were tending, and in the foretaste of
which they lived.
But religion in this country has ever been of an active
outward turn : it has been regarded, not as an end, but
as a means, to regulate the present life, and to attain the
future. Even the few of our countrymen who rank
within the category of mysticism by their doctrines, were
practically active, not dreaming away their lives under
the shadow of a Kempis,* but ever before the world of
* Hallam says of the work of a Kempis, "It is said to have
gone through 1,800 editions, and has probably been read more
than any other work after the Scriptures." — " History of Litera-
ture," vol. i., p. 140. It is still the permitted channel whereby
the faith and fervour of Romanism find their way to heaven.
SQ THE COUKSE OF THE MOVEMENT. [cent. xt.
everyday life. "Life in earnest" is written on every
page of English history.
In England there has always been a connexion between
vital Christianity and the difiusion of the Scriptures.
The men who have been the most distinguished for
intense intelligent religious convictions, have been the
foremost labourers in the translation or bestowment of
the Bible. Such a man was Wycliffe, such also Tyndal.
Though the manuscript copies of the former's translation
were necessarily costly and cumbrous, yet we find that
the fragments still remaining are so numerous as to show
that a very considerable diffusion of Divine truth thus
took place.
There were two slender sources of public information
(independently of preaching) opened before the discovery
of printing, but they were far too weak to be of any
practical use : one, was the popular dramatic representa-
tions of Scriptural subjects common from the thirteenth
to the fifteenth centuries, the other, the wall paintings,
which during the same period diversified rather than
adorned the churches. We can scarcely imagine an
instance of the successful influence of these aesthetic
methods of instruction. The popular mystery was more
usually founded on the apocryphal Gospels than on the
true. The mural picture is more frequently a represen-
tative of some monstrous monkish legend than of a
Scriptural scene. The rood-loft displayed the image of
the Virgin more conspicuously than any other symbol.
It is just possible that some stray soul was led into
spiritual truth by the representation of the passion of
sccoND TART] THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. 87
our Lord, which on cei-taiu anniversaries in certain towns,
as at London, York, and Coventry, was acted during
upwards of three hundred years.
The new art of printing now came forward as the
great missionary agent. "It is" (says Hallam, Hist. Lit.,
vol. i., p. 156) "a ver}^ striking circumstance, that the
high-minded inventors of this great art (printing) tried
at the very outset so bold a flight as the printing of an
entire Bible, and executed it with astonishing success.
It was Minerva leaping on earth in her Divine strength
and radiant armour, ready at the moment of her nativity
to subdue and destroy her enemies. The Mazarine Bible
is printed, some copies on vellum, some on paj^er of choice
quality, with strong black and tolerably handsome charac-
ters, but with some want of uniformity, which has led,
perhaps unreasonably, to a doubt whether they were cast
in a matrix. We may see in imagination this venerable
and splendid volume leading up the crowded myriads of
its followers, and imploring, as it were, a blessing on the
new art, by dedicating its first-fruits to the service of
Heaven."
The printers evidently supplied that for which they
well knew there was the chief demand. Eager inquiry
was everywhere being made of the Divine oracles : no
wonder, therefore, that the language and topics of Scrip-
ture became household words, and its blessed truths the
power of God unto salvation.
D'Aubigne says, " The Beformation in England was
essentially the work of Scripture."* If we refer again to
* " History of the Eeformation," vol. v., p. 198.
88 THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. [cent. x7.
the impartial and richly-furnished historian of the middle
age, we obtain valuable testimony of the character of the
great religious movement of the fifteenth and sixteenth
centuries. He says, "that its vital sj^irit will be sought for
in vain in the theological writings of the age. These were
chiefly concerning the two controversies concerning justi-
fication by faith alone, and the eucharist." "It was not,"
he says, " for these trials of metaphysical acuteness that
the ancient cathedrals shook in their inmost shrines; and
though it would be very erroneous to deny that many,
not merely of the learned laity, but of the inferior ranks,
were apt to tread in such thorny paths, we must look to
what came closer to the apprehension of plain men for
their zeal in the cause of reformed religion, and for the
success of that zeal. The abolition of saint-worship, the
destruction of images — the sweeping away of ceremonies,
of absolutions, of fasts and penances— the free circulation
of the Scriptures — the communion in prayer by the native
tongue — the introduction, if not of a good, yet of a more
energetic and attractive style of preaching than had
existed before ; and besides this, the eradication of
monkery which they despised, the humiliation of eccle-
siastical power which they hated, the immimity from
exactions which they resented; — these are what the North
of Europe deemed it gained by the public establishment
of the Reformation, and to which the common name of
Protestantism was given."*
Other writers, still less observant or cognizant of the
* Hallam, History of Literature, vol. i. , p. .382.
SfxoNo P.^RT.] THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. 89
real character of the movement, attribute it altogether to
the jDolitical element with which its historical manifesta-
tions were so intimately connected. But a deeper insight
into the personal history of the actors and sufferers shows
beyond all question that its vital energy was personal
faith in Christ as the only Saviour, and in God's truth as
the only guide. These dogmas, though enfolded in the
huge fabric of the Romanist system, had been, practically,
wholly withdrawn from common use, or even attainment.
The struggle which shook the ancient fabrics to their
"inmost shrines," was for the restitution of the lost jewel,
the efficacious truth which the Apostle Peter styles " the
precious blood of Christ," the "precious" corner-stone,
the " pi-ecious " object of faith. If tlie Romanist teachers
had only taught the people that which many of them
themselves knew, — the true way of salvation, — the
revolutions of the Reformation would never have been
needed.
Spiritual life at this period of our history appears to
have irregularly broken out in various places, and not to
have been continuous in its growth. This is a deception
arising from the suppression of the connecting links of
evidence. The torch-bearers themselves were often un-
seen ; but the flame was borne, the beacons were kindled,
the work was done. By the 'bloody footj^rints of the
persecutors we trace their progress through the fair
counties of England. Norwich received them in 1422 ;
London, 1450; Westminster, 1511; Colchester in 1511 ;
Coventry in 1519 ; Lincoln in 1530 ; York in 1531 ;
Devizes in 1532; Suffolk in 1532; Bedford in 1541;
90 THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. Lcent. xv.
Bury in 1544 ; Ipswich in 1544 ;' Tenterclen in 1558 ;
Oxford in 1558.
Husbandmen, farmers, carpenters, wheelwrights, mill-
ers, turners, shoemakers, glovers, mercers, serving-men,
painters, weavejs, shearers, cutlers, skinners, glaziers,
— all figure in the Gospel muster-roll which is found in
the records of the ecclesiastical courts. The word was
received everywhere and by all classes with gladness.
There w^as a wide-spread, deep conviction, of the supreme
value and importance of saving truth, which led un-
lettered men to step out of the requirements and habits
of ordinary life, to become valiant champions for tenets
of belief. The ignorance of many of these spiritual
warriors of aught besides the one thing needful, is
most afiecting. One poor Suffolk peasant (Kerby, at
Mendlesham) repeats at the stake all that he knows, — the
"Te Deum;" the Belief, and some prayers. Another, under
similar awful circumstances, from his scanty mental stores
sings the " MagniJicat." What energy of life is there in
evangelic truth, wdien such power resides even in its
fragments !
It has been said that the Keformation in this country
was matter of statecraft or priestcraft. Let the assertor,
by the aid of old John Eoxe, visit the homes of English
artisans and peasants, even before the occurrence of the
glorious events connected with the Beformation in Ger-
many, and he will find that loug ere the Gospel became
the subject of contention in courts and camps, it was
the dear treasure of the commonalty of the land. The
movement was characterized by the fixing of the heart on
SECOND PART.] THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. 91
gi-eat ends, with a comparative disregard of all things
intermediate. "Every solution of the conduct of the
reformers must be nugatory, save one, — that they were
men absorbed by the conviction that they were fighting
the battle of God." *
In contemplcxting the sad worldly condition of the
majority of the children of God in the past ages of our
history, it is consoling to reflect on the abundant com-
pensation which true religion affords for the loss of all
outward prosperity. There have been enthusiasts in
science, in the pursuit of abstract truth, of learning or
poetry, who, for the sake of intellectual pleasures, willingly
forfeited all earthly advantages, and could be hardly torn
away from their favourite studies ', but these are all out-
done by the rational enthusiasm of the Christian, whose
discovery of the " pearl of great price " is an event far
surpassing the surprises of philosophical research The
enchanting sweetness of the interested contemplation of
God's work of redeeming love, has 'been the solace of
thousands of persons, whose forlorn condition on earth
rendered them tlie objects only of pity or contempt to the
bystanders. Faith in the Divine promises, in the work
of our Lord Jesus Christ, is the elixir of spiritual life.
Such persons are ever singing to themselves in the strain
of one of the Eomanist poets of the Elizabethan age —
" Calvarie's Mount is my delight, the place I love soe well ;
Calvarie's Mount ! O that I might deserve m thee to dwell !
0 that I might for pilgrimme goe that sacrede mounte to see !
0 that I might some service do where Christ died once for me !
« HaUam, History of Lit,, vol. i., pp. 292, 308.
92 THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. [cent xv.
0 that I had some hole to hyde my head on thee, to stay
To view the place where Jesus died, to wash my sinnes away !
Like words then would I utter there, that Peter sometime did :
' Lord ! well it is that I am here ; let me still heere abide.'
Let me still heere abyde and be, and never to remove —
Heere is a place to harbour me, to ponder on Thy love ;
To ponder. Lord, upon thy paines, that thou for me hast felt ;
To wonder at Thy fervent love, wherewith Thy heart did melt !
Calvarie Mount, thus would I muse, if I might come to thee ;
All earthlie things I would refuse, might there my dwelling be.
Might there my dwelling be, no force, no feare should me
remove,
To meditate with great remorse upon my Saviour's love ! "
Sucli persons, not only enjoy here, but actually carry
away with tliem into the unseen world, durable riclies
and everlasting possessions of tlie utmost preciousness.
The history of the Church is too often a record of the
selfish struggles of ambitious men ; but the history of
vital religion is remarkably destitute of this element : its
promoters have ever acted against their worldly interests,
their thoughts have evidently not centred in themselves ;
the extension of the spiritual kingdom of their unseen
Master, and the glory of His great name have been their
springs of action.
It needs such examples, to counteract the inference
which the world draws from the general correspondence
existing between the creed of the governors and that of
the people. Too many of the high personages whom the
historian delights to honour for deeds of fame, have
shown, in this highest matter, subserviency to the powers
that be ; but when we resoi-t to the cell of the
student, or the lonesome dungeon, we find that individual
SECOND PAnx.J THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. 93
religion is a genuine power, having a real existence,
daring to be singular, and willing to do or die.
" Blest prisoners they, whose spirits are at large !" *
Besides the line of strict evangelical witnesses which
from the first may be traced running down through society
in England, there have never been wanting men of in-
telligence and force, who have assailed religious error from
the stand-point of human reason, though they themselves
have fallen short of the acknowledgment of the full truth.
The cause of the Gospel has thus had allies in the ranks
of the world ; men who deemed themselves standard-
bearers of reason, have aided the partisans of revelation,
fighting earnestly the battle of the church militant. It
is not for us now to criticise the various phases of belief
which scholars have held, but we may take delight in the
retrospect of allthose who, whatever their speculative
opinions on other subjects, looked to the atonement made
by our Lord Jesus Christ as the only ground of accep-
tance with God. In 1457, Bishop Pecock, who had been
for twenty years, writing and acting against Lollardism,
was himself charged with the taint, compelled to recant
and burn his books publicly.
The diifusion of short doctrinal tracts on the work of
Christ, the way of access to God, and the requirements
of true religion, has ever been characteristic of evangelical
movement among the people. To the pithy MS. trac-
tates of Wycliflfe, succeeded the Confession of Thorpe, the
Testament of Tracy, and similar productions, eagerly
* Wordsworth.
94 THE COURSE OF THE MOVEMENT. [cent. xv.
copied, and firmly tliongh secretly held. Then followed
the prohibited brief printed treatises of the early re-
formers ; afterwards, importations from German theology;
next Becon's admirable little books, succeeded by a
host of others, issued by the newly-found mighty agency
of the printing-press. The narratives of personal history
in the pages of Foxe, show how eagerly all these means
were used, and how they fed the lamps of individual
piety that were burning in a thousand obscure places.
The possession of the Scriptures, during all the future
vicissitudes of the kingdom, gave to the followers of
Christ the inestimable advantage of a perfect model for
their conduct. The path of contumely, trial, and suffer-
ing had been well worn by the Saviour ; His footsteps
were visible in all its windings, and His example is vivi-
fied by the constant sense of His ever-living presence.
The warriors felt themselves to be not only sustained and
blest, but honoured too, by being made spectacles to angels
and to men. They acted as though they saw beyond the
stars, and lived in the radiant light which flows from the
throne of God and of the Lamb. Faith is not, as some
pretend, the lowest form of reason, but the highest;
the humanity thus manifested is of the noblest style.
" Into God's word, as in a palace fair,
Thon leadest on and on, while still beyond
Each chamber, touched by holy Wisdom's wand,
Another opens, more beautiful and rare ;
And thou, in each, art kneeling down in prayer ;
From link to link of that mysterious bond,
Seeking for Christ. "
CHAPTER VIII.
iHcigns of l^cnrg 1711. anti l^cnrg VIM.
Geologists tell us that convulsions wliicli have riven
the rocks, and molten floods which. have burst through
the earth's crust, have been the means of bringing up to
the light of day the mineral treasures hidden beneath :
so the heavings of social religious revolution, the fiery
outbursts of persecution, have brought to light the golden
ore of sanctifi.ed character. We know more of the inner
religious life of the actors in the Reformation than of any
persons before or since. Under the sad compulsion of
ecclesiastical inquisition, they were obliged to narrate the
rise and progress of religion in their souls. These records
we have ; to the latest time they will form profitable
subjects for study. In the life to come, we shall have
myriads of similar biographies ; composing the staple of
the subjective history of redemption.
The truth which Bradwardine' vindicated in his study,
which Wyclifie had scattered alongside the highways and
byways of the kingdom, now became the dear heritage
of many persons who in all parts of England, after an
96 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. • [cent. xv.
earnest fashion, sought for rest unto their souls. The
persecutions under Henry YII., and during the first
years of his successor, were nominally founded on the
denial of the doctrine of the real presence of Christ in the
eucharist ; but the opinions thus ascertained to be heretical
were invariably accompanied by faith in the atonement
as the ground of acceptance with God. The persecutors
rejoiced in the supposed extinction of opposition when
they triumphed over the extinguished lives of the
deniers of transubstantiation, but the main truth lay
safe and untouched, It is quite evident that the early
sufferers were animated, not by opposition to Romanist
teaching, but by the higher power of the Holy Ghost,
and the love of our Lord Jesus Christ.
"He being dead yet speaketh," became true in a
singular method of one of the landed gentry of England
at this time, of whom we should have known nothing but
for the preservation of his will. William Tracy was the
worthy representative of a worshipful ancient family,
seated at Toddiugton, in Gloucestershire. Though a resi-
dent country gentleman, yet he was a scholar, learned
in the writings of Augustine, that fountain of mediaeval
evangelism. During the reign of Henry YII. he had
maintained his place in society with a reputation
worthy of his lineage. Full of years, he made his
will in October, 1530, and died. The document in ques-
tion is far more than h formal stereotyped statement
of the testator's trust in the Supreme : it is a brief, com-
prehensive avowal of the truth as it is in Jesus : —
" Eirst arid before all thiug, I commit me unto God,
eONTIKl'ED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 97
and to liis mercy, trusting without any doubt or mistrust,
that by his grace and the merits of Jesus Christ, and by
the virtue of his suffering and of his resurrection, I have,
and shall have, remission of my sins and resurrection of
my body and soul, according as it is written Job xiv.,
*I believe that my Redeemer liveth, and that in the last
day I shall rise out of the earth, and in my flesh shall
see my Saviour.' This my hope is laid up in my bosom.''
" My ground and belief is that there is but one God and
one Mediator between God and man, which is Jesus
Christ ; so that I do accept none in heaven, nor in earth,
to be my Mediator between me and God, but only Jesus
Christ."*
Well said, brave old knight ! requiring some stoutness
of purpose to say it, even in a posthumous manner. He
w^as the type we trust of hundreds more who, in the last
day, shall rise from ancestral tombs to join the glorious
assemblage around the throne. Little did it boot, that
two years after his death, the ignorant priests burnt in the
fire the mouldering remains of his body, but much did it
signif}^, in the progress of spiritual life in this land, that
the testament of the worthy knight was made a household
word by all such as looked for the advent of a purer faith.
It spread quickly among the commonalty. They could
readily understand both the precept and the example.
Tyndale and Frith successively published comments on
this unique but chai-acteristic production of the reform
before the Reformation.
It is remarkable that Lord Bacon, with his sagacious
* Tyndale's Works. Testament of W. Tracy.
U
98 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. xti.
mind, should, in his life of Henry YII., have entirely
overlooked the great revolution in opinion then silently
but surely taking place. Belief in the church was being
superseded by personal faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.
The annals of persecution disclose the undoubted fact
that the commonalty of England, throughout whole
districts, had become extensively evangelised. As old
Foxe phrases it, " I find recorded in the register of London
between the years of our Lord L509 and 1527, the names
of divers other persons, both men and women, who in the
fulness of that dark and misty time of ignorance, had
also some portion of God's good Spirit, which induced
them to the knowledge of the truth and Gospel."*
At this time there arose a great demand for short
practical religious treatises, which by the help of the
printing press, could be readily supplied. The accusations
of heres}'-, made against great numbers of citizens, were
grounded on their possession of such books as the four
Evangelists, the epistles of St. Paul and of St. James,
the Revelation of St. John, Wyclifles Wicket, and the
book of the Ten Commandments. The nature of the
food thus selected shews the kind of taste which prevailed.
No wonder that the anxious inquirers found their way to
Divine knowledge. All this was clearly the outworking
of the old Lollardism, which had been implanted a whole
generation before the great reformation.
We cannot trace the steps by which William Tyndale,
during his resort to the newly-opened fountain of Greek
literature at Cambridge, or his solitary musings amidst
* Vol. iv. , -p. 173.
•oNTiNWED.J • AND HENRY VIII. 99
the beautiful vales of his native county, became an
earnest devoted Christian; but we find him at the age
of thirty-four, at the table of his master. Sir John Walsh,
prepared not only for intellectual conflict with the adhe-
rents of Romanism, but to do and dare all that was
consequential upon deep personal conviction of the power
and grandeur of "the truth as it is in Jesus." The light
emanating from his example and utterances soon shone
around. He had no ambition save to tell others of the
Saviour. He replied to his opponent by saying, " That
he was contented they should bring him into any county
in all England, giving him £10 a year to live with, and
binding him to no more but to teach children and to
preach."
There are no writings extant which show a more lively
image of the writer than those of Tyndale, none more
thoroughly imbued with the flow of personal experience.
Take as an instance his definition of the Gospel, how
different from that of the mere theologian, how adapted
to cheer the heart, as well as enlighten the mind, of the
student, as he eagerly glanced at the prohibited pages : —
" Evangelion (that we call the Gospel) is a Greek word ;
and signifieth good, merry, glad, and joyful tidings, that
maketh a man's heart glad, and maketh him sing, dance,
and leap for joy : as Avhen David killed Goliath the giant,
came glad tidings unto the Jews, that their fearful and
cruel enemy was slain, and they delivered out of al
danger ; for gladness whereof they sung, danced, and were
joyful. In like/manner in the Ev^angelion of God (which
we call Gospel, and the New Testament), joyful tidings ;
100 REIGNS OP HENRY VII. [cent. xti.
and, as some say, a good hearing, published by the
apostles throughout all the world, of Christ, the right
David ; how that he hath fought with sin, with death,
and the devil and overcome them ; whereby all men that
were in bondage to sin, wounded with death, overcome
of the devil, are, without their own merits or deserviugs,
loosed, justified, restored to life ; and saved, brought to
liberty, and reconciled unto the favour of God, and set at
one with him again; which tidings as many as believe,
laud, praise, and thank God ; are glad, sing, and dance
for joy."'^
Or his description of the same : —
" The law putteth from a man the trust and confidence
that he hath in himself, and in his own works, merits,
deserviugs, and ceremonies, and robbeth him of all his
righteousness, and maketh him poor. It killeth him,
sendeth him down to hell, and bringeth him to utter
desperation, and prepareth the way of the Lord, as it is
written of John the Baptist. For it is not possible that
Christ should come to a man, as long as he trusteth in
himself, or in any worldly thing. Then cometh the
evangelion, a more gentle pastor, which suppleth and
suageth the wounds of the conscience and bringeth
health. It bringeth the Spirit of God; w^iich looseth
the bonds of Satan, and coupleth us to God and his will,
through strong faith, and fervent love, with bonds too
strong for the devil, the world, or any creature to loose
them. And the poor and wretched sinner feeleth so
great mercy, love and kindness in God, that he is sure in
* Tyndale's "Doctrinal Treatises," p. 8.
coKTijjuED.] AXD HENRY VIII. 101
himself liow that it is not possible that God should
forsake him, or withdraw his mercy and love from
him."*
These sentences afford internal evidence of the enjoy-
ment experienced by the writer from his cordial reception
of evangelical truth ; they serve to suggest to us the exist-
ence of inward pleasures which amply compensated for the
loss of all that he so bravely forfeited in order to the ac-
complishment of the great purjDose of his life.
"But Faith
Her daring dreams will cherish,
Speeding her gaze o'er time and death
To realms where nought can perish."
It was not the charm of a rising vernacular literature,
nor the pungent sallies of his inextinguishable Mdt, that
induced people throughout the kingdom to peril their
lives for the possession of his writings, but it was desire
for the word of life. So we learn from a contemporary :
— " And then are they also to all Tyndal's bokes, whiche
for the manyfolde mortall heresis conteyned within the
same openlye condempned and forbydden, they are, 1
saye, yet unto those bokes so sore affectionate, that
neyther the condempnation of them by the clergy, nor
the forbydding of them by the kings hyghnes, with his
open proclamations upon greate paynes, nor the daunger
of open shame, nor parell of painfull deth^ can cast them
out of some fond folkes handes, and that folke of every
sorte." t
* Tyndale's " Doctrinal Treatises," p. 22.
t Barlowe's Dialogue.
102 EEIGNS OF HENRY VII. i[czNT. xti.
The trying position of intelligent godly persons at this
time will be best illustrated by an example. In 1524 a
man of good understanding and attainments, married,
polite, and pious, named Thomas Benet, having embraced
the reformed doctrines, left Cambridge and all hope of
preferment, and went to Great Torrington, in Devonshire,
where he endeavoured as a schoolmaster to earn a main-
tenance for his family. This not succeeding, he removed
to Exeter, where for six years he successfully followed
his calling and at the same time diligently studied
the Scripture, and attended all the public services of
religion. He first departed from the privacy of his
course by seeking out and aiding such as were favourers
of the Gospel. Then he became conAdnced that it was
his duty, in spite of the peril, to testify against the
prevalent corruption. He acquainted his family and
friends with his resolution, disposed of his books, counted
the cost, and commenced the warfare by fixing written
scrolls upon the doors of the Cathedral, affirming the pope
to be Antichrist, and claiming all worship as due to God
alone and not to the saints. He was nearly detected
by his expressions of ridicule on an occasion when the
unknown author of the libels was solemnly excommuni-
cated by bell, book, and candle in his presence ; soon after
this he was discovered, and then with much calm intre-
pidity argued for a whole week with his enemies, main-
taining not only the anti-papal doctrine, but the still
more important truth of the sufficiency of the atone-
ment made by Christ. His poor wife brought food to
him in prison, and appears to have sympathised in his
eoxTiNUED.] AND HENRY VIII. 103
views of the terrible necessity of the case. He had no
support from without, for in that priest-ridden city the
multitude sided with their chiefs, and he experienced
the malice and rage of the whole community ; but he
died a humble, courageous, devoted martyr. Foxe says,
" and being brought to his execution, in a place called
Livery-dole, without the city of Exeter, he made his most
humble confession and prayer unto Almighty God, and
requested all the people to do the like for him ; whom he
exhorted with such gravity, and with such a pithy ora-
tion, to seek the true honour of God, and the true know-
ledge of him ; as also to leave the devices, fantasies, and
imaginations of man's invention, that all the hearers
and beholders of him were astonied and in great admira-
tion ; insomuch that the most pai*t of the people, as also
the scribe who wrote the sentence of condemnation against
him, did pronounce and confess that he was God's servant,
and a good man."'"
Not until the long rest of the dead is finally disturbed,
shall we know what wrongs their graves cover !
When John Tewkesbury, a reputable London trades-
man, was examined before the bishops on a charge of
heresy in 1529, he avowed that had studied the Scrip-
tures for seventeen years, and by the aid of the New
Testament discovered the faults of his soul. He main-
tained the doctrine of justification by faith, attributed
his conversion to Tyndale's Testament and tracts. He
was sent from the Lollard tower to the mansion of the
able, witty and learned chancellor, Sir Thomas More, who
* Foxe, voL v., p. 25.
104 REIGNS OF HENRY VIT. [cent xvi.
had tlie baseness to tortui-e in various ways tlie prisoner
whose constancy he could not move by his arguments.
Crushed with suffering he recanted, but afterwards with-
drew his recantation, boklly but soberly reaffirmed his
belief in the sole mediatorshij^ and sufficient atonement
of Christ, and was burnt at Smithfield ou St. Thomas's
eve, whilst his fellow citizens were, in their several wards,
electing the members of the corporation for the next year.
Truly, the future " weight of glory " must be infinitely
great, to bring such sufferings under the category of
" light afflictions which are but for a moment !"
The terrific conflicts through which the people of God
had now to pass in combating with the enemies of the
truth, were greatly augumented by mental struggles.
When speedy and cruel death became the inevitable
consequence of conscientiousness, it was not unnatural
that some persons should attempt to postpone or avoid
the result. Bainham,. an accomplished London lawyer,
with Bayfield, the Bible-hawking priest, followed Tewkes-
bury's example : first confessed the truth, then recanted to
save dear life ; then, finding the last state worse than the
first, announced their repentance of their recantation, and
finally became martyrs. What anguish must the London
merchant have felt ere he stood up in his pew in his
parish church on a Sunday morning, holding his English
New Testament in his hand and Tyndale's " Obedience of
a Christian Man " in his bosom, and then, amidst his
family and fellow citizens, with a full knowledge that
he was dooming himself to an imtimely death, declared
openly with tears that he had denied God by his former
COXTINTJED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 105
recantation, prayed for forgiveness, and exhorted the
people not to do as he had done.
Harding and his wife, of Chesham, were accused of
conversing about the Scriptures, and favouring Lollards.
For twenty years they had to undergo various penances,
fasts, and pilgrimages, which made sad inroad upon their
liberty, comfort, and prosperity. Harding was enjoined
to wear on both the sleeves of his smock-frock, instead of
the quaint embroidery in which rustics still take delight,
the image of a faggot. After bearing this for fifteen years,
he went into the woods to read in solitude, whilst the
villagers went to mass on Easter Sunday. There, whilst
he was so occupied vvitli a book of prayers in English,
the informers found him. He was denounced and con-
demned for Lollardism. After sixty years of reputable
life spent in his native village, he was burned to death in
1532, at the entrance of the little wooded dell, which
contributes to form the exquisite sylvan scenery at • the
foot of the chalk downs of Buckinghamshire.
A genuine religious revival was taking place in Essex
through the faith and firmness of a few intelligent ener-
getic laymen, labouring in the neighbourhood of Colches-
ter, who were joined by one or two converted priests.
The leaders of the little band, Tyball, Pykes, Topley, and
some godly women of their party, resolved it to be their
duty to meet together to hear tlie word, to pray, and to
recognize each other as disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Thus, in obscurity and persecution, amidst the fields of
East-Anglia, was formed the first true congregation of
believers as such, in Britain. Coverdale, Bilney, and
106 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent, xti-
Latimer, willingly acknowledged the riglit of this gather-
ing to be considered as a true church.* The good women
learnt the Gospel by heart, so as to enable them to con-
duct cottage meetings ; the men travelled from one
farmstead and town to another, reading the Bible and
speaking of Him to whom it testifies. This was about
the year 1529.
The cause of personal religion received a large acces-
sion from the publication in 1527 of Tyndale's "Pa-
rable of the Wicked Mammon," which was introduced
into England by stealth. It is a full, hearty vindica-
tion of the doctrine of justification by faith in the
work of Christ alone. This boon he bestowed on his
countrymen immediately after his translation of the
Scriptures. Tyndale was far more than a scholar, as
this work testifies. " This is therefore j^lain, and a
sure conclusion, not to be doubted of, that there must
be first in the heart of a man, before he do any good
work, a greater and a preciouser thing than all the good
works in the world, to reconcile him to God, to bring
the love and favour of God to him, to make him love
God again, to make him righteous and good in the sight
of God, to do away his sin." ..." That precious
thing which must be in the heart, ere a man can work
any good work, is the work of God, which, in the Gospel,
preacheth, proifereth, and bringeth, unto all that repent
and believe, the favour of God in Christ."
No wonder that the divine, loving truths, and terse
language of this little treatise, won many hearts to the
* D'Aubigue, vol. v., p. 519.
COWTINUEn.]
AND HENRY VIII. 107
Saviour. It was, along with the Bible, the mannal of the
merchant-martyr Tewkesbury, and of poor Bayfield, the
tortured Benedictine of Bury St. Edmunds.
In the short narrations we possess of the personal
history of the sufferers during the early reformation-
period, we notice an absence of all mere enthusiasm
and fanaticism, and the presence of great depth and
tenderness of emotion. The occurrences were serious,
the men were grave as became the times ; but they were
men of the market-place, and of the family circle. Never
was piety more healthy, because never more active ; never
was it firmer, for it had been rooted and grounded
during continuous storms.
The bishops' registers in the reign of Henry YIII.,
are full of notices of the succession of spiritual life. A
few pages of Foxe in which these are transcribed, will, at
a glance, show the prodigious evangelical activity then
prevailing. There were devoted laymen who went about
every where, instructing the people in the knowledge of
Christ crucified, not counting their lives dear to them so
that they could accomplish the chosen task. We read
for instance, of "a glorious and sweet society" of believers
at Newbury, continuing for fifteen years together : —
of " a godly and great company " at Amersham, which
had continued stedfast for twenty-three years ;— of a
conventicle at Burford, and conventicles in other places.
The Buckinghamshire believers were called "just-fast
men," and " known men ;" the gathering at Burford was
supplied by the "singular good memory" of Alice Colins,
wife of Bichard Colins, who was a famous woman among
108 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. xvi.
them, and could recite much of the Scripture, and other
good books, and, when the conventicle met, she was sent
for to recite the newly published treatise on the ten com-
mandments, and the older epistles of Peter and James. '"^
The gi*eat revival spread in the land ; there was a
hunger for the bread of life, prompting persons to gather
together in the darkness of night, at all hazards, to listen
to some humble Scripture reader. The laity of England
were resolved to have the knowledge which they supposed
the Bible could impart, cost whatever it might. The poor
reader went about at the peril of his life, but still he
went. " John Wood, of Henly ; William Wood ; Lewis,
of Henly, a serving-man ; Willie and his son," were
taken : " This Willie was impeached because he taught
the Gospel of Matthew to John Wood and William Wood,
after the great abjuration ; and father Robert did teach
them St. Paul's epistle ; which old father was after that
burned at Buckingham. "+
There is no uncertainty as to the means employed.
The instrumentality was humble, but it was "mighty
through God." Nothing else will explain its efficacy.
There were no political or social or adventitious causes at
work. It was wholly a movement for, and of, personal
religion. It is high time that the roots of the English
reformation should be traced, and its true character
vindicated. The messengers who were employed in the
work were themselves earnest believers, and this was the
secret of their success, and their only title to fame.
Again we resort to the registers for proof : —
* Foxe, vol. iv., p. 238. f Ibid., p. 228.
C0NTINT3ED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 109
" Thomas Holnies denounced John Phips. He was very
ripe in the Scripture ; he was a reader or rehearser to
the other; also John Butler, carpenter; Richard Butler;
William King, of Uxbridge ; these three sat up all niglit
in the house of Durdant at Iver Court by Staines, read-
ing all night in a book of the Scripture ; also loan Cocks,
the wife of Bobert Laywood, husbandman ; for desiring
of Durdant, her master, that he being a ' known man '
would teach her some knowledge of God's law. Also
Nicholas Durdant of Staines ; Davy Durdant, of Anker-
wyck, the wife of old Durdant ; the Avife of Nicholas
Durdant. These were detected, for that old Durdant of
Iver Court sitting at dinner with his children and their
wives, bidding a boy, there standing, to depart out of the
house, that he should not hear and tell, did recite certain
places to them out of the epistles of St. Paul and the
Gospels."* "John Butler was also compelled by his
oath to detect Henry Yulman and his wife, of Uxbridge ;
Page, carpenter, of London ; a daughter of John Phip ;
a daughter of William Phip. This Page, carpenter, was
detected for having certain books of the Apocalypse in
English. Also, for that this carpenter and his wife did
bring him, and the wife of Henry Yulman, to a corner
house of Friday- street, where the good man of the house,
having a stump foot, had divers such books, to the intent
they should hear them read." " Thomas Tridway com-
pelled by his oath to detect John Morden, of Ashley-
green, and Richard Ashford his brother. These were
accused and detected because John Morden had in his
* Bishop Langland's Registers. Foxe, vol. iv. , p. 228.
110 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [ce.st. xvi.
house a book of tlie Gospels, and other chapters in English,
and read three or four times in the same ; in which book
his brother Ashford did read once." " John Groser was
examined whether he had a book of the Gospels in
Encflish ; who confessed that he received such a book of
Thomas Tykill, morrow-mass priest in Milk-street, and
afterwards lent the same book to Thomas Spencer, which
Thomas Spencer with his wife used to read upon the
same." " Also Richard Colins, of Genge, and his wife.
This Colins was among them a great reader, and had a
book of Wyclifie's Wicket, and a book of Luke, and one
of Paul, and a gloss of the Apocalypse. Also William
Colins, brother of Richard. Also Thomas Colins, father
of Richard and William. He had a book of Paul and a
book of small epistles." " Also John Ledisdall, of
Hungerford, for reading the Bible in John Barges' s house
at Burford, upon Holywood Day, with Colins, Lyvord,
Thomas Hall and others." " John Baker, weaver, of
Witney ; the bailiff of ' Witney ; John Hakker ; John
Brabant and his wife ; John Brabant, his son, with his
wife ; Reginald Brabant, of Stanlake, for reading in a
certain English book of Scripture, they being together in
John Brabant's house of Stanlake."
James Brewster, who, together with William Sweeting,
was burnt at Smithfield on the 18th of October, loll,
was accused and confessed, " That he had been five
times with William Sweeting in the fields keeping beasts,
hearing him read many good things out of a certain
book, at which reading also were present at one time
Woodruff or Woodbine, a net-maker, with his wife ;
CONTINUED.]
AND HENRY VIII. Ill
also a brother-in-law of William Sweeting ; and another
time Thomas Goodred, who likewise heard the said
William Sweeting read. Item, for having a certain little
book of Scripture in English, of an old writing almost
worn with age."
We read of John Maundrell, of Keevil, in Wiltshire,
a husbandman, the son of a farmer, who after the Scrip-
ture had been translated by Tyndale, became a diligent
hearer and then an embracer of God's truth, so that it
was his daily delight. In order that he might constantly
hear and speak of the Gospel he kept the New Testament
always ab ut him, although he could not read himself.
When he came into company where any one could read,
his book was always ready and if all were illiterate then
he recited the passages fixed in his memory. The pages
of old Foxe disclose many similar instances of the pm^suit
of piety under difficulties. Maundrell was obliged to
leave his wife and children, and home and good name
and fame, and to wander about as a herdsman. Ultimately
he was apprehended, and with two artizans of the same
district burnt to death at Salisbury on the 24th of March,
1556 ; Maundrell at the stake indignantly refusing the
oifer of pardon if he would recant, witli the decided
exclamation, " Not for all Salisbury !"
We can, by these aids, reproduce the picture exhibited
over a great part of England in and about the year 1520.
We see the thoughtful artizan, the scrap of Scripture in
his wallet, the tract concealed beneath his doublet, the
midnight gathering, the family group, the warm-hearted
solemn teaching, the firm resolve with the grateful ac-
112 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. ;[cent. xn.
ceptance. Alas ! too often we must add the hypocritical
informer, the imprisonment, the trials, mockery of
penance, the clamour, and ofttimes the dreadful death.
Vital piety shone with singular lustre in these difficult
times. Keligion, which in the estimation of priest and
people theretofore, was a thing to be done by the one for
the other, all at once sprang into independent existence.
One well-known character of the kingdom of Christ
is illustrated by these details, namely, that it is composed
of persons of all worldly sorts and conditions. The
stream of life flows with equal purity through the
park of the nobleman, and by the hut of the peasant; its
waters are equally precious to the prisoner in his cell, and
to the monarch on his throne. Of it may be said, as of
the sunbeam,
"A joy thou art, and a life to all ! "
Whilst Christianity was thus springing up amongst
the middle and working classes of the country, it also
burst out amidst the students at Cambridge, and
thence spread to Oxford, in a manner quite independent
of the old Lollardism of the provinces. The sound
devotion of master Stafford, the sharp convictions and
clear insight of Bilney, the loving spirit of Frith, the
homely force of Latimer, were all so many powers emerg-
ing from the darkness, which were immediately engaged in
the active promulgation of the very sum and substance
of true religion.. Soon too, the glow from the heat of
the Lutheran reformation was felt across the Channel,
multitudes of people began to place the teaching of the
Church second, and of the Scripture first.
coNTiNviu] AXD HENRY YIII. 113
Tliere were some who succumbed in a measure to tlie
force of 2)ersecution, by sustaining the modified punish-
ment of degradation and banishment, but who nevertheless
continued to promote religion, by going into .by-places to
teach the knowledge of Christ. Such a man Avas Becon,
who, depriA'ed of all opportunity of rising in his university
went into tlie uplands of Derbyshire, and there, as an
itinerant schoolmaster, preached the Gospel in the dis-
tricts around. By his godly life, popular addresses, and
admirable tracts, he greatly promoted the cause of vital
religion. He wrote books for the people, composed in
short sentences, full of earnest, persuasive, all-important
truth. The titles of some of these proclaim their
suitableness to the times. " The Sick Man's Salve," "The
Pathway unto Prayer," "The Christmas Banquet,"
"The New Year's Gift," "The Potation for Lent,"
" A Pleasant New Nosegay," are all charming little
works, in which the doctrines of the New Testament
are stated and illustrated, in a sprightly and homely
manner.
"In 1526, the promoters of evangelical truth were
organized into a society calling themselves the ' Christian
Brotherhood,' with a central committee sitting in London,
with subscribed funds, regularly audited, for the purchase
of Testaments and tracts, and with paid agents, who
travelled up and down the country to distribute them."*
The same year witnessed a great development of the
lights and shadows of religious life at the English Univer-
>sities. Wolsey had gathered around his sumjijtuous new
* Froude, vol. i., p. 153.
I
114 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. xvi.
foundation of Cardinal College a company of young men
who were the ornaments of the age for learning and skill
of various kinds — " picked young men of grave judgment
and sharjD wits." * It so happened, that in the case of
the majority of these, the new learning was connected
with the re-discovered faith. Among the goodly company,
foremost in philology and logic, was Fryth, who had
received from Tyndale the love of saving truth. The
young men of the University acquired the habit of
associating for discussion and enjoyment in the open-
ing tield of Biblical learning. Garrett, a zealous pious
curate, living in Honey-lane, Cheapside, was in the
habit of visiting both Universities with supplies of
Tyndale's first translation of the Scriptures, and other
volumes of godly learning prohibited by law. This he
deemed to be his mission. With zealous heart and win-
ning tongue, he recommended the truths which he bore.
Martyrdom speedily became his lot. The young men
grew in the knowledge and love of the Gospel. Upwards
of twenty of them were seized and imprisoned in the
fish-cellar of the New Hall. There they were confined
from February until August, save such as death released,
and one or two dismissed by less painful agencies. Fryth
left this dungeon to cross the sea into Germany, where
he visited his spiritual counsellor Tyndale, and aided him
in the translation of the Scriptures. Probably, amidst
all the discomforts and privations incident to exile, this
was a happy period in the lifetime of these rare men.
He returned to his own country to carry on the work of
* Foxe.
CONTINCED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 115
teaching ; was set in the stocks at E-eading as a vagrant ;
released himself by making an appeal in Greek to a passing
schoolmaster ; was hunted by his brother in learning, Sir
Thomas More, the famous chancellor ; taken jDrisoner, con-
fined in the Tower j had to contend before the Chancellor
for dear life in defence of dearer truth ; was arraigned
and questioned before the Archbishop, again before the
Bishop of Winchester, again before the whole episcopal
court j would only defend, and would not recant ; was
condemned and cruelly burnt to death on the 20th of
June, 1533, Fryth deserves eminent rank as a vigorous
believer, as well as a ripe scholar and bold assertor of the
truth. His career was short and bright. He found
time to write and publish the most telling books of the
day against the sacramentarian errors of the E,omanists,
which, more than any others, obstructed the career of
evangelism. To live " as ever in the great Taskmaster's
eye " is a noble attainment ; but to do so amidst the un-
deserved hate and contempt of the world, the penalties
of voluntary poverty, the prospect of cruel martyrdom, is
heroism of the highest order. We may learn the secret
of their strength by stepping into the study of Anthony
Delaber, one of the young men at St. Alban's Hall, who
favoured the visits of the book-bearer Thomas Garrett
from London. After narrating the escape of Garrett, he
writes —
" When he was gone down the stairs from my chamber,
I straightway did shut my chamber door, and went into
my study, and took tlie New Testament in my hands,
kneeled down on my knees, and with many a deep sigh
116 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. xn.
and salt tear did I, witli much deliberation, read over
the tenth cliapter of St. Matthew his Gospel : and when
I had so done, with fervent prayer I did commit unto
God that our dearly-beloved brother Garrett, earnestly
beseeching Him in and for Jesus Christ's sake, His only
begotten Son our Lord, that He woidd vouchsafe not
only safely to conduct and keep our said dear brother
from the hands of all his enemies, but also that he
would endue his tender and lately-born little flock in
Oxford with heavenly strength by his Holy Spirit, that
they might be able thereby valiantly to withstand to His
glory all their fierce enemies, and also might quietly,
to their own salvation, with all godly patience, bear
Christ's heavy cross ; which I now saw was presently to
be laid on their young and weak backs, unable to bear so
huge a burden without the great help of His Holy Spii'it.
This done, I laid aside my book safe." *
The opposition made by the ecclesiastics to the spread
of Tyndale's Yersion, appears to have called forth a
spirited treatise in favour of the right of the people to
God's Word, which is found at length in Foxe.t The
sympathy which the writer reckoned upon, is indicated in
the closing sentence of this calm and able production :
" Who that findeth or readeth this letter, put it forth in
examination, and suflfer it not to be hid or destroyed, but
multiplied ; for no man knoweth what profit may come
thereof. For he that comjoiled it purposeth, with God's
help, to maintain it unto the death if need be. And
therefore, all Christian men and women ! pray that the
* Foxe. + Vol. iv., p. 671.
!NUED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 117
Word of God may be unbound, and delivered from the
power of Antichrist, and runne among his people."
It is impossible to attribute the English Reforma-
tion either exclusively to the resurrection of the
Greek Testament at Cambridge, to the charms of
Ann Boleyn at Hever, or to the pen of Luther at
Wittenberg. All these things worked together for its
good, but its origin was clearly antecedent to any of
them ; so that when the ripe Christianity of the scholars
was promulgated, it was immediately supported by the
foregone conclusions of multitudes of thoughtful though
unlettered men. The doctrine of justification by the
work of Christ alone, was the faith of people in English
homes, long ere it was nailed to* cathedral doors in
Germany or publicly discussed at Cambridge.
We may well conceive the wonder and joy of the
poor despised Lollards, when they received the astonishing
news that the most learned men in the Universities, and
most exalted men at Court, were converts to the faith.
On the receipt of these glad tidings, they counted their
own individual pei'secution but a light affliction, and
anticipated for the nation a glorious future.
In the year 15.31, vital personal religion was burning,
with strong but sad-coloured flame, in the breast of "little
Bilney," the pensive, strong-minded, faint-hearted Cam-
bridge man. On the Friday before his execution, whilst
in prison in the Guildhall at Norwich, talking with his
friends about the fiery trial expected on the morrow, and
after proving his courage by burning his finger in the
candle, he took for his topic the text, '' Eear not ; for I
118 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. svi.
have redeemed thee, and called thee by thy name : thou
art mine. When thou goest through the water, 1 "will be
with thee ; and the strong floods shall not overflow thee ;
when thou walkest in the fire, it shall not bum thee,
and the flame shall not kindle upon thee : for I am the
Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour."
Which, says old Foxe, " he did most comfortably intreat
of, as well in respect of himself, as applying it to the
particular use of his friends there present ; of whom some
took such sweet fruit therein, that they caused the whole
said sentence to be fairly written in tables, and some in
their books ; the comfort whereof in divei^ of them was
never taken from them to their dying day." *
Bilney's Bible, still preserved at Cambridge, has this
passage from the 43rd of Isaiah, strongly underscored in
the handwriting of the martyr. A few words from Foxe
will display the great activity of divine life amongst the
scholars at this time, in the very teeth of bitter persecution,
and show of what heroic quality was the faith of these
good men : — " This godly man (speaking of Bilney), being a
bachelor of law, was but of little stature, and very slender
of body ; and of a strait and temperate diet ; and given
to good letters ; and very fervent and studious in the
Scriptures — as appeared by his sermons, his converting of
sinners, his preaching at the lazar cots, wrapping them
in sheets, helping them of that they wanted, if they
would convert to Christ ; laborious and painful to the
desperates ; a preacher to the prisoners and comfortless,
a great doer in Cambridge, and a great preacher in
• Foxe, vol. iv., p. 653.
coNTiNOB] AND HENRY VIII. 119
Suffolk and Norfolk ; and at the last in London preached
many notable sermons : and before his last preaching in
London, he, with Master Arthnr, Master Stafford, and
Master Thistel, of Pembroke Hall, converted Dr. Barnes
to the Gospel of Jesus Christ our Saviour, with the
assistance of Master Fork, of Bennet College, and Master
Send, master of the same college ; to whom also were
then associate Master Parker and Master Poury. Which
Bilnej with Master Arthur converted one Master Lam-
bert, being a mass priest in Norfolk, and afterwards a
martyr in London." *
The force of personal religion in Bilney is illustrated
by his letters to his Romanist priest, and even to his
parents ; not exhorting them to forsake Romanism as a
system, nor opposing their tenets by argument, but per-
suading them to acknowledge their need of Christ and
to embrace him. He tells the Yicar of Dereham, that
if he will live according to the Gospel, and speak but one
sentence of it every Sunday, yet God would own this one
sentence in the conversion of souls : and to his parents he
^vlites, admonishing them to remember the sufferings of
Christ, and " howe preciouse thynges He hath bequethed
— his remission of our sinnes and everlasting lyffe."
The conversion of Latimer, the fierce young debater
for ritualism, by means of the deep gentle voice of Bil-
ney ; the story of their subsequent friendship in the
dangerous truths, and more dangerous labours, of evan-
gelism ; of their w^alks together to the " Heretics' Hill;"
and of their protracted conferences on Holy Scripture,
* Foxe, vol. iv., p. 620.
120 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. svi.
belongs to this period. The sunlight of the Gospel was
gilding the antique towers of college halls, as well as
the verdant slopes of Gloucestershire, the broad aci-es of
East Anglia, and the tall gables of the city. The interests
of God and eternity seemed to be on the point of becom-
ing universally uppermost. " There is in the realm,"
quoth Latimer, " (thanks be to God), a great sight of
laymen, well learned in the Scriptures, and of virtuous
and godly conversation, better learned than a great sight
of the clergy." These were the lineal descendants of
the Lollards.
The spread of vital religion was at once indicated and
promoted by the step taken in 1538, namely, the publica-
tion of the Bible in English with free permission to read
it, and an injunction that a copy should be placed in
every parish church. The proclamation directing this
contains a provision singularly adapted to promote the
right of private judgment, though expressly denying it : —
" And if at any tyme by reading any doubt shall come to
any of you, touching the sense and meaning of any part
thereof; that tlienne, not geving to moche to your own
minds, fantazies, and opinions ; nor having thereof any
open reasonying in your open taverns or alehouses — ye
shall have recourse to such lerned men as be or shall
be auctorized to preach and declare the same. So that?
avoyding all contencione and disputacions in suche ale-
houses and other places, unmete for such conferences,
and submyttinge your opinions to the judgmente of such
lerned men as shall be appointed in this behaalf, his
grace may well perceyve, that you use this most heigh
COXTIXPED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 121
benyte quietly and charitably every of you to the
edifying of himself, his wief, and famylye."
The language of this document shows that Scriptural
tniths had already become leading topics of discussion
among the commonalty of England.
The currents were diffusing themselves in all directions
throughout English society. The courses of the streams
are all unknown to us, but the fertilizing effects remain
to this day. Here and there we get a glimpse of the
actual process. An incident in the early life of a good
man (who was long afterwards living at Stoke ISTewington)
thus admits us into the arcana : —
" When the king had allowed the Bible to be set forth
to be read in all churches, immediately several poor men
in the town of Chelmsford, in Essex, where his father
lived and he was born, bought the New Testament, and
on Sundays sat reading of it in the lower end of the
church ; many would flock about them to hear their
reading, and he among the rest, being then but fifteen
years old, came every Sunday to hear the glad and sweet
tidings of the Gospel. But his father observing it, once
angrily fetched him away, and would have him to say the
Latin matins with him ; which grieved him much. And
as he returned at other times to hear the Scripture read,
his father still would fetch him away. This put him
upon the thoughts of learning to read English, that so he
might read the New Testament himself ; which when he
had by diligence effected, he and his father's apprentice
bought the New Testament, joining their stocks together;
and, to conceal it, laid it under the bed-straw, and read it
122 REIGNS OF HENRY VII. [cent. svi.
at convenient times. One night, his father being asleep,
he and his mother chanced to discourse concerning the
crucifix, and kneeling down to it, and knocking on the
breast then used, and holding up the hands to it when it
came by on procession ; this he told his mother was plain
idolatry, and against the commandment of God, where
He saith, " Thou shalt not make any graven image, nor
bow down to it, nor worship it.'* His mother, enraged at
him for this, said, " Wilt thou not worship the cross,
which was about thee when thou wert christened, and
must be laid on thee when thou art dead 1 ' In this heat
the mother and son departed, and went to their beds.
The sum of this evening's conference she presently repeats
to her husband, which he, impatient to hear, and boiling
with fury against his son, for denying worship to be due
to the cross, arose up forthwith, and goes into his son's
chamber, and, like a mad zealot, taking him by the hair
of his head with both his hands, pulled him out of the bed
and whipped him unmercifully. And when the young
man bore this beating, as he related, with a kind of joy,
considering it was for Christ's sake, aud shed not a tear,
his father, seeing that, was more enraged, and ran down
and fetched an halter, and put it about his neck, saying
he would hang him. At length, with much entreaty of
the mother and brother, he left him almost dead." *
Old Strype waxes eloquent in describing the reception
of the Bible by the public : "It was wonderful to see
with what joy this book of God was received, not only
among the learneder sort, and those that were noted for
* Strype, •'Memorials," vol. i., p. 92.
CONTINUED.]
AND HENRY VIII. 123
lovers of the Reformation, but generally all England
over, among all the vulgar and common people ; and
with what greediness God's Word was read, and what
resort to places where the reading of it was. Everybody
that could bought the book, or busily read it, or got
others to read it to them, if they could not themselves ;
and divers more elderly people learned to read on purpose.
And even little boys flocked among the rest to hear
portions of the Holy Scripture read." *
Concurrently with the publication of the translated
Bible, was the issue, by John Kogers, of the first Con-
cordance in English. The work, though small, is more
than a mere arrangement of the texts, for it contains
definitions and short explanations. ' It must have been
very usefid to the students who were then beginning to
seek the treasure to be found in the long-hidden mine.
The preface is worthy of being remembered : —
"As the bees dylygently do gather together swete
flowers, to make by naturall craft the swete honny ; so
have I done the pryncypall sentences conteyned in the
Bible. The which are ordened after the maner of a
table, for the consolacyon of those whych are not yet
exercysed and instructed in the Holy Scripture, In the
which are many harde places, as well of the Okie as
of the Newe Testament, expounded, gathered together,
concorded, and compared one wyth another ; to thintent
that the prudent reader (by the Sprete of God) may
beare away pure and cleare understandynge. Whereby
every man (as he is bounde) may be made ready, strong
* Strype, vol. i., p. 92.
124 EEIGNS OF HENRY VII.
[CENT. XVI.
and garnyshed to answere to all them that aske hym a
reason of their faith."
Far too narrow a view of the great subject of the
descent of religion, is frequently taken, by confining the
field of observation to the Reformers and their descend-
ants. Not only have there always been people holding
with fond attachment the doctrines of grace, but even
among the open enemies of the '' new way," there were
many, who under the armour of opposition, possessed
hearts beating in unison with the vital truth. Such a one
was Fisher, the anti-E,eformation Bishop of Rochester.
His lofty intelligence, earnest nature, and popular talents,
though devoted to the hopeless advocacy of a failing cause,
were accompanied by personal apprehension of evangelical
doctrine.
Fisher died for denying the king's supremacy. As he
walked from the Tower to the adjoining place of execution,
he carried in his hand the New Testament. He was
heard to pray that as this book had been his best com-
fort and companion, so in that hour it might give to
him some special strength, and speak to him as from his
Lord. " Then opening at a venture, he read : ' This is
life eternal, to know Thee the only true God, and Jesus
Christ, whom thou hast sent.' He continued to repeat
the words as he was led forward : and thus the good old
man of eighty, the incipient cardinal, the unflinching
adherent of the Paj)acy, but the equally firm believer in
Christ, went with firm heart and tottering step to the
block." *
* Froude, vol. ii. , from State MSS.
coNTiNiED] AND HENRY VIII. 125
There were many others, too, who retained their
ecclesiastical position whilst protesting against the vices
of the Church, without a thought of rebelling against her
authority, anJ who nevertheless clearly saw Jesus as the
only Saviour. Such was Dean Colet, and such the whole
tribe of the followers of Erasmus. They were enlisted
soldiers of the Cross, but were not equal to the occasion ;
they slighted tlie spirit-stirring call —
" Awake, my soul, away thy fears.
And gird the gospel-armour on !"
CHAPTEE IX.
eufoarn FS.
The accession of tlie youthful son of Heniy and Queen
Jane St. Maur, introduced the Evangelical party into
absolute power. The people in various places, in their
zeal for innovation, outran the Government, and by the
demolition of images in the City, at Portsmouth, and else-
where, showed their reaction against the superstitions
which had so iong usurped the place of religion.
Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, complained to the
commander at Portsmouth, calling the people " Lollards "
and " worse than hogs." The former epithet was justly
applied. It was no new-fangled notion that kindled the
zeal of the evangelicals, but the outworking of the old
Wycliffite teaching. The Protector writes to the com-
mandant, enjoining him not to meddle with the matter.
He wisely says, that "he allowed of his zeal against
innovations, but that there were other things that needed
to be looked to as much. Great difference there was
between the civil respect due to the king's arms, and the
worship given to images. There had been a time in
A,, 1016-1553.] EDWARD VI. 127
which the abuse of the Scriptures was thought a good
reason to take them from the people — yea, and to burn
them ; though he looked on them as more sacred than
images ; which if they stood merely as remembrancers,
he tliought the hurt was not great : but it was known
that for the most part it was otherwise ; and upon abuse
the brazen serpent was broken, though made at God's
commandment : and it being pretended that they were
the hooks of the people, he thought the Bible a much more
intelligible and useful book."*
After the people had spoken out by their rejoicings,
and the Government had followed suit by the institution
of ecclesiastical visitations, the Parliament crowned the
whole, by rapidly passing a bill for the repeal of all the
penal statutes concerning religion, from the acts against
"Lollardies" downwards ; followed by an act ordaining
the communion in both kinds ; and by other legislation,
which, after the fashion of that day, sought to settle for
all men the modes of Divine worship and homage, which
God allows them to settle for themselves, by the aid
of His own Word.
As the Reformation advanced in England under the
liberal government of the Protector Somerset, the great
ciy arising from the mass of the people, was for public
gospel-preaching. Paul's Cross, usually an engine of
state, became a focus of evangelic doctrine. Preachers
were clamoured for everywhere ; in many places they
arose without official authority, and souglit to supply
the universal demand. Public affairs became strange] y
* Burnet's " Hist. Eef.," vol. ii., p. 22.
128 EDWARD VI.
[AD. 151G-1553.
blended with personal creeds. On April 24th, 1548,
a royal prochimation took cognizance and control of
itinerant preaching, and forbad it wdthoiit licence from the
king, protector, or primate. Six preachers were specially
appointed by the Court to itinerate through the kingdom
and spread the new light.
It was a noble thought of those who ruled in the
councils of the young king, that the court chaplains
should constitute a home mission, as itinerant evan-
gelists ; and when we find among the number, such men
as Bradford, Grindal, and John Knox, we can easily
imao;ine the effectiveness of such an institution. The
journal of the king, written with his own hand, and now
in the national library, thus records the appointment :
" It was appointed I should have six chaplains ordinary,
of which two to be ever present, and four always absent
in preaching : one year, two in Wales, two in Lancashire
and Darby; next year, two in the marches of Scotland,
two in Yorkshire ; the third year, two in Devonshire, two
in Hampshire ; fourth year, two in Norfolk and Essex,
and two in Kent and Sussex, &c."*
The face of affairs was changed ; piety no longer
shrank timorously from the public gaze. The history of
religion in England shows that there never has been a
time when plain, earnest, intelligent scriptural preach-
ing, failed to prove attractive to the multitude. Such
is the evident suitableness of the glorious provision of
tlie Gospel for the need of man's soul. Bishop Hooper,
the Gloucester martyr, was one of the popular gospel
•* BiTrnet's "Reformation Records," vol. ii., p. 63.
i..D. 1516-1553.] EDWARD VI. ,129
preacliers of his clay; and we are told of liim, that " the
people in great flocks and companies daily came to hear
his voice, as the most melodious sound and tune of
Orpheus' harp, as the proverb saith ; inasmuch that
oftentimes, when he was preaching, the church would be
so full, that none could enter further than the doors
thereof. In his doctrine he was earnest, in tongue eloquent,
in the Scriptures perfect, in pains indefatigable." *
Several of the devoted men who soon afterwards suf-
fered martyrdom, preached to overflowing congregations.
Eighteen pence was disbursed by the churchwardens of St,
Margaret's, "Westminster, for mending the benches broken
by the crowding of persons to hear Latimer there. The per-
sonal knowledge and faith of the ^converts, so conspicuous
shortly afterwards, were now being formed and ripened.
The more active partisans on either side, ranged them-
selves openly in opposition, in almost every parish. The
licensed preachers too often found themselves led away
from their proper work of ministering the truth, to
controvert the })olitical and social evils of the day. The
famous Thomas Hancock, w^ho had been first licensed and
then suspended during the last reign, was now licensed
again. Strype gives a curious account of his progresses,
in which he made the churches ring with loud contro-
versy between him and the advocates of the former way.
The evangelical doctrine was called the "new learning j"
and there were, says Strype, great numbers everywhere
of the laity, especially in populous towTis, who did now
more openly show their hearts and their good inclinations
* Foxe, vol. vi., p. 639.
K
130 EDWARD VI, [A.D. 1546-1553.
towards it.* At Lyme Regis, tlie Mayor favoured
Hancock ; but a rich merchant, with his followers, opposed
him openly. "Words were leading to blows ; " the Mayor
had much ado to quiet the hurly-burly ; till he got most
of them out of the church, and was himself called a
knave for his protection of the preacher." t
Licences were granted to pious laymen to preach with-
out any other ordination. We read of Bichard Taverner,
high sheriff of Oxford, preaching most enthusiastically
in the pulpit of St. Mary's there, arrayed in gold chain
and sword ; and of William Holcot, Esq., of Buckland,
ascending the pulpit wearing a velvet bonnet, a damask
gown, and gold chain. Taverner, though a learned and
earnest man, appears to have successfully cultivated the
conceited style then becoming fashionable. Sir John
Cheke has preserved a portion of the commencement of
one of liis sermons, which is as far as possible from
simplicity : — " Arriving at the Mount of St. Mary's, in
the stony stage where I now stand, I have brought you
some fine biscuits, baked in the oven of charity, carefully
conserved for the chickens of the Church, the sparrows of
the Spirit, and the sweet swallows of salvation."
Various other modes were attempted of ministering
to the public religious taste. One, which signally failed,
was the revival of dramatic representations, with the
facts of gospel history for their basis, instead of the
fables of mediaeval faith. This soon fell into deserved
contempt. It has survived, in very feeble form, down to
* Stiype's -'Cranmer," A.D. 1547.
t Roberts's " Social History of Southern Counties," p. 222.
A.D. 1516-1553.] EDWARD VI. 131
our own times, in the occasional introduction of a
scriptural scene into the peep-sliow at the village fair,
and, with equal tameness, in the cold " Sacred Dramas " of
Hannah More, Art is an illustration, but not a primary
teacher of religion.
Such devices were not required in places where the
leading reformers were the preachers. At Exeter, for
instance. Miles Coverdale, the honoured coadjutor of the
martyred Tyndale, and second only to Lim in his high
office as translator of the Bible, preached incessantly
the leading truths of the Gospel. So vigorously did he
do this, that all other controversy there was thrown
into the shade, compared with that controversy which
our Lord indicated, when he asked his disciples, " What
think ye of Christ?"
Among the men who were at the same time con-
spicuous examples and considerable promoters of evan-
gelical religion about the Court, was Dr. William Turner,
the author of the cele)n-ated " New Herbal," the first
original botanical work in our language. He was one of
the Cambridge students who, in the first religious revival
there, became the subject of decided religious convictions,
which through life rendered him the faithful enlightened
advocate of the Gospel. Without having been ordained,
and renouncing flattering prospects of promotion at the
University, moved by missionary zeal, he devoted himself
to itinerant preaching, and went out into the cities,
towns, and villages of the midland counties, proclaiming
Christ as the only Saviour. He settled at Oxford, in
order that he might there carry on together his two
132 EDWARD VI. [AD. 1546-1553.
beloved vocations of preaching and the study of natural
history. Under the influence of the shifting policy of
the last reign, he was imprisoned and banished ; he
resorted to Italian, French, and German universities, and,
when the times were changed, returned home laden with
knowledge and honours. He obtained preferment both
as a physician and as a divine, became a standard-bearer
for the Gospel whilst practising in high circles as a
physician, was banished during the succeeding reign, and
afterwards returned and lived a long life of usefulness,
glorifying God by the devotion of large endowments,
acquirements, and afiections, to the great object of
advancing the kingdom of Christ.
The eager pursuit and fond appreciation of the doctrines
of the Gospel, which now arose, had a far wider range
than the geographical limits of the Reformation. The
great band of secret brothers in Southern Europe, Juan
Yaldez, Flaminio, Bernardo Ochino, Peter Martyr Ver-
miglio, and Aonio Paleario, within and without the
Church of Kome, vied with each other in diving for that
pearl of great price which lay hid in the depths of divine
revelation. Their friends and neighboui^s - who rejoiced
with them were amongst the virtuous and the great in
many countries. The treatise attributed to Paleario,
"The Benefit that Christians receive by Jesus Christ
crucified," was first dispersed in MS. in Italy, (having,
as is obvious from the contents, been collated with the
" Divine Considerations " of Juan Valdez,) printed about
1546, translated into Prench, and printed at Lyons in
1545 ; translated from the latter version in 1548, by
A.D. 1546-1553.-
EDWAED VI. 133
Courtenay Earl of Devon, whilst a prisoner in the Tower,
and read in MS. by King Edward. The identical copy
thus prepared is now in the Cambridge University library,
and the yoimg king's handwriting remains in two thought-
ful sentences which show us the staple of his reflections.
In the page after the dedication he has written, " Faith
is dede if it be without workes. Your loving neueu
Edward." And in the last page but one, " Line to die,
and die to line again. Your neueu Edward." *
Thus the glorious riches of God's free grace, the inhe-
ritance of every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ,
appeared to be on the point of becoming naturalized in
the literature of courts and colleges.
The song was again jubilant, —
"Let all the world in every corner sing,
My God and King !
The church with psalms must shout ;
No door can keep them out :
But, above all, the heart
Must bear the longest part.
Let all the world in every corner sing,
My God and King !"
Herbert.
The kind and cordial reception given to the eminent
foreign Protestant teachers who, at this juncture, came to
promulgate the tenets of the German Reformation, and
repaid the hospitality, by conduct becoming Christians
and learned men, was a token of the earnestness with
* See Mr. Babington's sumptuous edition of this remarkable
book, and also Mr. Ayre's admirable edition, pubhshed by the
E,eligioua Tract Society.
134 EDWARD VI. [AD. 1546-1563.
wliicli the triitli was then sought. Peter Martyr Yer-
miglip, Biicer, Fagius, John Alexander, and John
A' Lasco, were all treated with honour, and placed in
situations where their character and abilities might
eminently serve the cause of truth.
The influence of the intercoui-se between the learned
men who had lighted their torches at the same flame
of Divine truth in England, and in Germany, produced
the happiest results. Every treatise upon evangelical
subjects became common property, whether it was pub-
lished on the Continent or here ; letters are still extant
showing the mutual delight with which successive works
of the reformed press were hailed. Many of these were
translated for more extended cii'culation. The great
number of French religious refugees residmg in Eng-
land furthered this operation ; and thus we derived from
continental sources, much of that well-grounded, though
somewhat formal, doctrinal literature, which rendered
the Puritan writers so mighty in dogmatic theology.
For instance, we find a ponderous folio, printed in
1576, dedicated to Sii' Anthony Cook, by Robert
Masson, one of the ministers of the French church in
London, being the " Common Places " (as such selections
wei'e then called) of Peter Martyr Yermiglio. It com-
prises extracts from such of his works as treat of
positive and ethical doctrines ; it begins with the psycho-
logical consideration of God, then proceeds to consider
revelation and nature, then humanity, original sin, salva-
tion, predestination, justification by faith, concluding
with the institutions and sacraments of the church.
A.D. 1546-1553.]
EDWARD VI. 135
Every possible topic connected with this large range is
discussed. The work forms a body of divinity. It was
several times republished ; a translation into English
was also made in 1583, by Sir Anthony Marten, Lord
Chamberlain to Queen Elizabeth. The still more cele-
brated " Common Places " of Philip Melancthon passed
through sixty-seven editions between 1521 and 1595 in
the Latin, besides translations. Such were the solid
materials from which the learning of the coming age was
elaborated. Folios which would appal a modern student,
as much as the bow of Ulysses alarmed the effeminate
suitors of Penelope.
In this reign commenced that stream of foreign Protes-
tant emigration which, for upwards of a century, served
as an outlet for the oppressed ones on the Continent,
persecuted by intolerant governments. Commerce and
the arts, as well as piety, gained by this accession to our
industrial population.
The young king was fond of the French language,
partial to A' Lasco, who had forfeited episcopal promotion
in Hungary to teach Protestantism in Friesland, and was
banished from the latter by the order of the Emperor
Charles Y. Jle constituted the Polish refugee superin-
tendent of the foreign Protestants in London, and gave
them the old church of the Augustines in Austin Friars,
gave them also a charter of incorporation, and otherwise
aided them. Edward's translation into French of the texts
of Scripture relating to idolatry is still preserved, and brings
the royal boy-student before us in an interesting manner.
The dedication to the Protector runs as follows : —
136 EDWARD VI. [A.D. 1546-1553.
" Pourtant, clier oncle, apres avoir note en ma Bible
en Anglois plusieurs sentences qui contradisent h. tout
idolatrie a cette fin de m'apprendre et exerciser en I'escri-
ture Frangoise, je me suis amus6 ^ la translater en la
dite langue Francoise : puis les ay fait rescrire en ce petit
livret, lesquell de tresbon cueur je vous ofii'e : priant
Dieu le Createur de vous donner grace de continuer en
vostre labeur spirituel au salut de vostre ame et a
rhonneur et gloire d'iceluy."*
Sir John Clieke the king's tutor, a godly and^ learned
man, was, in the language of his biographer Strype, " a
fast friend and patron to these outlandish learned
confessoi-s." Alas ! that Cheke, after services so eminent,
— a life so becoming to a pious scholar and Christian
gentleman, after banishment for the cause of Christ,
suffering and imprisonment, — should have embittered and
probably shortened the last few dark days of his life by a
recantation of the principles for which he had toiled and
suffered ! It is an instance of fortitude overcome by
wearisome oppression. He afterwards lived only long
enough to bewail his weakness; we may still point to
him as an earnest, learned man, who successfully carried
evangelical Christianity into all the concerns of a busy
life in the face of the world.
The new light which was so gladly welcomed in most
parts of England, was stoutly barred out and opposed in
others. The men of Cornwall and West Devonshire,
those of Yorkshire, and some from Buckingham shii-e, and
even from Norfolk, rose in rebellion in favour of Koman
* Burnet's *' Keformation Records," vol. ii., p. 101.
A.D. 1546-1553.J
EDWARD VI. 137
doctrine. Their opposition took a warlike turn, and was
opposed successfully by similar weapons. The death of
Somerset removed from power the best friend of the
" Gospellers." Knots of Bible students had begun to
assemble openly in many parts of the kingdom, to con-
sider the Scriptures ; but they were broken up by fine and
imprisonment, under the councils which succeeded the
government of the Protector.
The stimulus afforded by the conjoint effect of the
rising reformation and the revival of Greek literature
operated powerfully among the educated classes. " It is
now no news in England," says Nicolas Udal, " for
young damsels in noble houses, and in the courts of
princes, instead of cards and otheV instruments of idle
trifling, to have continually in their hands either psalms,
homilies, and other devout meditations, or else Paul's
Epistles, or some book of Holy Scripture matters." *
The cumbrous romances of mediseval days were fast
following into deserved oblivion the warlike rhapsodies
of primeval literature. All things were becoming more
real, as befitted the serious times which were now close
at hand.
This political calm was soon at an end. The death
of the young king frustrated the fond hopes of the
people. Making ample allowance for the panegyric
natural on such occasions, it is impossible to doubt
that there remains, in the delineations of King Edward's
character given by contemporary observers, the linea-
ments of a mind of uncommon ability and sagacity, of a
* Strype's Life of Parker.
138 EDWARD VI. [A.D. 1546-1553.
nature truly gentle and noble; the tokens of extra-
ordinary attainments, great sweetness of disposition, and
recognition of a true relationship to God. Death, which
was the extinction of one of the brightest prospects ever
afforded to humanity, was welcomed by him with a longing
desire to be with the chosen ones of his Father in heaven.
In regard to the sorrowing people, the new-born faith
of many, yet needed the strength which only trial can
impart. The great future of religious life and liberty,
was to be heralded by severe and protracted trouble.
As a prelude, there was one gentle form of rare mould,
which bowed before the first rush of the coming whirlwind.
The humble personal piety of Lady Jane Grey, is as
unquestionable, as the facts of her great attainments in
learning, and her tragic end. At the place of execution,
after acknowledging the justice of her condemnation, for
concurring in an act of treason against the queen, and
absolving herself from all share in its contrivance, she
said, " I pray you all, good Christian people, to bear me
witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that T do
look to be saved by no other mean but only by the
mercy of God in the blood of His only Son, Jesus Christ ;
and I confess, that when I did know the word of God, I
neglected the same, loved myself and the world, and
therefore this plague and punishment is happily and
worthily happened unto me for my sins ; and yet I
thank God of his goodness He hath given me a time and
respite to repent." Equally is it stereotyped in the well-
known letter which she addressed to her sister on the
eve of her suffering: —
AD. 1546 1553.] EDWARD VI. 139
"I have sent you (good sister Katlierine) a book
wliicli, although it be not outwardly trimmed with gold,
yet inwardly is worth more than precious stones. It is
the book, dear sister, of the law of the Lord ; it is His
testament and last will, which He bequeathed unto us
wretched creatures, which shall lead you to the path of
eternal joy ; and if you with a good mind read it, and
with an earnest mind do purpose to follow it, it shall
bring you to an immortal and everlasting life ; it shall
teach you to live, and learn you to die ; it shall obtain for
you more than you should have gained by possession of
your father's lands ; for as if God had prospered him you
should have inherited his lands, so if you aj^ply yourself
diligently to this book, seeking to direct your life after it,
you shall be an inheritor of such riches as neither the
covetous shall withdraw from you, nor the thief shall
steal, nor yet the moths corrupt. Desire, with David,
(good sister,) to understand the law of the Lord God.
And trust not that the tenderness of your age is an
assurance that you will live many years ; for (if God call)
the young goetli as soon as the old : also endeavour to
learn how to die. Defy the world, deny the devil, and
despise the flesh, and delight yourself only in the Lord.
Be penitent for your sins, and yet despair not ; be strong
in faith, and yet presume not : and desire, with St. Paul,
to be dissolved, and to be with Christ, with whom even
in death there is life. Be like the good servant, and
erven at midnight be waking, lest when death cometh and
Btealeth upon you, like a thief in the night, you be, like
the evil servant, found sleeping ; and lest, for want of oil,
140 EDWARD VI.
U.D. 1546-1533.
you be found like the five foolish women, or like him
that had not on the wedding garment, and then ye be
cast out from the marriage. Kejoice in Christ, as I do.
Follow the steps of your master, Christ, and take up
your cross ; lay your sins on Him, and always embrace
Him. And, as concerning my death, rejoice as I do,
(good sister,) that I shall be delivered of this corruption,
and put on incorruption. For I am assured that I shall,
when I lose a mortal life, win an immortal life ; which I
pray God to grant you, and send you of His grace, to live
in His fear, and to die in the true Christian faith, from
which (in God's name) I exhort you that you never
swerve, neither for the hope of life nor the fear of death ;
for if you will deny His faith, thinking thereby to
lengthen your life, God will deny you and shorten your
days. And, if you will cleave unto Him, He will prolong
your days to your comfort and His glory, to which glory
may God bring me now, and you hereafter when it
pleaseth Him to call you. Fare you well, sweet sister,
and put your only trust in God, who alone can help you."
CHAPTER X.
'^\)t ifleip of (^mm iilarp.
The materials for our histoiy become more abundant
as persecution arose under the change of government.
Circumstances develop character in society, just as
in the mineral kingdom the intrusion of the molten
rock aggregates the shining metal into conspicuous
veins. The general views and experience of the Marian
martyrs, may be well ascertained from an able mani-
festo, drawn up with great care by Bradford, Saunders,
and their companions in prison, expressly to declare
the grounds of their quaiTel with the dominant
power. They write as men appointed to die for an
undpng cause. Truth : above circumstances is their
motto; they appeal heroically to and for the "infallible
verity" of God's Word. They write concerning justifica-
tion a passage which will serve as a specimen of their
convictions : — " Fourthly, we believe and confess con-
cerning justification, that, as it cometh only from God's
mercy through Clnist, so it is perceived and had of none
which be of years of discretion otherwise than by faith
only, which faith is not an opinion, but a certain persua-
142 THE EEIGN OF QUEEN MARY. [a.d. 1553-1558.
sion wrought by the Holy Ghost in the mind and heart
of man, through whom as the mind is illuminated, so the
heart is suppled, to submit itself to the will of God
unfeignedly." *
One of the brightest of the shining characters adorning
this age is that of John Bradford. He was a native of
Manchester, of active habits, and in good business as
surveyor of crown lands. In the prime of life, he became
a convert to true religion, Avent to Cambridge, was or-
dained as a preacher, and was made a prebend of St.
Paul's. " In this preaching office," says Foxe, " for the
space of three years, how faithfully Bradford walked, how
diligently he laboured, many parts of England can testify.
Sharply he oj)ened and reproved sin, sweetly he preached
Christ crucified, pithily he impugned heresies and errors,
earnestly he persuaded to a godly life." He lay in prison
for two years before his martyrdom. Nowhere have we
on record such a narrative of intense religious action as
his experience of these two years supplied. ''From the
Tower he came to the King's Bench in South wark ; and
after his condemnation he was sent to the Compter in the
Poultry, in Loudon ; in which two places, for the time
he did remain a prisoner, he preached twice a day con-
tinually, unless sickness Lindered him ; when also the
sacrament vv^as often ministered, and through his means
(the keej^ers so well did bear with him) such resort of
good folks was daily to his lecture, and to the ministra-
tion of the sacrament, that commonly his chamber was
well-nigh filled therewith. Preaching, reading, and
♦ Foxe, vol. vi., p. 552.
A.D. 1553-1558.] THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 143
praying was his whole life. He did not eat above one
meal a day ; which was but very little when he took it ;
and his continual study was upon his knees. In the
midst of his dinner he used often to muse with himself,
having his hat over his eyes, from whence came commonly
plenty of tears dropping on his trencher. Very gentle
he was to man and child ; and in so good credit with his
keeper, that at his desire in an evening (being prisoner
in the King's Bench in Southwark), he had licence, upon
his promise to return again that night, to go into London
without any keeper to visit one that was sick, lying by
the Still-yard. Neither did he fail his promise, but
returned to his prison again, rather preventing his hour
than breaking his fidelity, so constant was he in word
and deed. Of personage he was somewhat tall and
slender, spare of body, of a faint sanguine colour, with an
auburn beard. He slept not commonly above four hours
in the night ; and in his bed, till sleep came, his book
went not out of his hand. His chief recreation was in no
gaming or other pastime, but only in honest company
and comely talk, wherein he would spend a little time
after dinner at the board, and so to prayer and his book
again. He counted that hour not well spent wherein he
did not some good, either with his pen, study, or exhort-
ing of others, &c. He was no niggard of his purse, but
Vv^ould liberally participate whafc he had to his fellow-
prisoners. And, commonly, once a week he visited the
thieves, pick-purses, and such others that were with him
in prison, where he lay on the other side, unto whom he
would give godly exhortation, to learn the amendment of
144 THE EEIGN OF QUEEN MARY. [ad. 1553-1558.
tlieir lives by their troubles, and, after so done, distribute
among tbem some portion of money to tlieir comfort.
One of his old friends and acquaintances came unto him
while he was prisoner, and asked him, if he sued to get
him out, what then he would do, or where he would go ?
Unto whom he made answer as not caring whether he
went out or no ; but, if he did, he said he would marry,
and abide still in England secretly, teaching the people
as the time would suffer him, and occupy himself that way.
He was had in so great reverence and admiration of all
good men, that a multitude which never knew him but
by fame greatly lamented his death — ^yea, and a number
also of the Papists themselves wished heartily his life.
There were few days in which he was thought not to
spend some tears before he went to bed; neither was there
ever any prisoner with him, but b}^ his company he
gi'eatly profited, as all they will yet witness, and have
confessed of him no less, to the glory of God, whose
society he frequented.'"'^ He was eminently one to
whom to live is Christ. . All his letters breathe the air
of vital personal religion. In the depths of his own
inner life he was enjoying the sunshine of God's presence,
though outwardly surrounded by the wintry storms of
persecution. Open the volume of his letters written
whilst waiting for martyrdom, and you are amidst utter-
ances at once manly and heavenly. He writes to his
mother, " Perchance you are weakened as to that I have
preached, because God does not defend it, as you think,
but suffers the Popish doctrine to come again and j)revail ;
♦ Foxe, vol. \di., p. 145, 146.
/i.T,. 1353-1553] THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 145
but you must know, good mother, that Grod by this tries
and proves his chiklren and people, whether they will
unfeignedly and simply hang on Him and His word. . . .
I am at a point, even when my Lord will, to come to
Him : death nor life, prison nor pleasure, I trust in God,
shall be able to separate me from my Lord God and His
Gospel. ... If it should be known that I have pen and
ink in the prison, then will it be worse with me ; there-
fore keep this letter to yourselves, commending me to God
and His mercy in Christ Jesus. Make me worthy, for His
name's sake, to give my life for His Gospel and Church.
— Out of the Tower of London, the 6th day of October,
1533."
The public materials for the general history of Evan-
gelical doctrine during the reign of Queen Mary are all
to be found in the confessions of persecuted and dying
men. The proscribed truths were, however, held in
secret by many a scholar, and many a peasant, whom the
shades of obscurity or the partiality of powerful friend-
ship concealed from the persecutors.
This state of things introduces a new feature into the
religious history of our country : it led to the organiza-
tion of private assemblies ; gatherings of such as found
themselves to be under the ban of a common proscription
for the sake of their Lord, and who invited each other
to share the precarious but precious ordinances of united
worship, with the administration of the Lord's Supper,
thus forming voluntary churches. Foxe calls them con-
gregations, and says that they first met at the house of
one. and then another, in order to elude the vigilance
1^6 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY- [a d. 1553-1558.
of tlie authorities. Tlie London congregation first
resorted to Sir Thomas Garden's house in Blackfriars ;
then about Aldgate; then near the great conduit in
the City through a narrow alley into a clothworker's
loft; then into a slioj) at Billingsgate; next, into a ship
called Jesus ship, moored between Ratcliffe and Rother-
hithe, where they had prayer, sermon, and communion ;
next to a "cooper's house in Pudding-lane ; then to a
house in Thames-street. They were ultimately driven
into Islington fields, when several were captured for the
last dreadful holocaust at Smithfield. Prompted by the
stern necessities of their position on the one hand, and
encouraged by the discovery of the suitableness and
scriptural propriety of their course on the other, they
formally recognized each other in the bonds of the Gos-
pel, and were strengthened. Their contemporaries allege
that " they did appoint mere laynien to minister ; yea,
and lay women sometimes, it is said."* Strype says of
them, in his Life of Cranmer, " Sometimes, for want of
preachers of the clergy, laymen exercised. Among them
I find one old Henry Daunce, a bricklayer of White-
chapel, who used to preach the Gospel in his garden
every holiday, where would be present sometimes a thou-
sand people."
On New Year's Eve, 1555, the assembly was in a
house in Bow churchyard, j" where they were, with their
minister, Maister Thomas Rose, devoutly and zealously
occupied in prayer and hearing of Goddes word. But
whyle they where in the middest of their godly exercise,
* Watson's two notable Sermons, 1554.
A.D. 1553-1553.]
THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 147
they were sodenly betraied (as it is thouglit, by some
false dissembling liipocrite), and about xxx. of them
apprehended and sent to the counters : but Maister Eose
was had before the Lord Chauncelor, and from thence to
the Fleet."*
Joy lies very close to the sorrow which such narratives
excite. The rambler through the woodlands in spring-
time forsakes the beaten path, and, after pushing through
tangled underwood, finds an open peaceful glade over-
hung by the blue canopy, and decorated by the countless
beauties of harebell and anemone, which flourish as
if the plague of sin were unknown. So, in searching
into the past, do we occasionally fall^upon the vision of a
small community living together in the feith and love of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and, like the flowers, giving a
character of beauty to the lowly homes where they dwell.
But we now look on them only after the ruthless blast
of persecution, more bitter than the wind which howls
through the woodlands, has crushed them and made the
moral greensward a desert. Yet we are thankful that
they once lived.
"As evening's pale and solitaiy star
But brightens while the darkness gathers roiind,
So faith, unmoved amidst surrounding storms,
Is fairest seen in darkness most profound."
It is not probable that any true spiritual force ever
manifested on earth has been really lost. It may appa-
rently have failed, and vanished from the place of its
first occurrence ; but the heat which it evolved only
* Foxe, vol. vi., Appendix, p. 775.
148 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. [ad. 1553-1558.
entered into some new combination, adding to the amount
of moral energy abroad in the world.
Many of the narratives given by Foxe depict the
homely strong religious life now growing up in England.
The following is an outline of one only amongst many,
which may with profit be referred to, in the crowded
pages of the old martyrologist. In the early part of the
sixteenth century, there dwelt in the parish of Dean,
in the county of Lancaster, a young yeoman of simple
manners, ingenuous disposition, and kind heart, named
George Marsh. He was married, and thought himself,
as he says, well settled with his loving and faithful wife
and children in a quiet farm. The loss of his wife
rendered the pleasant homestead unbearable. He went
to Cambridge, and much increased in learning and godly
virtue, and became curate to that rare man of God,
Laurence Saunders. Here his desires and • activities
found full scope, and he was once again hajipy under his
most g^entle master. He continued for some time labour-
iiig, by public readings and preachings throughout Lan-
caster, to awaken sinners and help God's peojDle. He was
reported to hold heretical opinions on transubstantiation.
Judicial inquiry was made for him : he was staying with
his mother, who advised him to flee, which he had then
resolved to do on account of the great sorrow, heaviness,
losses, costs and charges, shame and rebuke, it would
occasion his friends. His own conscience, whilst allowing
the power of this reasoning, yet, on the other hand,
suggested the hindrance to the truth that might be
occasioned by his supposed defection. He left his mother's
A.D. 1553-13'i8 ]
THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 149
house greatly agitated, promising to return in the even-
ing. He went out, met a dear friend on Dean Moor, and
at sunset the two knelt down and prayed. He returned
home, and foimd that messengers had been in pursuit of
him. He would not harass his mother by staying uuder
her roof, but went away to a friend's house beyond Dean
church, where, after broken rest, he was aroused by a
message from one of his faithful friends, advising him in
nowise to fly, but to abide and confess his faith in Christ.
He resolved on this ; whereupon he says that his mind,
"afore being much unquieted and troubled, was now
merry and in quiet estate." He arose, said the Litany
and other prayers, kneeling by his friend's bedside ; went
to the houses of various members bf his family to ask
their prayers, and requesting them to comfort his mother,
and to be good to his little children ; and presented him-
self to the Earl of Derby's messenger, who had been
charged to bring him. He was ordered to attend the
next day at ten o'clock. He thereupon went to his
mother's, took his leave of the household there and at his
brother Pvichard's. " They and I both weeping, went part
of the way, slept on the road, arose, prayed, and was at
the earl's residence betimes." Then followed his first
examination, in which all went well until the point of
transubstantiation was touched, when his replies were too
much founded on Scripture and common sense to please
his judges, and he was remitted to a cold windy prison.
On Palm Sunday he was sent for again, and allowed to
have a bed, a fire, and liberty to go amongst the servants.
He now cried earnestly to God to be strengthened against
150 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. [ad. 15.;3-1538.
the allurements and subtlety of liis enemies. After a
day or two, lie was again examined concerning the mass.
Another interval and another examination followed, in
which he was pressed with the recantation of others.
Again on Shrove-Tuesda}^, again at Easter, did his
tormentors ply him with alternate threats and promises ;
but he answered that he leaned only to the Scriptures,
and objected to do as they wished, out of a reverent fear
of God. More examined him many times very sharply,
plied him with all the resources of learning and logic,
lent him books, and ended by rebuking him as intract-
able and conceited. Poor Marsh answered, that, as for
learning, he aimed principally at knowing Jesus Christ,
and him crucified ; and that his faith was grounded on
God's Holy Word. After remaining some time longer in
prison at Chester, he was conveyed to Lancaster Castle,
and at the sessions held up his hand with the common
malefactors at the bar. In Lancaster Castle he was
sometimes comforted by the friendly visits of those who
sympathized, and at others distressed by the vain attempts
of opponents to get him to recant. He and a fellow-
prisoner, " every day kneeling on our knees, did read
morning and evening prayer, with the English Litany
every day twice, both before noon and after, with other
prayers more; and also read every day certain chapters
of the Bible, commonly towards night : and we read all
these things with so high and loud a voice, that the people
without in the streets might come and hear us, and
would oftentimes — namely, in the evenings — come and sit
down in our sight under the Avindows and hear us read."
AD. 1553-1. 5 -,8.] THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. lol
Then came the bishop, and complained of the gaoler for
being too indulgent, and of the schoolmaster for speaking
to such a heretic. After a while, he had to submit to two
further examinations, in which every rule of evidence
and all courtesy and humanity were violated by the
bishop, and at length the fatal sentence was pronounced
against him. He was handed over to the city authorities,
his former gaoler weeping, and saying, " Farewell, good
George ! " and consigned to a dark dungeon, communi-
cating with the outer world by a hole in the city wall.
At this hole would friends station themselves, as at the
windows of the Bishops' prison, and try to exchange
sentences of consolation with the forlorn man. " He
would answer them most cheerfully, that he did well ;
and thanked God most highly, that He would vouchsafe of
His mercy to appoint him to be a witness of the truth,
and to suffer for the same." He was brought out to die ;
walked through the city with his book in his hand ; was
offered pardon at the stake if he would recant, but sealed
his testimony with his blood. His examinations and
prison letters show him to have been a man of singleness
of mind, genial loveable disposition and useful abilities, full
of all the motive power and philanthropy of the glorious
Gospel. Such men did not live or die unto themselves.
The people gathering round the prison walls afford the
true index to the value of these servants of the Most
High. The pulses of spiritual life flowed high and fast
in their veins, and, in spite of death, the movement was
transmitted onward and outward to an ever-widening
circle. Marsh's letter from Lancaster gaol to his brethren
152 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY.
[a.d. 1553-1558.
advises tliem — "cleave you fast unto Him wliicli was
incarnate, lived, wrought, taught, and died for your sins ;
yea, rose again from death and ascended into heaven for
your justification." Amidst the dismal scenes then being
enacted in the professing Church, he might well say that
he rejoiced only in Christ, "the glory of whose Church, I
see it well, stancleth not in the harmonious sound of bells
and organs, nor yet in the glistening of mitres and copes,
neither in the shining of gilt images and lights, but in
continual labours and daily afflictions for His name's sake."
To such men might well be said, as was sung to some
of them, —
" This prison where thou art,
Thy God will break it soon,
And flood with light thy heart,
In His own blessed noon. "
After allowing for the state of excited and exalted
feeling produced by the apprehension of martyrdom,
there still remains a solid substratum of intelligent per-
sonal evangelical piety exhibited by these illustrious
sufferers. Yery superior are they in this resj^ect to the
martyrs of the early Church, whose ecstasies led them to
coui-t martyrdom as the highest honour. The men and
women of England bore it bravely as good witnesses, but
did not ignore their own domestic sympathies in the
flights of spiritual heroism.
One of the men, educated only in that knowledge which
elevates and refines the moral nature by the process of
sanctification through the truth, was a Suffolk tailor
named George Eagles. During the sunny days of good
AD 1533 150^.] THE EEIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 153
King Edward, lie, "being eloquent and of good utter-
ance," went about preaching. In the dark days of Queen
Mary he forsook not his profession, but went from place to
place seeking out the scattered sheep of the flock, in order
to instruct and comfort them. We are told that often he
spent the night in the woods, or under the open canopy
of heaven. The homely name by which he was usually
known, " Trudgeover," expresses his habits, and was so
well fixed that he was actually indicted as "George
Eagles, alias Trudgeover- the-world." He was fervent in
faith, strong in prayer ; — a rej^resentative man, of a
long subsequent succession of faithful, useful lay labourers
who have ministered the Gospel to their perishing fellow-
countrymen. He was cruelly put to death at Colchester
in 1-557.
During the whole of this fearful period, there were not
wanting many who made it their special mission to travel
about the country for the purpose of " visiting the pro-
fessors of the Gospel, and comforting and exhorting them
to stedfastness in the faith." Among these were
Laurence, of Barne Hall, and his servant ; William
Pulleyn, otherwise known as Smith ; and William " a
Scot," who dwelt, Foxe says, at Dedham Heath. These
also regularly ministered to a congregation at the King's
Head, Colchester, which constantly assembled during the
whole period of the persecution, " and, as a candle upon
a candlestick, gave light to all those who for the comfort
of their consciences came to confer there from divers
parts of the realm." *
* Da\ad's '*Aniials and Memorials," 1863, p. 53, from Strype.
154 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. [a d 1553 1558.
In Ridley's most affecting and eloquent "Farewell,"
written after his sentence, we see the tenderness of his
whole nature mingled with unalterable resolution. After
sending special loving messages to his kinsfolk by name,
he continues — " I warn you all, my well -blessed kinsfolk
and countrymen, that ye be not amazed or astonied at
the kind of my departure or dissolution ; for I ensure
you I think it the most honour that ever I was called
unto in all my life, and therefore I thank my Lord God
heartily for it, that it hath pleased Him to call me of
His great mercy, unto this high honour, to suffer death
willingly for His sake and in His cause : unto the which
honour He called the holy prophets, and His dearly-
beloved apostles and His blessed chosen martyrs. For
know ye that I doubt no more that the causes wherefore
I am put to death are God's causes, and the causes of the
truth, than I doubt that the Gospel which John wrote is
the Gospel of Christ, or that Paul's Epistles are the very
word of God. And to have a heart willing to abide and
stand in God's cause and in Christ's quaiTcl even unto
death, I ensure thee, O man, it is an inestimable and an
honourable gift of God, given only to the true elects and
dearly-beloved children of God, and inheritors of the king-
dom of heaven."
It is true that we are no longer attracted by the ro-
mance of the early struggles. Then so much of marvellous
novelty was there in the upburst of the truth, that we
feel as though it might at any moment become the domi-
nant profession; but now all conclusions are foregone;
places are taken, not for deliberation, but for sentence
AD 1.053-1)53.! THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 155
and execution. Argument is a mockery. Tlie truth is
persecuted, not as religion, but as treason. Yet, with
all these depressing considerations, there is rich instruc-
tion for all the Christian ages to come, in the experiences
of these Marian martyrs.
If we take Smithfield alone, it will afford a type of
what was being done throughout the country at large.
Every name is an index to a character rapidly matured
for heaven.
The sufferers in this place during the reign were —
1555. John Rogers, the translator.
Thomas Tomkins, a weaver.
John Cardmaker, vicar of St. Bride.
John Warne, or Warren, ^a citizen and cloth-
worker. His wife soon after burned at Strat-
ford, under circumstances of shocking bar-
barity.
John Bradford, " Good Master Bradford, the grete
precher."
John Leaf, an apprentice.
John Philpot, archdeacon of "Winchester.
1556. Thomas Whittle, a priest.
Bartlett Green, a lawyer of the Inner Temple.
John Tudson, an artisan.
John West, an artisan.
Thomas Brown.
Isabel Foster.
Joan Warne, her maid.
Robert Drakes, minister.
William Tyms, curate.
For avowing the Protestant
doctrine to be the true faith,
and denying the mass. Burnt
together in one fire.
156 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY,
Kichard Spurge, a shearman.
Thomas Spurge, a fuller.
John Cavel, a weaver.
George Ambrose, a fuller.
1557. Thomas Loseby,
Henry Ramsey,
Thomas Thirtle,
Margaret Hide,
Agnes Stanley,
John Hollingdale.
William Sparrow.
Richard Gibson.
John Rough, a Scottish priest, good preacher, and
accomplished, excellent man.
Margaret Mearing, wife of a citizen.
1558. Cuthbert Sympson, deacon of a congregation in
the City. Racked twice.
Hugh Foxe.
John Devenish. x
Henry Pond,
Reinald Eastland, " Godly and innocent persons,"
Robert Southam, I who assembled secretly in a
Mattw. Ricarby, / back close in the fields by
John Floyd, the town of Islington, to pray
John Holiday, and meditate on God's word.
Roger Holland, '
The last of this illustrious catalogue was an intelligent,
devoted young layman of the City. He uttered at the
stake words remarkable for their literal fulfilment : "After
tliis day, in this place shall there not be any put to the
A.u 15 i3 1.3.38]
THE EEIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 157
trial of fire and faggot." Indeed, such was the augmenting
volume of the tide of indignation excited by these spec-
tacles, that even without the change of rulers which
shortly ensued, it must have speedily engulfed the authors
of the tragedies.
Eoxe gives the following account of the closing scene
of the Smithfieid martyrdoms :— " The day they suffered,
a proclamation was made that none should be so bold to
speak or talk word to them, or receive anything of them,
or to touch them, upon pain of imprisonment, without
either bail or mainprize; with divers other cruel threaten-
ing words, contained in the same proclamation. Notwith-
standing the people cried out, desiring God to strengthen
them ; and they likewise still prayed for the people, and
the restoring of His Word."
Truly,-
"A noble army, men and boys,
The matron and the maid ! "
Their godly letters i.Tesent to us their inner life in a
most favourable light. Under the influence of persecution
they had been driven and drawn so near to God, that
their Christian characters had attained marvellous matu-
rity. The grounds of their individual hope in Christ are
shown in all their conversation j and, like the apostles
Peter and Paul, they are continually abandoning the high
road of their immediate argument to point to the Lamb
of God. Take the letters of the Coventry martyr Lau-
rence Saunders as an instance, and study them in the
pages of old Foxe, as mirrors of the inner heart and life
of men who had been made heroes by the high process of
158 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MAEY. [ad. i55Z-\m.
spiritual transformation. He tlius concludes an epistle
full of high thoughts and noble persuasions : —
" Dear Wife, — Eiches I have none to leave behind me,
wherewith to endow you after the worldly manner ; but
that treasure of tasting how sweet Christ is unto hungry
consciences (whereof, I thank my Christ, I do feel part,
and would feel more), that I bequeath unto you, and to
the rest of my beloved in Christ, to retain the same in
sense of heart always. Pray, pray ! I am merry, and I
trust I shall be merry, maugre the teeth of all the devils
in hell. I utterly refuse myself, and resign myself unto
my Christ, in whom I know I shall be strong as He seeth
needful. Pray, pray, pray ! "
The records of our consistory courts, afford us ample
materials for sketching the features of evangelical life at
this period. The 'witnesses depose to the possession of
the little Scripture tractate hidden under the doublet,
the stealthy gathering for worship by night in woods
or fields, as criminating facts for legal action. Then
came the sudden alarm, the huriying cry, the falling
away of the feeble, the simple avowal of the faithful,
the dark cold dungeon, the tedious examination, the
wonderful defence, the unavailing appeal, the useless
popular sympathy, the lurid fires of martyi'dom. These
were the circumstances amidst which there sprung up
that tree which, though insignificant in its first appear-
ance, yet grew " like a tree planted by rivers of waters,
that bringeth forth his fruit in his season."
The good cause itself survives though its votaries
pei'ish. The supposed reflections of the New Zealander
A.D. 1553 15:8] THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. 159
on contemplating the ruins of St. Paul's,* can never attach
to the spiritual fabric of the true Church. Historical and
local ties may be severed, systems fade, institutions be
forgotten; but it will still stand, for against it the tooth
of time is powerless. Doubtless, the ultimate triumph of
the truth was the grand consoling reflection of many a
lowly solitary sufferer, as he uttered with the apostle the
distinctive cry of faith, " We receiving a kingdom which
cannot be moved." Compared with such convictions,
how inferior is all ordinary life ! The good man en-
dures, " as seeing Him who is invisible," whilst the land-
scape of the worldly man is bounded by the visible horizon
of things present.
The hopes of the Marian martyrs have now become
fulfilled history : our sadness, therefore, on account of
their personal trials, is tempered by the recollection of
the glorious issue of their vital struggle.
' ' Wheu the shore is won at last,
Who will count the billows past ? "
The persecutions naturally alarmed the foreign pro-
testant refugees who had settled in this country. The
action of one body of these had an important effect on
the subsequent condition of religion in England.
The Walloons, who had fled from Spanish persecution
in the ISTetherlands in lo47, settled in London with
Poulain as their minister. They adopted an order of
service similar to that which they had used before
their expatriation. When driven from England by the
government of Queen Mary, they found it difiicult to
* Lord Macaulay.
160 THE REIGN OF QUEEN MARY. [a d 1503-1558.
obtain an asylum, because their creed differed from the
Lutheran.
At length they found resting places at Wesel,
Strasburg, and Frankfort. One party, with Poulain at
their head, reached the last-named city in 1554. In
June of the same year others followed, including several
English. These all adopted the strict reformed church-
order which Poulain had established. Though they came
from England, and hoped to return thither again, yet
they renounced the Liturgy brouglit over by the English
refugees, and thus became the first dissenters within the
pale of English protestantism, if such it might then be
called. John Knox became one of their ministers.
Grindal and the English leaders in vain sought to induce
them to conformity. They avowed a preference for their
own ritual, as more simple than the Anglican form.
They corresponded with Calvin, Yermiglio, Bullenger,
Musculus, and Yiret, more than wdth the Englishmen.
Their congregations received an increase in 1555, by the
arrival of the English and Flemish companions of John
A' Lasco, who had left England in 1553, and amounted
to 153 persons.""
On their return to England in the subsequent reign,
they held fast to their own church-order, and conse-
quently came into speedy collision with the new govern-
ment and its favoured hierarchy, and were decided Non-
conformists.
* Life and selected Writings of the Fathers and Founders
of the Keformed Chiu-ch. Peter Martyr; by Dr. Schmidt,
p. 154.
CHAPTER XI.
The nation gave an eager welcome to the religious
peace which appeared to be inaugurated by the accession
of Queen Elizabeth. There had been sufficient personal
X23erience of oppression in matters of opinion, to render
the new freedom, though far from perfect, very accept-
able. The contests respecting religion had absorbed more
of the public attention than any other subject, and the
triumph of Evangelical truth was esteemed as a national
^dctory. Its language became the staple of the utterances
both of common life and of literature. If we turn to the
pages of Shakspeare, Raleigh, Lilly, or Sidney, — or even of
writers who possessed less reverence for the Word of God
than these. — we find the constant use of language implying
a thorough acquaintance by the reader with the doctrines
and facts of Scripture. Religious life, with all its mani-
festations, had become characteristic of the active portion
of the community.
Before this age, the favourite mark of the wits had
been the vices of the clergy. These form the fertile
subject of mediaeval satire. But from the time when true"
M
162 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.
[a.d. 1558-1602.
godliness became reputable, the latter lias been the chosen
object of ridicule. The plays of Ben Jouson seek to bring
into contempt the earnestness and Scriptural tastes which
evidently then characterized a large portion of the public.
The truth overcame the scoffers for the time ; but, after
the Restoration, the latter had their time of triumph, and
the result was most disastrous for the nation. A middle
course was taken by such great writers as Raleigh, and
after him Lord Bacon, who lauded religion in noble phrases,
and copiously referred to Scripture in their writings,
without, however, entitling themselves to be regarded as
agents in the great work of promoting the spread of
spiritual truth for evangelical purposes.
Who cannot but admire the eloquent conclusion of Sir
Walter Raleigh's " History of the World 1 "-
"O eloquent, just, and mighty Death! Whom none
could advise, thou hast persuaded; what none hath dared
thou hast done ; and whom all the world has flattered,
thou only hast cast out of the world and despised : thou
hast drawn together all the far-stretched greatness — all
the pride, cruelty, and ambition of man, and covered it
all over with the two narrow words ' Hie jacet.' "
More truly religious, however, is the ad\'ice given by
him to his wife, in his letter written to her just before his
execution : — " Love God, and beajin betimes. In Him
you shall find true, everlasting, and endless comfort."
Proof complete of the thorough diffusion of the textual
knowledge of Scripture in the Elizabethan age, may be
found in the plays of Shakspeare. There are above five
hundred passages in his works, which may reasonably
AD. 1558 1602] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 163
be referred to direct Scriptural originals, being either
verbally, or substantially, founded on quotations from
Holy Writ. There are about four hundred sentences,
besides these, expressive of sentiments derived from the
same source. Nor is this a case of the mere clever adap-
tation of familiar words. On the contrary, it is evident
that the great dramatist thoroughly knew the doctrines of
the Evangelical system, though we fail to discover to what
extent he rested on them for his own hopes of heaven.
Thus he speaks of the fall of man, and the grace which
found its remedy : —
"All the souls that are, were forfeit once :
And He, that might the vantage best have took,
Found out the remedy." — Measure for Measure, Act 2.
And thus of God's righteousness and mercy : —
"Consider this, —
That, in the course of justice, none of us
Should see salvation : we do pray for mercy ;
And that same prayer doth teach us all to render
The deeds of mercy." — Merchant of Venice, Act 4.
And thus of the work of faith : —
' ' Now God be praised, that to believing souls
Gives light in darkness, comfort in despair !"
2 Henry VI. Act. 2.
And thus of the atonement : —
" Then is there mirth in heaven.
When earthly things made even,
J. < owe together." — As You Like It, Act 5.
We know not that he himself fled for refuge to
" Christ's dear blood, shed for our grievous sins " —
Richard ITL
164 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.
[A.D. 1558-1602.
but the proofs of liis own familiarity, and that of his
audiences, with the phrases and teachings of the Bible are
exceedingly numerous. A modern biographer of Shak-
speare says —
''We believe that the home education of William
Shakspeare was grounded upon this book (the Bible) ;
and that if this book had been sealed to his childhood, he
might have been the poet of nature, of passion, — his
humour might have been as rich as we find it, and his
wit as pointed; but that he would not have been the
most profound as well as the most tolerant philosopher ;
his insight into the nature of man, his meanness and his
grandeur, his weakness and his strength, would not have
been what it is." *
If, in the tranquil years of his later life, he joined the
gentry of his native town in hearing and supporting the
popular Gospel lecturer who officiated there, he must have
brought to the exercise a ready fund of ample Biblical know-
ledge. We would fain hope that he learned to appreciate
the deep things of God, — to benefit by his own advice —
" The means that Heaven yields, must be embraced,
And not neglected : else, if Heaven would,
And we will not, Heaven's offer we refuse."
Richard IL , Act 3.
The extent to which the utterances of the heart were
permitted, in the courtesies of high life at this period, is
well shown in the language of a remarkable letter written
by Bacon to Lord Coke, condoling with him on the occa-
sion of his disgrace at court : —
* W. Shakspere, a Biography, p. 43.
1558-1602.]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 165
" There is a time when the words of a poor simple man
may profit ; and that poor man in Ecclesiastes, which
delivered the city by his wisdom — found that without
this opportunity, both wisdom and eloquence lose their
labour, and cannot charm the deaf adder. God therefore
before his Son, that bringeth mercy, sent his servant, the
trumpeter of repentance, to level every high hill, to pre-
pare the way before him, making it smooth and straight ;
and, as it is in spiritual things, where Christ never comes
before his waymaker hath laid even the heart with sorrow
and repentance, so in the rules of earthly wisdom. Afflic-
tions only level the mole-hills of pride, plough the heart,
and make it fit for wisdom to sow her seed, and for grace
to bring forth her increase. Happy is that man, there-
fore, both in regard of heavenly and earthly wisdom, that
is thus wounded to be cured ; thus broken to be made
straight ; thus made acquainted with his own imperfec-
tions that he may be perfected." *
From the same letter, we learn that it had been Lord
Coke's practice to take notes of sermons.
The foundation of that grandeur of character which
distinguishes the Elizabethan age, and was precursive
of the great individuality of the following generation,
was the large knowledge of the Holy Scriptures. It
induced breadth of mental and moral vision, stimulated
the powers of thought, and above all augmented the sense
of responsibility in all ranks and conditions of the people.
We get a glimpse of its effect from an account of the
family of Sir Henry Sidney of Penshurst, father of the
* Original Letters of Beacon, ed. 1736, p. 126.
1G6 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [a i.. 1558-1602
famous Sir Philip Sidney. In 1536, lie was occupying
Ludlow Castle, the appropriate official residence of the
Lords President of Wales. Little Philip was eleven
years old, and was sent to school at Shrewsbury. Prom
school he writes to his father a letter in Latin, and
another in French. The father replies in a strain of
mingled wisdom and affection. He says — "Let your
first action be the lifting up of your heart to Almighty
God by hearty prayer, and feelingly digest the words
you speak in prayer, with continual meditation, and
thinking of Him to whom you pray, and of the matter
for which you pray." The mother adds a postscript : —
"Your noble and careful father hath taken pains (with
his own hand) to give you this his letter, so wise, so
learned; and most requisite precepts for you to follow
with a diligent, humble, thankful mind, as I will not
withdraw your eyes from beholding and reverent honoring
the same — no, not so long time as to read any letter
from me ; and therefore at this time I will write you
no other letter than this, whereby first I bless you, with
my desire to God to plant in you His grace. Pare well,
my little Philip ; and once again, the Lord bless you !
Your loving mother, — Marie Sidney."
The writer was the sister-in-law of Lady Jane Grey.
Sir Henry died in 1585. His widow soon followed him ;
having spent the last portion of her life on earth in
earnest exhortations and persuasions to all around her,
to close with the divine offers of mercy through the
Redeemer. Their illustrious son, in the following March,
lay slowly dying of his wound at Zutphen, agitated by all
x.D. 1558-1G02.] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 167
the ebbs and flows of a true Christian experience, but
finally exclaiming, "I would not change my joy for the
empire of the world !"
The sacred poetry published during this reign, to
which above a hundred writers contributed, afibrds
ample proof of the extent to which evangelical sentiment
prevailed. It not only found apt expression in compo-
sitions designed for its exhibition, or congruous with its
display, but it coloured with its own hue the subject,
style, and method of all the writers. The literature of
the age is one vast homage paid to the Holy Scripture.
Frequently is there a pathetic allusion to the fiery trials
which it was hoped had now for ever ceased. At the
end of a metrical summary of the martyrdoms, published
in 1555, we read —
' ' Our wished welth hath brought us peace ;
Our joy is full, our hope obtained ;
The blazing brands of fire do cease,
The slaying sword also restrained ;
The simple sheep preserved from death
By our good Queen Elizabeth :
That God's true word shall placed be,
The hungry souls for to sustain ;
That perfect love and unity
Shall be set in their seat again ;
That no more good men shall be put to death,
Seing God hath sent Elizabeth." *
The bulk, however, of the poetry of this epoch, is of
far higher character than the jingling rhymes in which
a grateful people expressed their delight at the auspicious
* Parker Society Select Poetry, vol. i., p. 174.
168 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [a.d. 1558-1602.
change of government. The noble strains of Spenser,
Sidney, Barnes, and a host of true poets, all conformed
to the popular taste ; their compositions abound in
allusions from which a creed of evangelical doctrine
might be readily compiled. A cluster of minor poets,
some of the purest water, join in the chorus of com-
pliment to Scriptural truth, and thus the language of
theology gained in gracefulness and expression.
Mingled with these, are many productions which
breathe the true sentiments of devout hearts and en-
lightened minds. The following verses, from a piece by
an anonymous writer in 1579, afford a fair specimen of
this class of productions : —
" The Refuge of a Sinner.
Soyled in sinnes, 0 Lord ! a wretched sinfnll ghoste.
To Thee I call, to Thee I sue, that showest of mercie most :
Who can me helpe but Thou, in whom all healp doth rest ?
My sinne is more than man can mend, and that Thou knowest best.
On whome then shall I call, to whom shall I make mone ?
Sith man is mightlesse sin to cure, I seek to thee alone ;
In Thee I knowe all might and power doth remayne,
And at Thy handes I am well sure mercie I shall obtain.
Thy promise cannot fayle, wherein I me repose ;
To Thee alone (els to no man) my harte wylle sinne disclose :
The sinner Thou dost save, no Saviour els I finde ;
Thou onely satisfied hast for the sinne of all mankynde,
The sacrifice whereof Thou offeredst once for aye,
Whereby His wrath for Adam's gylt Thy Father put awaye." *
The pulpit began to exhibit graces of style, as well as
soundness in the faith. It lost in the vehemence of its
utterances, but gained in beauty of composition.
* Parker Society, vol. ii., 508.
A.D. 1558-1602.]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 169
It argues much for the spirituality of p readier and
hearers, when we find Edward Deringe at this period
addressing them tlius : — " If our hearts cannot com-
prehend all the wisdom of God in the wind that bloweth,
how he raiseth it up or maketh it fall again, how can
we understand this wisdom of our uniting with Jesus
Christ 1 Only this can I say: God hath given us faith,
in which we may believe it, and out of which such joy
shineth in our minds as crucifieth the world, not us.
How far our reason is from seeing it, it skilleth not; it
is sufficient if we believe it. We believe in the Lord
our God ; yet we know not what is His countenance.
We believe, and apprehend by hope, his glory; yet
neither eye can see it, nor ear can 'hear it. We believe
and see immortality; yet our heart cannot comprehend
the height, the breadth, the length, the depth. We
believe the resurrection of the dead; yet we cannot
understand such excellent wisdom, how life is renewed
in the dispersed and scattered bones and ashes."
The demand for religious instruction, which sprang
up in the train of the English Bible, soon exceeded the
means of supply. The beneficed clergy were too few,
and many of them too ill-qualihed, to satisfy the occasion.
In this state of things, a number of educated men,
possessing a desire to be useful in this respect, obtained
episcopal licence without any cure. They were styled
lecturers, and became greatly popular. The benevolent
and wealthy landowners and merchants appointed and
paid them. They did not exclude or supersede the
services of the regular clergy, but came in aid of them.
170 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [a.d. 1558-1C02.
rour of such lecturers were nominated for Lancashire,
and simih\r proportions in other counties. Henry Smith,
one of the most noted preachers of the age, testifies to
the fervid religionism which now began to prevail. He
says — " The poor receive the gospel ; the young men are
more forward in the truth and more zealous than the
aged, — the son than the father, the servant than his
master."
In 1599, Dr. Holland states that there were "in this
realm 5,000 preachers, catechists, exhorters ; God be
praised, who increases the number of them." In the
MS. returns of the bishops in 1603, it is stated that,
besides the preachers, there are " many honest ministers
well able to catechize and privately to exhort, though
they have not the gift of utterance, and audacity to
preach in the pulpit."*
But, notwithstanding these favourable tokens, it was
soon discovered that the golden age of piety had not yet
arrived. The fond hopes of the faithful, that the Queen's
advent had ushered in the reign of religious peace, M^ere
soon destroyed. The squabbles about vestments, the
rude interposition of royal authority in ecclesiastical
matters, the ordinances against unlicensed preachers,
the persecution for attendance at conventicles, the rough
usage of the worthy Marian exiles, — all throw their
shadows across the path of the historian.
The good citizens of London, about the year 1566,
used on Saturdays to send to the house of old Father
Coverdale, to know where he would preach on the morrow.
* Haweis' Sketches, p. 306.
1558-1G02.]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 171
For though he was deprived of his living of St. Magnus
for nonconformity, yet the authorities did not interfere
with him in the prosecution of his lifelong and beloved
work. He was now nearly eighty years of age, the
last connecting link between the ante-Reformation
struggle and the present; an eminent scholar,— one who
had been in peril and exile for the Gospel,— a friendly,
liberal, loveable old man,— an admirable preacher. His
popularity gave offence to the ruling prelates ; the good
man was obliged at last to tell his friends that he durst
not inform them of the place of his preaching, for fear
of his superiors ; and thus, in the midst of the light
which he himself had so much helped to kindle, he died in
comparative obscurity, in the year 1568, and was buried,
amidst the sorrows of a vast crowd of people, in the
chancel of St. Bartholomew's, behind the Exchange, — a
place now unmarked save by the traffic of the world,
but dear to the memory of all who love to contemplate
the heroism of holiness.
In considering the historical development of religion
since the dark ages, we must bear in mind that there
have been four classes of reformers : — reformers before
the Keformation — men who nourished faith and hope
when action was impossible ; reformers, who from
timidity or worldly policy, repudiated public reformation ;
reformers who added action to conviction, and actually
effected the Keformation ; and, lastly, reformers of the
Reformation itself, — men who would not, under the
pretext of peace, accept any finality short of entire
conformity to the Scriptures. It is our happiness to
172 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [a.d. 1558-1602.
know, that there have ever been, holy, eminent, devoted
Christians in each of these classes. So infirm are we,
even at the best, that the regenerating grace of God,
and living faith in the Saviour, by no means produce
uniform results, eitlier in clearness of vision, depth of
emotion, or courage in action.
The rise of the great religious parties, which still
prevail in this country, may be traced back to the
commencement of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. First,
the Kitualistic, or high-church section; secondly, the
Evangelical, or low-church ; — the latter again divided
into, first, those who accept the order and discipline
enjoined by the State ; secondly, those who, not denying
the right of the State to ordain, yet object to its enact-
ments, agitate for a change, and become Nonconformists.
The last again subdivide, into first, such as desire the
State to conform to their views ; and, secondly, those
who deny the right or prov^ince of the State to interfere
with religion.
The first overt act of Nonconformity, was the hiring
of Plumbers' Hall, in the City, for an assembly, and
setting up there a separate communion. Those who were
resolved on separation from the State Church had met
secretly before ; but this was a public act, and was
followed by the breaking-up of their meeting, and
apprehension of the leaders. The latter were brought
before the Court of High Commission. The plea of the
separatists was, that they entertained conscientious
objection to the vestments of the established clergy. The
whole question is made quite clear by the record of their
A.D. 1558-1602.] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 173
proceedings. In tlie course of the examination, the
following took place : —
" Bishojy. — Have you not the Gospel truly preached,
9.nd the sacraments duly administered, and good order
preserved, though we differ from other churches on
indifferent ceremonies, which the prince has power to
command for the sake of order 1 What say you, Smith,
as you seem the ancientest *?
" Smith. — Indeed, my lord, we thank God for reforma-
tion; and that is the thing we desire, according to God's
Word. So long, indeed, as we might have the word
freely preached, and the sacraments administered without
the use of idolatrous gear, we never assembled in private
houses. But when all our preachers who could not sub-
scribe to your apparel and your laws were displaced, so
that we could not hear any of them in the church for the
space of seven or eight weeks, excepting Father Cover-
dale, who at length durst not make known to us where
he preached ; and then we were troubled in your courts
from day to day, for not coming to our parish churches :
we considered among ourselves what we should do. We
remembered that there was a congregation of us in this
city in the days of Queen Mary ; and a congregation at
Geneva, which used a book and order of preaching,
ministering the sacraments and discipline most agreeable
to the word of God. This book is allowed by the godly
and learned Mr. Calvin, and the other preachers at
Geneva, which book and order we now hold. And if
you can, by the word of God, reprove this book, or any-
thing that we hold, we will yield to you, and do open
174 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.
[A.D. 1558-1602.
penance at Paul's Cross; but if not, we will, by the grace
of God, stand to it."
After much argument respecting the vestments, the
Lord Mayor interposed, with advice, which, if this were
the whole dispute, was certainly worth serious consider-
ation.
^^ Mayor. — Well, good people, I wish yon would wisely
consider these things, and be obedient to the Queen's
good laws, that you may live quietly and have liberty.
I am sorry that you are troubled; but I am an officer
under my prince, a.nd therefore blame not me. The
Queen hath not established these garments and other
things for the sake of any holiness in them, only for
civil order and comeliness, and because she would have
ministers known from other men ; as aldermen are known
by their tippets, judges by their red gowns, and noble-
men's servants by their liveries. Therefore, you will
do well to take heed and obey." *
From the days of Wickliffe downwards, we discern
occasional traces of gatherings of godly people, who were
impressed with the great truths relating to personal
Christianity, and under their influence met to strengthen
each other, and promote Christ's cause without a wish
or a thought beyond. The only organization they knew
was fellowship in Christ; their only aim, the enjoyment
and propagation of personal faith in Him. They were
Nonconformists, but without any i)arty spirit, or political,
or even ecclesiastical aim. Though their great principle,
if and when carried out, must in due time lead to the
* "Parte of a Eegister," p. 24.
A.D. 1.3J8-1G02 ]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 175
disowning of regal and hierai'diical power, yet this was
neither sought nor cared for by them ; for their sole concern
was the doctrine of Christ crucified, which, whilst it
abundantly compensated them for all its inflictions, yet
absorbed all their energies. The conventicles of the
Lollards, were succeeded by the congregations of the
Protestants in the reigns of Henry YIII. and Queen
Mary, and these by the assemblies of the Puritans, who
dissented from the Queen's ordinances in the reign of
Elizabeth. Tyndale's advice to Frith, to conduct their
assemblies so as to avoid questions of sacrauient and
order, and confine the teaching to the great truths of
redemption, was much followed, and could not fail to
be the means of blessing.
Peligion in this country, cannot show exclusive descent
through any of the great ecclesiastical parties : truth,
like veins of ore split by convulsion, thenceforth lies in
varying proportions along all the Hues of fracture.
The principle that man is directly accountable to God,
and to Him only, for his personal religious belief, lies at
the foundation of all the acts of the reformers. They
felt, that in spiritual things, Christ is entitled to para-
mount obedience. They sacrificed reputation, comfort,
property, and even life itself, in support of their convic-
tions. They denied the authority of the Government to
impose on them a creed at variance with their conscien-
tious interpretation of Scripture. But they never saw
the correlative truth, that whatever is not within the
jurisdiction of Government, cannot rightly affect the
Government with any responsibility. If there is no
176 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.
[a.d. 1558-1602.
duty on tlie one hand, there can be no obligation on
the other. From disregard of this principle, arose the
multitudinous difficulties which for centuries embarrassed
the pure action of religion. The reformers undoubtedly
held it to be the duty of the State to select the true faith,
and uphold it with the arm of power.
The good men who went into exile in Holland,
Germany, and Switzerland, during the Marian perse-
cution, came back with their views unchanged in this
respect. On their return, they objected to some of the
State ordinances, not on the ground of their origin, but
their objects. They would not have had them abrogated,
but altered. These were the first Puritans, — men who
had never conformed to the regulations of the Govern-
ment. Their number was speedily augmented, by the
addition of those who dissented from the new injunctions
of 1559, and of those who preferred the Genevan model
of church order to that established by Cranmer.
From these early Puritans the Independents separated.
The latter were at first called by their enemies, Brownists,
or Barrowists. Browne was a clergyman, a friend of
the gi-eat statesman Cecil ; he was not the originator
of the principles associated with his name, but he was
the first active able open promoter of them. Browne
afterwards conformed ; but before . this took place,
numerous persons, who had recognized in independency,
principles already practically known to them, had acted
upon the doctrine, and formed isolated self-governing
assemblies of professing Christians. Barrow, was a
lawyer of Gray's Inn, a self-denying godly man, who
A.D. 15J3-1602.] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 177
was speedily executed for nonconformity. The Indepen-
dents acknowledged the right of the Government to rule
in matters of religion, but claimed for separate congrega-
tions the privilege of self-government, subject to the regal
control, which, they affirmed, was bound to be exercised
in their favour.
From these Separatists, a third offshoot soon sprang, —
namely, those who acknowledged the right of the State to
control matters of external behaviour, but denied its duty
to patronize or interfere with personal religiouso pinion.
The first assertors of this view were Baptists. h< So
notorious was this, that the term Anabaptist was used
reproachfully, to designate the deniers of State authority
in matters of religion, irrespective * of their sentiments
respecting the rite of baptism itself.
The proposition acted upon by the English reformers,
is, that Church and State are co-extensive ; that adopted
by the Genevan reformers, is the papal doctrine of a
church-state within and paramount to the civil govern-
ment : this became the principle of presbyterianism and
of high churchism.t The Separatists (in early times com-
prising the Baptists only) avowed the principle which
lay at the root of the action of the martyrs and protesters
* Tracts on Liberty of Conscience and Persecution, 1614-1661.
Hanserd Knollys Society, ]846.
t Consult "A Brieff Discours off the Troubles begonne at
Franckford, in Germany, Anno Domini 1554, abowte the Booke
off Common Prayer and Ceremonies, and continued by the
Englishe men theyre, to th' ende of Q. Marie's raigne, in the
which discours, the gentle reader shall see the very originall and
beginninge off all the contention that hath byn, and what was the
cause off the same."
178 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [a.d. 1558-1602.
of all ages, — namely, man's individual freedom from all
human obligation in the matter of religion, and tlie con-
sequent impropriety of all human law on the subject.
The disputes of subsequent years may be conveniently
reduced to these three classes. To examine the idtimate
effect of each theory upon the progress of Christ's king-
dom is not our task; but the humbler and more grateful
office of tracing down in each line, the outflow of vital
attachment to the truth as it is in Jesus, which brings its
own obligations, and is ever accompanied by its own high
hopes.
Though the object of our present inquirj^, — vital religion,
— is to be traced in all these lines of descent, yet from the
nature of things, it is found in most force and frequency
among those who attached supreme importance to doctrine,
rather than to ritual.
In the year 1571, the religious desires of the com-
munity and the religious convictions of the godly clergy,
led to the establishment of meetings called prophesyings ;
founded upon the practice of the Corinthian church in
the days of the Apostles, as indicated in 1 Cor. xiv. 26.
The ministers of the district met by appointment ; each
in his turn gave his views on a chosen portion of Scrip-
ture. This institution, begun at Northampton in 1571,
soon became popular. It was accompanied by the usual
concomitant of free speech, — difference of opinion. The
archbishop (Grindal) incurred the decided displeasure of
the Queen for patronizing these gatherings. He was
required to abridge the number of preachers, and to
put down altogether these religious exercises. The good
A.D. 15:s-iG02.] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 179
primate remonstrated, but in vain ; the imperious Queen
issued her mandate forbidding all such associations, and
prohibiting all preaching and teaching save by persons
lawfully called; which, says the historian, silenced no
small number. """
The value set upon these exercises shows the general
concern resjiecting religion. Sir Robert Cotton says, —
" In those days there was an emulation between the
clergy and the laity, and a strife whether of them
should show themselves most affectionate to the Gospel.
Poor country churches were frequented with the best
of the shire. The word of God was precious ; prayer
and preaching went hand-in-hand together ; until Arch-
bishop Grindal's disgrace, and Hattbn's hard conceit of
prophesying, brought the flowing of these good graces
to a still water."
The advice of Aylmer, when he became Bishop of
London, concerning the Puritans, is a sufficient descrip-
tion of their true character. Strype says —
" In the year 1577, he met with several persons of a
contrary way to Papists j of w^hom he informed the
Lord Treasurer, that in respect of their hindering unity
and quietness, they were not much less hurtful than they;
namely, Chark, Chapman, Fiekl, and Wilcox. These
lie had before him : the two former he had some hopes
of ; but the two latter shewed themselves obstinate, and
especially Field, who, notwithstanding the Archbishop's
inhibition, had entered into great houses, and taught, as
he said, God knows what. His advice concerning these
* Middleton, Life of Grindal, p. 229.
180 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [ad. 1558 1602.
men ivas, that they might be profitably employed in Lan-
cashire^ Staffordshire, Shropshire, and such other like
barbarous countries, to draw the people from Papism
and gross ignorance ; and that though they went a
little too far, yet he supposed it would be less labour
to draw them back, than now it was to hale them forward ;
and that some letters of friendly request might be sent
thither for some contribution to be made by the towns
and gentlemen for some competent stipend to relieve
them. And he thought this might grow greatly to the
profit of the Church, and therefore communicated this
counsel to the Lord Treasurer, and prayed him at his
leisure to think on it. Yet he declared that he said all
this, not because he liked them, but because he would
liave his cure rid of them."*
The first formal outbreak of Nonconformity was occa-
sioned by the articles of Whitgift, on his appointment to
the see of Canterbury, in 1583. The Queen charged him
to restore the discipline of the Church, and he immedi-
ately forbad "all preaching and catechizing in any private
family, when any are present except the family. That
none do preach or catechize, except also he will read
the whole sei-vice, and administer the sacrament four
times a }'ear. That all preachers, and others in eccle-
siastical orders, do at all times wear the habit prescribed.
That none be admitted to preach unless he subscribe the
three following articles": 1st, to the Queen's supremacy;
2ndly, to the Book of Common Prayer, and to use no other;
3rdly,to the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England.
This ordinance was enforced by the suspension of several
'^ Strype's Life of Ay liner, p. 3G.
L>. 1558-1602.]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 181
hundred ministers. Supplications for relief were poured
in to the Lords of the Council, to the Convocation, and
to the Parliament, embodying complaints which show
the high value set on the services of an evangelical
ministry at that time ; but all endeavours to obtain an
alteration of the terms were fruitless.
The men who about the year 1590 began to organize
their own peaceable Christian assemblies, to choose their
own officers to preside, and give to their own poor, were
interrupted and branded ae traitors. Again and again
had tbey to resort for safety to the shelter of the woods
near Isling-ton or Deptford, or the obscurity of the alleys
between Shakspeare's theatre and London Bridge. They
declared their sole object to be their *own instruction and
the worship of God ; they eagerly disavowed the lower
deep of " anabaptistical error ; " — meaning thereby the
denial of the right of the State in matters of religion ; —
but, spite of their simple professions and strong disavowals,
the thing could not be permitted. It did not comport
with the notions of government then current, and hence
the opening of another tale of heartburnings, proscriptions,
imprisonments, exile, and bloodshed.
It is perplexing and painful to have to recur again to
scenes of tyranny and distress. After the full establish-
ment of a reformation grounded onl}' on the sacred
right of private judgment, and during the prevalence
of great social prosperity and unprecedented intellectual
opulence, we are still led to the tribunals, the dungeons,
and even the scajSfold, in search of the true followers
of Christ.
182 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [ad. 1558-1602.
The short life of John Peniy, the Welsh apostle, affords
much evndence of the state of religions thought and feeling
then prevalent in this direction.
Born in the first year of the Queen's reign, he found
himself at the University of Oxford at a time when
Puritan teaching, though not in the ascendant, was yet
the most active thing there. Personally, he had ten-
dencies which led him to Romanism ; but soon his quick
mind and glowing heart became affected by the sim-
plicity of evangelical truth. •He, with a few others like-
minded, associated for prayer and Bible-reading. An
earnest desire for the spiritual enlightenment of his
countrymen now became his ruling passion. He visited
the mountains and valleys of the Principality, scattering
the good seed of the Gospel with such success, that
several places in Breconshire at this day trace their
church history to his early activity. He published an
eloquent appeal to the Church of England on behalf of
Wales, abounding in missionary arguments, though then
deemed to be subversive of ecclesiastical order. In this
he came under the displeasure of Whitgift, and had
to retreat with others into Northamptonshire, where,
however, the decrees of the Star Chamber reached the
band of ch^^rch reformers. Penry's sole aim appears to
have been the evangelization of his country. This is the
burthen of his appeals to Church, State, and people ; but
the nature of the opposition encountered, led him to attack
the hierarchy itself, as an obstacle to the accomplishment
of his darling purpose. He had to flee to Scotland.' He
wished to return, abandon all efforts for higher reforma-
1538-1602.]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 183
tion, and petitioned tlie Queen for leave to preach in
Wales. In 1592 he came back, and found that a lower
stratum of Nonconformity than Puritanism had arisen,
though in obscurity and amidst difficulties.
Under the opprobrious name of Separatists, united
only by a proscription pronounced alike by High and
Low Churchy Presbyterian, Puritan, and Nonconformist,
a number of earnest men had united together in assem-
blies for worship and edification. In the summer they
met in the fields, in the winter in some obscure re-
treat : even under these difficulties they sought the glory
of Christ, by attempting to form and preserve a member-
ship of persons whose lives corresponded to their profes-
sions. They were principally tradesmen and artizans of
the city of London, with a few professional men and
scholars : they met in a house belonging to one of their
number in Nicholas-lane, — now No. 80, Cannon-street.
The scope of their effi)rts is thus expressed, by them-
selves : —
" 1. We seek, above all things, the peace and protec-
tion of the Most High, and the kingdom of Christ Jesus
our Lord.
" 2. We seek and fully purpose to worship God aright
as He hath commanded in His Holy Word.
" 3. We seek the fellowship and communion of His
faithful and obedient servants, and, together with them, to
enter covenant with the Lord ; and, by the direction of
His Holy Spirit, to proceed to a godly, free, and right
choice of ministers and other officers, by Him ordained
to the service of His Church.
184 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.
[A.D. 1558-1.602.
" 4. "We seek to establish and obey the ordinances and
laws of our Saviour Christ, left by His last will and testa-
ment, to the governing and guiding of His Church, with-
out altering, changing, innovating, wresting, or leaving
out any of them that the Lord shall give us sight of
" 5. We purpose, by the assistance of the Holy Ghost,
in this faith and order to leave our lives, if such be the
good will and pleasure of our Heavenly Father, to whom
be all glory and praise for ever. Amen." *
The good men had not proceeded far in their career of
Christian liberty, ere, as they were about to form a second
church, the hand of power ruthlessly broke up their gather-
ing, persecuted the flock, and cruelly put to death their
leaders, Barrow, Greenwood, and Penry.
The charge against them was, that they taught opinions
subversive of the church as by law established. They had
come to the conclusion that the appointment of the higher
orders of clergy, and the mode of appointment of ordinary
ministers, were contrary to the word of God, and promo-
tive of Popery. They conceived themselves bound to
worship God after the manner which is now called Inde-
pendent ; and having strong convictions that the practices
they condemned were leading to the re-introduction of
Popery, they believed themselves to be contending for
important practical ends. Toleration was unknown, and
latitudinarianism would have been disavowed by all par-
ties; the terrible consequence was accepted as inevitable:
dissent was treason. Penry appealed from the actual laws,
* Giffard's Treatise, 1590, quoted in Waddington's Life of
Penry, p. 88.
AD. 1558-1002.] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 185
to the principle enunciated in Magna Charta, that the
sovereign of these realms should leave inviolable the
privileges of the Church of God. The appeal, if conceded,
would have issued in the establishment of an inner
ecclesiastical state within the outer civil government.
This was treated not only with contempt, but as a fresh
instance of treasonable audacity. Kight principles con-
cerning the office of the magistrate in matters of religion
are to be found involved in the manly, pious defence
made by the sectaries ; but their aims and conclusions are
still coloured by the attractive splendours of the Genevan
theory, that human governments subsist for the direct
outworking of the Divine government in regard to religion.
The preachers were, with cruel perversion, charged with
assembling in woods and secret places. Penry replied,
that this was done, not of their own choice, but from sad
necessity; concluding his final examination with words
which, though long dormant, are now becoming the creed
as well as the experience of nations : — " Imprisonments,
indictrhents — ^yea, death itself, are no meet weapons to
convince men's consciences."*
Although the life of God in the soul of man has become
terribly denaturalized, so that it always needs an apology
to speak to a stranger concerning God's great mercy,
yet, beneath all the conventionalities of mankind, there
is a secret longing towards the truth. Society treats
religion as if it were the forbidden fruit, but still covets
its possession. Thus we find that everywhere, at all
times, amongst all people, the earnest, intelligent, pathetic
preaching of the Gospel is eminently attractive.
* Life of Penry, p. 166.
186 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [i..D. 1558-1602.
It was SO in tlie clays when Hooker, the great champion
of the Elizabethan Cliiirch, preached in the morning at
the Temple to a select auditory, " fit though few ;" whilst
Travers, the representative of the Evangelical school,
exercised his persuasive oratory to crowds at the same
place in the afternoon. It was likened to ebb and flow.
Old Fuller says, " Here might one on Sundays have seen
almost as many writers as hearers. Not only young
students, but even the greatest benchers (such as Sir
Edward Cook [Coke] and Sir James Altham then were)
were not more exact in taking instructions from their
clients, than in writing notes from the mouths of their
ministers."
The public anxiety for the propagation of evangelical
religion reached to the municipal and parochial civil
institutions of the country. Such orders as the following,
made in the borough of Liskeard, in Cornwall, by common
consent of the mayor, burgesses, and parishioners, on the
22nd of January, 1586, concerning the poor, were becoming
general : — " And for that the said people appear to us to
be very ignorant of the knowledge of God and their
salvation, we have made petition unto the vicar or his
minister to redeem their negligence ; or else do order our
clerk, in their default, that every particular household,
as they are here plotted, shall, by turn in four several
Sundays, continually henceforth be taught the articles of
their faith, the Lord's prayer and the ten commandments,
with the understanding of the sacraments and principles
of religion."*
Allen's History of Liskeard, p. 277.
A.D. 1558-1602.] THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 187
Another proof of the popular attachment to evangelical
preaching occurred at the Leicester Assizes in 1596. Mr.
Hildersham, a divine of great celebrity, incumbent of
Ashby-de-la-Zouch, was appointed to preach the assize
sermon before Judge Anderson. The judge considered it
to be so puritanical, that he could not conceal his displeasure
even in church. No sooner was he seated on the bench,
than he required the juiy to bring in an indictment
against the preacher ; but they refused, and it is said that
no jury in the country could have been found to do it.
When it is borne in mind, how often, in those unhappy
days of criminal administration, the juries acted wholly
at the bidding of the judge, their conduct shows how
extensively and deeply the love o'f the truth which
Hildersham so faithfully preached, pervaded tlie chief
men of the country. Hildersham was afterwards mainly
instrumental in promoting stated meetings of ministers
for mutual improvement.* There are few epitaphs suffi-
ciently instructive and characteristic to repay transcrip-
tion. That placed in the chancel of Ashby church over
the remains of this good man is a gratifying exception.
It is as follows : —
M. S.
Near to this place lieth interred the body
of Arthur Hildersham,
honourably descended from Sir Richard Poole,
by his wife Margaret Countess of Salisbury;
but more honoured for his sweet and ingenuous disposition,
his singular wisdom in settling peace,
advising in secidar affairs
and satisfying doubts,
* Clarke's "Lives."
188 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE.
[A.D. 1.5"8-1602.
his abundant charity,
and especially for his extraordinary knowledge and
judgment in the Holy Scriptures,
his painfid and zealous preaching,
together with his firm and lasting constancy
in the truth he professed,
He lived in this place
for the most part of forty- three years and six months,
with great success in his ministry,
love and reverence of all sorts,
and died with much honour and lamentation,
March the 4th, 1631.
In the latter portion of the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
and during that of her successor, many godly ministers
could neither conscientiously fulfil the commands of the
Court on the one hand, or attach themselves to the Puritan
party on the other. They lived in continual trouble and
distress ; but the cause of Christ was actually advancing,
in spite of these obstructions, by means of the diffusion
of the Scriptures : for it has been vi^ell remarked by the
historian of our English Bible, that " no section of Chris-
tians, of whatever name, can possess any title to rank
itself as having been essential either to the progress or to
the general prevalence of the English Scriptures."
The mother of the world-renowned Francis Lord Bacon,
herself an accomplished scholar, attended one of these
assemblies, gathered, in spite of the law and will of the
Government, at Bochford Hall, in Essex. The meeting was
held daily at eight o'clock in the evening. A church was
formed ; and though all parties concerned were imprisoned
and dispersed, yet many, with her ladyship, testified to
the unspeakable advantages derived fiom these exercises.
.D. 15j8-1602.]
THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 189
In 1592 we find the church at South wark composed of
materials which prove the intelligence and bravery of the
lay element in English religious society at that time.
Among the members are enumerated, Quintin Smith, aged
thirty, of South wark, felt-maker ; Thomas Micklefield,
joiner, thirty-two years of age, of St. Mary Overy's ;
Leonard Pedder, thirty, shoemaker, Blackfriars ; Chris-
topher Diggins, twenty-four, weaver ; Henry Broadwater,
twenty-nine, scrivener, of Nicholas-lane ; Edward Grave,
fishmonger, of St. Botolph's ; William Marshall, thirty-
two, of Wappiug, shij^wright ; Arthur Billot, a native of
Core wall, a soldier and scholar, of good family.
Several of the Bomisli priests who were cruelly
executed in the reign of Queen li^lizabeth w^ere also
evangelicals. What infinite surprises are in store for us
in the world to come ! Persecutor and victim will, in
numberless instances, meet on the same right-hand side
of the Judge. The generous, noble-hearted Margaret
Clitherow, barbarously pressed to death at York, in 1586,
on the charge of harbouring Catholic priests; — the devout
and poetical Southwell, so cruelly tortured and executed
in 1595, for the crime of being a Jesuit; — will find them-
selves basking in the same sunshine of Divine favoui* with
their conforming and nonconforming contemporaries of
meaner rank but of equal faith. All would have sweetly
sung with Southwell —
•' Let us iu life — yea, with our life,
Kequite His dying love ;
For best we live wheu best we love,
If love our hfe remove."
190 THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. [a.d. 1558-1602.
In 1573, the before-mentioned treatise of Paleario,
the early Italian martyr, was translated from the French
edition, and published under the title of "The Benefit
that Christians receive by Jesus Christ Crucified." The
introduction laments that, " among the greatest evils
with which the age is infected, that they whicli are
called Christians are miserably divided about Christ."
" In this little book is the benefit which cometh by
Christ crucified to the Christian truly and comfortably
handled ; which benefit if all Christians did truly under-
stand and faithfully embrace, this division would vanish
away, and, in Christ, the Christians' household become
one."
The leading truths of the evangelical system, having
relation to the common spiritual wants of man, and to
the all-sufiicient provisions of God, have currency every-
where. They have a divine stamp for universal circula-
tion. It was a grand thing when literature, aided by
the printing-press, became suflfused with the Gospel. As
Dean Milman beautifully says — " Eloquence or argument,
instead of expiring on the ears of an entranced but limited
auditory, addressed mankind at large — flew tlu^ough king-
doms, crossed seas, perpetuated and promulgated them-
selves to an incalculable extent."
The foreign Protestant refugees, after a period of
reverses during the last reign, again partook of prosperity
under regal patronage in the reign of Elizabeth and her
successors. Their numbers were so rapidly and consider-
ably augmented in consequence of persecutions in France*
that they became quite an influential body of evangelical
A.D. 1558-1602.J THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 191
professors here. Many of tliem became absorbed into
English communities, but at first they formed their own
societies. The number of their churches in London rose
to thirty-one ; others were also established at Wands-
worth, Chelsea, Hammersmith, Greenwich, Canterbury
Sandwich, Norwich, Thorpe, Southampton, Bristol,
Glastonbury, Rye, Winchelsea, Dover, raversham,
Whittlesea, Thorney Abbey, Sandtoft, Ipswich, Ply-
mouth, Dartmouth, and Bideford. This state of things
continued until the beginning of the eighteenth century,
when the numbers began to decline from the effect of
fusion Avith the English ; and, for the last sixty years, the
doors havebeen open for the return to their own country
of such of the descendants as retained the desire.* There
is now, it is believed, only one left of these original
foundations, that in St. Martin's-le-Grand. The abandon-
ment of the old Austin-Friars Dutch church, and the
transference of their records, is the work of the year
1863 only.
The fulfilment of history in the gathering of the
church of Christ is one long Bom an triumph. Group
after group pass on in the stately procession, attired in
different costumes, with varying physiognomy, each bear-
ing the spoils of its own warfare, but all intent on the
one entrance into the city, whence they hear from afar off,
the plaudits which arise from around the throne, to which
their great Leader has been exalted by the suffrages of
an innumerable company.
* Weiss, " Foreign Protestant Refugees. "
CHAPTEE XII.
3janus 31.— OTfearlcs 1,
The harvest quickly followed the seed-time. We begin
to read of Gospel influences pervading whole districts;
we discern godly families where before we saw only
individuals. Although piety is not hereditary, yet
religious biography teaches us that it frequently becomes
so. God honours the domestic constitution, by making it
the means of accomplishing His own gracious pui-poses.
In the year 1600, a wheelwright, named Sibbes, the father
of the great Puritan preacher, was li\ing in Fostock, in
Suffolk, with the reputation of being a skilful workman,
and sincere Christian, known and esteemed in both cha-
racters throughout his native district.* Many similar
instances are recorded at this time ; the growing diffusion
of Scripture literature is a marked feature of the age.
The published editions of the English Bible, which
amounted to fifty-four in the long reign of Henry YIII.,
rose to forty-nine in the short one of his ,son ; fell to one
during the reign of Queen Mary ; but again rose to 142
A.D. 1602-1618.] JAMES I. CHARLES I. 193
under Elizabeth. In 1644, John Canne, a baptist separatist,
compiled the first English Bible with marginal references
throughout. It was published at Amsterdam.
The triumphant mental development of the Elizabethan
age was grounded on heartfelt reverence for the Scri])-
ture, and large use of its divine teachings ; and when
all else that was peculiar to the times had j^assed away,
the influence of these remained. Their results outlasted
the generation, and produced a state of things under
which England rose to a pitch of mental, moral, and
spiritual greatness before unknown. The controversial
literature of the day, though still disfigured by passion
and conceit, partook of the improvement. In the ancient
times of the Church, the disputes of theologians imper-
fectly served to eliminate and vindicate the truth ; but
after the Eeformation, improved methods, and fuller
subjection to the authority of Scripture, rendered the
later productions incomparably superior in utility to those
of the Fathers. Hardly an error now springs up in the
fertile weed-bearing soil of theology, which has not been
already intelligently and exhaustively dealt with, in some
portion of the religious literature of the Reformed Church.
Good works followed in the train. About the year 1600,
some members of the University of Cambridge set on
foot a home mission in the villages around that town,
which they carried on for many years with much benefit
to themselves and the district.*
In the year 1602, Mr. Crook, Fellow of Emanuel College,
exchanged the congenial learning of Cambridge for the
♦ Clarke's Life of Gataker, p. 132.
O
194 JAMES I. CHARLES I. [a.d. 1002-1G48.
task of imparting the Gospel to the people living on the
Men dip Hills, who had never before, it is said, enjoyed
the blessing of a preaching minister. For forty-seven
years, he continued to show how a cultivated, active
mind, imbued with the love of Christ, may be a means of
imparting blessing throughout a large district by efforts
and influence exerted in the direct promulgation of
Scriptural truth. Other ministers with similar equip-
ments went out to combat the ignorance which still
existed in dark spots over the land. The result was a
decided and general augmentation of Christian know-
ledge and piety.
Lord Bacon, in his " Advancement of Learning, Divine
and Humane," pays a high compliment to the preaching
in his days, when he says, " For I am persuaded that if
the choicest and best of these observations upon texts of
Scripture, which have been made dispersedly in sermons,
within this your Majesty's island of Britain, by the
space oi these forty years, and more, had been set down
in a continuance, it had been the best work on divinity
which had been written since the Apostles' times."*
At this time it became the practice of a few serious
merchants in the city of London, to select a godly
minister, and send him for three years to preach in some
town destitute of the Gospel. If his ministry proved
acceptable to the people, so as to induce them to desire
his continuance, matters were so arranged ; but if other-
wise, he was removed to be sent elsewhere. This sound
Scriptural method of carrying out mission work amidst
* Page 330.
i.D. lGa2-1618.J JAMES I. CHARLES I. 195
the masses, may well teach, a lesson to the promoters of
modern missionary enterjorise.
Purchas, who published his quaint geographico-theo-
logical History of the World in 1613, thus declaims, in his
preface, against the appointment of ministers unable to
preach : " And let mee have leave to speake it for the
glorie of God, and the good of our church, I cannot find
any priests in all this my pilgrimage, of whom wee have
any exact historic, but take more bodily paines in their
devotions, than is performed by not-preaching ministers,
especially in countrie villiages, where on the week daies
they cannot have occasion for publique prayers ; and
therefore if they onely read the service then, and never
study for more (which I would it were not the practice
of some), even the heathen shall rise up in judgement
against them. I subscribe with hand and practise to
our Liturgiej but not such Lethargie ; whose darknesse is
so much the more intolerable, in the sunshine of the
Gospel 1, wherein we have a gratious king, so diligent a
frequenter of sermons ; and reverend bishojDS (notwith-
standing other their weighty ecclesiasticall employments)
yet diligent preachers." *
About the year 1605, the obscure village of Cawk,
lying between Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Derby, was the
scene of assemblies similar to those which in so many
places, and at so many times, have characterized the
progress of religion. A good preacher was unknown in
those parts, until Mr. Julines Herring came to the parish.
His sermons were popular from their faithful exhibition
* Piu'chas's Pilgrimage. Preface.
196 JAMES I. CHARLES I.
[A.D. 1602-1648.
of divine trutl^i. The people from the towns and villages
within a circle of twenty miles flocked to hear : the
building in which he preached could not contain them —
they crowded around the windows. After the morning
service, an ordinary took place ; singing and religious
conversation occupied the interval until the afternoon
service ; after which the multitude dispersed, many having
received durable impressions. This continued for many
years ; and similar residts followed Mr. Herring's preach-
ing on his removal to Shrewsbury. A marvellous power
has this divine message, vindicating its own character as
" worthy of all acceptation " by the fact of its ordinary
history !
We read in the records of the Baptist Church at
Broadmead, that " there were raised uj) divers holy and
powerful ministers and preachers, in and about this time,
in the nation ; whereof, in these parts, was one Mr. Wroth,
iu Monmouthshire, not far from this city of Bristol, who
for the pow^erfulness and efficaciousness of his preaching,
with the exemplary holiness of his life, was called the
Apostle of Wales; for the Papists, and all sorts almost,
honoured him for a holy man."
Mr. Wroth was educated at Oxford. About the year
1620, he became convinced of the vanity of all earthly
pleasures by the sudden death of a friend, and thenceforth
devoted himself with great success to the ministry of the
Word. He was instrumental in the conversion of numbers,
during a long series of years, and retained, through trouble
and calm alike, the reputation of holiness and wisdom.*
* Broadmead Records, p. 7.
A.D. 1602-1G48 ] JAMES I. CHARLES I. 197
The same record gives us a pleasing picture of the
religious habits of some of the good citizens' wives of
Bristol ; — how they met to repeat sermon-notes ; how
they kept days of prayer together ; how they grew in
humility, spirituality, and faith ; how, for twenty years,
they went on increasing in numbers and influence, until
their gatherings became a mark for persecution.
Dr. Harris, for forty years, from about 1600, was
preacher at Hanwell, near Oxford ; and he, with Mr.
Wheatley, at Banbury, established preaching services on
market and on festival days, to which multitudes resorted ;
upon which the biographer of these worthies observes, in
his quaint style,— "In these days godly preachers stuffed
not their sermons with airy notions and curious specu-
lations, but sought out profitable matter, which they
delivered in sound words, and in plain method of doctrine,
reason and use, accommodating themselves to every man's
capacity ; and G-od gave them a plentiful harvest in that
country." *
The same divine lectured at Stratford-on-Avon every
other week, "to which there was a great resort both of
the chief gentry, and choicest preachers and professors in
those parts ; and amongst them, that noble and learned
knight, Sir Thomas Lucy, of Charlecote, had always a
great respect for him."
As Shakspeare lived in his native town, in the well-
earned enjoyment of the competency wdiich had raised
him to the position of one of its chief inhabitants, from
about 1603 to the time of his death in 1616, it is more
* Clarke's Tea Lives, p. 285.
198 JAMES I. CHARLES I. [a.d. 1602-1648.
than probable that he listened ^vith Sir Thomas Lucy
to the excellent knowledge of Christ, and Him crucified,
which the sermons of Dr. Harris contained. We have
not the exact date of the lecture at Stratford ; but there
were frequent exchanges, and public occasions, on which
about this time Dr. Harris preached at Stratford and the
neighbouring towns, besides his own constant services at
Hanwell, a few miles off.* Dr. Harris was a considerable
man in the neighbourhood, well known and much sought
after by educated people, as well as others. There were
also many in the same locality at that time distinguished as
Puritan preachers within the Established Church ; — such
as Mr. Dods, " the fittest man in England for a pastoral
office ;" Mr. Cleaver, " a very solid text-man ;" Mr.
Lancaster, a humble able scholar, by birth a good gentle-
man, by training Fellow of King's College, and yet a
diligent, faithful village preacher, with .£40 a year ; Mr.
Scudder and Mr. Whately. Concerning Mr. Lancaster,
Clarke writes, — " "When 1 was young, I knew this Mr.
Lancaster : he was a very little man of stature, but
e^ninent, as for other things, so especially for his living by
faith. His charge being great and his means so small,
his wife would many times come to him, when she was to
send her maid to Banbury market to buy provisions, and
tell him that she had no money. His usual answer was,
' Yet send your maid, and God will provide.' And though
she had no money, yet she never returned empty ; for one
* Dr. Harris frequently had his will altered, but in the altera-
tions preserved this legacy : * ' Item — I bequeath to all my children,
and to their children's children, to each of them a Bible, Avith
this inscription — None hut CJmst."
.D. lf;02-lP48.]
JAMES I. CHARLES I. 199
or anotlier knew her to be Mr. Lancaster's maid ; either
by the way or in Banbury town meeting her, would
give her money which still supplied their present wants."*
Amidst the graphic portraitures furnished by the
biographers of that age, we may find many instances ol
men and women devoting themselves in their households,
to noble purposes, in training their children for God and
their country, in spite of the Court influence which had
now become hostile to both.
After the year 1600, we read of personal piety within
the inclosure of the visible Church, growing to such an
extent as to burst the limits prescribed by the ritualism
of the former. The Broadmead record states, that at
this time "those whose hearts God had touched would
get together and pray, repeat their sermon-notes, and
upon the Lord's-day would carefully sanctify the Christian
Sabbath, and perform other such acts of living piety ; as
when they could hear of any minister that did savour of
God, or of the power of godliness, they would flock to
him as doves to the windows ; for which they wei-e
branded with the name of Puritans." Preachers and
teachers sprang up to supply the demand for religious
progression. Some of the evangelical clergymen who
had been suspended by Laud, other men who had earned
amongst their neighbours a reputation for ability with
more or less of scholarship, came forward as leaders of
the assemblies which in England and Wales now
gathered, in spite of the law, and formed centres of
spiritual influence throughout the land.
* Clarke's Ten Lives, p. 281.
.200 JAMES I. — CHARLES I. [a.d 1G02-1648.
Tlie patronage of irreligion afFordecl by tlie Court of
James I. produced division throughout the country,
rendering it necessary for persons of the more godly sort
to avow their principles, and act openly upon them, whilst
those who had no sympathy with personal religion began
freely to deride it. Thus in the village of Eaton Con-
stantine, near Shrewsbury, in which Baxter was at this
time born (1615), there was scarcely the face of religion
left. Not a sermon was to be heard from year to year.
The service was run over cui^sorily; and the congregation
adjourned to the village green, and spent the rest of the
day in dancing round the May-pole. But the time spent
by others in dancing, " his father employed in reading
and praying in his family, and recommending holy life.
He put him upon a careful reading the historical part of
Scripture, wliich being delightful to him, made him in
love with the Bible ; and his serious speeches of God and
the life to come possessed him with a fear of sinning ;
so that he became the first instrument of his hearty
approbation of a holy life. He found his father reproached
for his singularity, and that much affected him. The
profane crew derided him as a Puritan."* Young Baxter
was no better than others, and particularly partial to
robbing orchards. After an expedition of this kind, he
found an old torn book which a labourer had lent to his
good father. It was a Catholic book of personal repentance,
written by Father Parsons, a Jesuit, but altered and edited
by a Puritan minister, and called " Bunny's Resolutions."
The reading this treatise convinced him of the folly and
* Calamy's Baxter, p. 5.
A.D. 1602-1648.3 JAMES I. — CHARLES I. 201
wickedness of sin. A pedler afterwards brought to his
father's door Dr. Sibbes's "Bruised E-eed." This com-
pleted the process. He found the Great Physician, and
thenceforward rejoiced in a lively, grateful apprehension
of the love of Christ.
The bent of most of the leading thoughtful minds of
the age was towards religion. In 1620, Sibbes, the
pungent, earnest preacher, used to ride up weekly from
Cambridge, where he lectured, to Gray's Inn, where he
was the preacher. Not only did the learned lawyers
crowd to listen to him, but many noble personages, many
of the gentry and citizens, resorted to the chapel, and
lived to confess with o-ratitude their oblie^atious to the
Christian orator. Preston, a divine* of similar earnestness
and pathos, was at the same time preaching with much
acceptance at Lincoln's Inn. Many of the goodly folios of
Puritanical literature we owe to the laborious pens of noble
ladies, who were accomplished in the art of taking " sermon-
notes," then fashionable, and used it on such occasions.
There were many ardent spirits who were dissatisfied
with the slow progress made in the diffusion of Scriptural
truth after the Reformation, some from political discontent,
othei'S from pure zeal for the honour of Christ. Milton
expresses their view^s in his own sonorous, musical fashion :
— " The pleasing pursuit of these thoughts h-ith ofttimes
led me into a serious question and debatement with
myself, how it should come to pass that England (having
had this grace and honour from God, to be the first that
should set up a standard for the recovery of lost truth,
and blow the first evangelic trumpet to the nations,
202 JAMES I. CHARLES I. [a d. lC02-l64a
holding u]), as from a hill, the new lamp of saving light
to all Christendom,) should now be the last, and most
unsettled in the enjoyment of that peace whereof she
taught the way' to others ; although, indeed, onrWycIiffe's
preaching, at which all the succeeding reformers more
effectually lighted their tapers, was to his countrymen
bat a short blaze, soon damped and stifled by the Pope
and prelates for six or seven kings' reigns ; yet, methinks,
the precedency which God gave this island, to be first
restorer of buried truth, should have been followed with
more happy success, and sooner attained perfection."*
We have before seen that the historical origin of
Nonconformity can be carried back to the commencement
of the Reformation. The worthy men who distrusted
King Henry, and were not satisfied with his clumsy via
media, fled beyond seas. They differed among themselves
concerning doctrines, but they agreed in holding the
rights of conscience to be superior to the demands of the
magistrate ; whilst Cranmer and his asso iates weathered
out the tempest of the king's tyranny, under the impres-
sion that God's glory would be promoted by their accepting
such liberty as they could get, and conforming. Looking
at the issues of things, we commend the voluntary exiles ;
but in all history there have been numerous examples of
persons who, with the best possible intentions and
motives, and with equal personal J^iety, have judged it
to be their duty to accept a settlement which left the
attainment of their highest desires still a long way off.
The principle which actuated the exiles of the Refor-
* Treatise of the Reformation.
A.D. 1C02-1648.] JAMES T. CHARLES I. 203
mation may be traced back into old LoUardism, and
thence back into the personal resolve of the solitary-
protester of earlier days still. A firm grasp of the
foundation truth of individual trust in the promise and
work of God for the human soul, leads to the asser-
tion of the paramount right that this same conviction
should be respected at all cost, and maintained against
all comers.
This re-introduces us into the painful portion of our
history, — that which deals with the oppressions exercised
towards the advanced reformers, by those who accepted as
final, the system of doctrine and discipline patronized by
the Court and endowed by the State. John Canne, the
laborious author of the reference Bible which bears his
name, whilst in banishment for Nonconformity in 1634,
thus describes the new difiiculties which beset the path
of conscientious godly men who chose in religious matters
to think for themselves : — " Notwithstanding those called
Puritans, which will not observe their traditions and
beggarly ceremonies, shall be hurried up and down to
their spiritual courts upon every occasion, and there be
scorned, derided, taunted, and reviled with odious and
contumelious speeches, eyed with big and stern looks,
have proctors procured to make personal invectives
ao^ainst them : made to dance attendance from court
to court, and from term to term, frowning at them in
presence, and laughing at them behind their backs,
never leaving molesting of them till they have emptied
their purses, or caused them to make shipwreck of their
consciences, or driven them out of the land ; or, lastly,
204 JAMES 1. CHARLES I. [a.d. 1602-1618.
by imprisonment, starved, stifled, and pined them to
death/' *
The original Nonconformists were clergymen within
the Church of England, who simply ol3Jected to the pre-
latical and other ceremonies with which it was re-esta-
blished by Queen Elizabeth. The term never indicated
any dissent from its doctrines or State position. Its
historical sense is quite different from the popular modern
meaning which it conveniently expresses. This is veiy
apparent in the biographies of good Mr. Clarke. He
thus writes of John Carter, vicar of Bramhall, who sus-
tained a holy life and useful evangelical ministry through
the troubles of his day, and died before the Act of
Uniformity : — " He was sound and orthodox in his judg-
ment ; an able and resolute champion against all manner
of Popery and Arminianism ; as also against AnOf-
haptism and Brownism, which did then begin to peep
up, and infest tlie Church, to tear and rent the seamless
coat of Christ. He was always a Nonconformist — one of
the good old Puritans of England. He never swallowed
any of the prelafcical ceremonies against his conscience ; so
tliat he was often troubled with the bishops. But God
raised him up friends that always brought him off and
maintained his liberty." t
But religion is happily ever independent of all names
and sects. There were at this time several persons of
wealth and station who were occupied in promoting the
work of evangelization. Such was Lady Bowes, the
* Caune's Necessity of Separation, p. 160.
t Clarke's Ten Lives, p. 4.
A.D. 1602-1648.] JAMES I. CHARLES I. 205
widow of Sir Benjamin Bowes, of Barnard Castle, who
spent a thousand pounds annually in maintaining
preachers whom she selected and sent into districts
devoid of gospel-teaching.
In 1627, a scheme was originated, and a common fund
raised by subscription in London, to maintain lecturers
in jDopulous places similarly bereft. This was well sup-
ported, and extended to the buying-up of advowsons for
the same object ; but Archbishop Laud considered the
scheme as too favourable to the growth of Puritanism,
and got an information filed and decree pronounced by
the Court of Exchequer, cancelling the association, con-
fiscating by forfeiture to the Crown the impropriations
already purchased, and fining the trilstees personally.
We get a beautiful sketch of Herbert at Bemerton : —
his service twice a day in the chapel of his parsonage ;
his congregation made up of gentlemen from the neigh-
boiu'hood, as well as his own parisliioners ; the husband-
men in the fields around letting their ploughs rest when
they heard Mr. Herbert's bell ring to prayers, that they
might ofier their devotions with him, and then return to
the plough.
Scarcely less beautiful is the picture of the poet-priest
on his deathbed, delivering to his friend the MS. of his
volume, now called " The Temple, " — saying, — " Sir,
pray deliver this little book to my brother Farrer ; and
tell him he shall find in it a picture of the many spiritual
conflicts that have passed betwixt God and my soul, before
I could subject mine to the will of Jesus, my Master, in
whose service I have now found perfect freedom. Desire
206
JAMES I. CHARLES I. [ad. 1G02-1C48.
liiin to read it ; and then if lie think it may turn to the
advantage of any dejected poor soul, let it be made public :
if not, let him burn it, for I and it are less than the least
of God's mercies." On the day of his death, he said to
another friend, — " My dear friend, I am sorry I have
nothing to present to my merciful God but sin and misery :
but the first is pardoned, and a few hours will put a
period to the latter." His friend took occasion to remind
him of his many acts of mercy; to which he made
answer, — "They be good works if they be sprinkled
with the blood of Christ, and not otherwise." He died
realizing his own sweet utterance, —
"Who goeth in the way which Christ has gone,
Is much more sure to meet with Him, than one
That travelleth by-ways.
Perhaps my God, though He be far before,
May turn, and take me by the hand, — and, more,
May strengthen my decays. " *
The most outlandish parts of England were now being
penetrated by evangelical labour. What Bernard Gilpin
and Eothwell had done in the North of Enoknd, Bag-
shaw did for the Peak of Derbyshire, Yavasour Powel
and Hugh Owen for Wales, Machin in the moorlands of
Staffordshire, Tregoss in Cornwall.
In 1625 was the commencement of a revival in the
West of Scotland, which illuminated a large district, and
originated piety in some who conferred signal benefit on
the Church in years long afterwards.!
In the early part of King Charles's reign, there was at
Wotton, in Gloucestershire, a gathering of young persons,
* The Temple, Ixii. f See GiUies, vol. i., p. 306.
.D. 1602-1«48.]
JAMES I. CHARLES I. 207
who used to meet for religious instruction. Joseph
Woodward, a graduate of Oxford, master of the free
school at Wotton, joined the society, and became eminent
at Dursley for his evangelical labours. As he went
to church, the people would be waiting at the street-
doors of their houses, and fell into procession, so as to
accompany the good man, whom they had begun with
reviling, and ended with loving. He died before the Act
of Uniformity.
To this period, too, belongs the nursing of John Eliot,
that great apostolic spirit Avho wa« to become the admira-
tion of future ages as the pioneer of mission-work among
the heathen. In 1628, Thomas Hooker, a Fellow of
Emmanuel College, Cambridge, and lecturer at Chelms-
ford, had been worried out of the ministry by Laud, and
was keeping a school at Little Baddow, in Essex.. He
was joined by a young Essex man, also a Cambridge
scholar, named Eliot, who came to be his assistant, and
who writes—" To this place was I called through the
infinite riches of God's mercy in Christ Jesus to my poor
soul ; for here the Lord said unto my dead soul. Live !
live ! and through the grace of God I do live, and I
shall live for ever !" Eliot followed his master to North
America, where, moved by the lamentable condition of
the Indian tribes, he wrote a tractate entitled " The Day-
breaking of the Gospel," and took other effective means
of drawing public attention to the subject of their evan-
gelization, acquired their language, and thenceforward
devoted all his long life to the work of preaching the
Gospel as an itinerant missionary of the Cross. He
208 JAMES I. CHARLES I.
[A.D. 1602-1648.
scorned tlie notion that eitlier the Red skin, or the Negro,
lay under any inherent disqualification for the Gospel,
and he soon produced ample proofs of its triumphs over
all the barriers of race and country. The fire which sus-
tained the heroic evangelist amidst the forests of the
New World, was first kindled under the Laudean perse-
cutions in Old England.
The home missionary spirit is, at the same time, thus
indicated by Sibbes, in 1633 : — "And if it were possible,
it were to be wished, that there were set up some lights
in all the dark corners of the kingdom, that might shine
to those people that sit in darkness and in the shadow of
death." *
There were at the time, a great number of godly
preachers, both among those who had been deprived by
the late Queen's injunction, and those who had escaped
these trials. The "Book of Sports," with its sur-
rounding circumstances, was never accepted by the jDeople
generally in lieu of religion. Family and personal piety
was observed and honoured, laborious evangelical minis-
ters valued and followed. The student of history who
will be satisfied with the records of the quiet lives of
hard-working ministers, or who will be interested in the
kindling of religious feeling in a family or neighbourhood,
may still discover much material in the biographies of
good men who finished their course in the first half of
the seventeenth century, before the political troubles
came to a crisis.t Such men were Baines, Stock, Eoth-
* The Saint's Safety in Evil Times.
t See Clarke's Lives ; Gillies' Historical Collections.
fc.B. 1602-1618.] JAMES I. — CHAKLES I. 209
well. Herbert (famous in another field also), Bolton,
Taylor, Sibbes, and others.
Roth well, in the beginning of his career, was a clergy-
man without any true sense of religion. What follows
will give a picture of the times : —
" I shall set it down as I remember I heard him speak it.
He was playing at bowls amongst some Papists and vain
gentlemen, upon a Saturday, somewhere about Rochdale
in Lancashire. There comes into the green to him one
Mr. Midgley, a grave and godly minister of Rochdale,
whose praise is great in the Gospel, though far inferior
to Rothwel in parts and learning. He took him aside,
and fell into a larofe commendation of him : at lengtli told
him what pity it was that such a man as he should be a
companion to Papists, and that upon a Saturday, when
he should be preparing for the Sabbath. Mr. Rothwel
slighted his words, and checked him for his meddling.
The good old man left him, went home, and prayed pri-
vately for him. Mr. Rothwel, when he was retired from
that company, could not rest, Mr, Midgley's words stuck
so deep in his thoughts. The next day he went to Roch-
dale church to hear Mr. Midgley, where it pleased God to
bless that ordinance so, as Mr. Rothwel was by that sermon
brought home to Christ. He came after sermon to Mr.
Midgley, thanked him for his reproof, and besought his
direction and prayers ; for he was in a miserable condi-
tion, as being in a natural state. He lay for a time
under the spirit of bondage, 'till afterwards, and by
Mr. Midgley's hands, he received the spirit of adoption ;
where witli he was so sealed, that in the after part of his
P
'210 JAMES I. — CHARLES I.
[A.D. 1602-1648.
life he never lost his assurance. Though he was a man
subject to many temptations, the devil very often assault-
ing him, yet God was mightily with him, so that of his
own experience, he was able to comfort many. He
esteemed Mr. Midgley ever after as his spiritual father.
"He now becomes another man, — forsakes all his wonted
courses and companions, preaches in another manner than
formerly, opens the depths of Sa.tan and deceitfulness of
the heaii;, so as he was called the ' Rough Hewer.' His
ministry was so accompanied with the power of God, that
when he preached the law he made men tremble, — yea,
sometimes to cry out in the church ; and when he preached
the Gospel, he was another Barnabas, and had great skill
in comforting afflicted consciences. At his first entrance
he had great oj^position, and sometimes was waylaid to
take away his life ; but he overcame all that with his
patience and courage, and at length his greatest enemies
were afraid of him ; and he preached few sermous but it
was believed he gained some souls. His manner was to
S[)end the forenoon at his studies, and the afternoon in
going through his parish and conferring with his people ;
in which as he excelled, so he gained much u})on them,
and within four years had so many judicious and experi-
mental Christians, that people came from London, York,
Richmond, j^ewcastle, and many other places to see the
order of his congregation." *
It cannot be questioned that, Vv'ith all this prosperity,
the outward form and the inward spirit of religion were
again on the point of becoming dissevered The ten-
* Clarke's Lives.
A.D. 1602-1«8.J JAMES I. — CHARLES I. 211
dency of the Court and Government was decidedly hostile.
But it was too late for Christ's cause in England to be
blotted out by political movements. The effort to make
ritualism under Laud the characteristic of the State
church, unhappily was effectual ; but it went no further.
No effort could be successful to render it, among the
masses, a substitute for evangelical religion. The attempt
was made, and ended in the ruin of the projectors.
Again the people felt that the concerns of eternity were
at stake, and they acted accordingly. The sixth article
of the London Petition of Grievances made to the Par-
liament, shows what the commonalty thought of these
things : — " VI. The great encrease of idle, lewd, and
dissolute, ignorant and erroneous men in the ministry,
Avhich swarme like the locusts of Egypt over the whole
kingdom ; and will they but wear a canonicall coat, a
surplisse, a hood, bow at the name of Jesus, and be
zealous of superstitious ceremonies, they may live as they
list, confront whom they please, preach and vent what
errours they will, and neglect preaching at their pleasures,
without controul."
The great outworking of the personal religious life of
England, continued to spring from the free use of the
Scrij^tures by the people at large. It cannot be too often
repeated, that at this period the bulk of the current
national literature was composed of sound divinity.
The practice of intelligent piety was the most general
pursuit. For one instance, amongst hundreds, we turn
to the picture given us by Mrs. Hutchinson, of the house-
hold of her mother, the wife of Sir Arthur Apsley,
212 JAMES I. CHARLES I. [a.d. 1602-1648.
governor of the Tower : ~ " The worsliip and service of
God, both in her soul and in her house, and the educa-
tion of her children, were her principal care. She was a
constant frequenter of week-day lectures, and a great
lover and encourager of good ministers, and most diligent
in her private reading and devotions." Such was the
training of the men of that age. It fostered a faith
which was the persuasion of the whole moral nature.
Another sketch, taken from St. Mary's at Oxford,
when Usher was preaching there before Charles I. in the
beginning of the Civil War, will show how the piety of
the family was succeeded by that of the college.
" The persuasion of Armagh's incomparable learning,"
they say, "the observation of his awful gravity, the
evidence of his eminent and exemplary piety, all im-
proved to the height by his indefatigable industry, drew
students to flock to him, as doves to the windows. It
joys us to recollect how midtitudes of scholars, especially
the heads of our tribes, thronged to hear the sound of
hifj silver bells; how much they were taken with the
voice of this wise charmer — how their ears seemed, as it
were, fastened to his lips. Here you might have seen a
sturdy Paul, a persecutor transformed into a preacher ;
there is a tender-hearted Josiah lamenting after the
Lord, and with Ephraim smiting on his thigh, saying,
'What have I done?' Others, with the penitent Jews
so stabbed to the heai-t as they were forced to cry out in
the bitterness of their soul, ' Men, brethren, and fathers,
what shall we do V These were some of the blessings
from on hmh which attended his sermons."
A.D. 1602-1648.] JAMES I. CHARLES I. 213
The poetry continues to dis2:>lay the deep spiritual tinge
of tlie Elizabethan age. How beautiful is the sentiment
of tlie following lines from Francis Quarles, published
in 1642 !—
" Even as the needle, that directs the hour,
Touch'd with the loadstone, by the secret power
Of hidden nature, points upon the Pole ;
Even so the wavering powers of my soid,
Touch'd by the virtue of Thy Spirit, flee
From what is earth, and point alone to Thee.
When I have faith to hold Thee by the hand,
I walk securely, and methinks I stand
More firm than Atlas."
The early Puritans, doubtless, in .domestic life carried
too far their profound convictions of the paramount
importance of manifested religion at all times and in
all places. Yet the result in many instances was the
production of characters and actions of the highest value.
Oliver Hey wood, who was born in 1612, tells iis that
at a very early age, his mother was accustomed to instruct
him " in the deep points of divinity — the fall in Adam,
the corruption of our nature, subjection to the cui'se,
redemption by Christ, the necessity of regeneration, the
immoi-tality and worth of the soul, the weight and con-
cernment of eternity."* She used the catechism of the
famous Puritan schoolmaster, Mr. John Ball; set him to
pray in the family, bade him attend the frequent religious
conferences held at his father's house, took him to hear
the most celebrated preachers in the country round,
* Life of Oliver Heywood, p. 31.
214 JAMES I. — CHARLES I.
[A.D. 1602-164S.
required liim to bring home notes of their discourses,
and gave him to read Luther and Calvin, with the
works of Perkins, Preston, and Sibbes. His mother was
noted for ability as well as piety, and was an oracle
concerning the time and place of week-day sermons and
religious intelligence. At the age of fourteen, young
Heywood began to receive the communion in the parish
church, and joined a small society of young men who
were accustomed to meet together once a fortnight for
religious conversation and prayer. It is not to be
wondered at that this training, when accompanied by
the blessing of God (which it was calculated to bring),
resulted in the formation of manly Christian character.
Personal religion had also reached the high places of
the land. The piety of Lord Falkland, of Lord Brooke,
and several of the conspicuous men of the day, was of the
most thorough kind. They lived, acted, and spoke for
God. True, the domestic exhibitions of family religion
appear to us to have been unduly strict and severe.
They, doubtless, were so ; but it was an error which
shows the high estimation in which piety was then held.
In the memoir of Lettice, Lady Falkland, the details of
her ordinary routine of daily life are as follows : — "First,
she spent some hours every day in her private devotions
and meditations; and these were called, I remember, by
her family, her busy hours. Then her maids came into
her chamber early every morning, and ordinarily she
passed about an howr with them, in praying, and cate-
chizing, and instructing them. To these secret and private
praiers, the publick morning and evening praiers of the
*..D. 1602-1648 ] JAMES I. CHARLES I. 215
Clmrch, before dinner and supper, and another form,
together with reading Scriptures and singing psalms, be-
fore bed-time, were daily and constantly added. Neither
were these holy offices appropriate to her menial servants ;
others came freely to joyn with them, and her oratory
was as open to the neighbors as her Hall was."*
The representative men of the best religious life of the
age are, however, not only or chiefly to be discovered
on the surface of history, but in obscure records, cherished
by a few, who hold in reverence memories wholly slighted
by the general public The name of Heniy Jessey will
serve as an instance. He was a Yorkshireman, bom in
1601, educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where,
amidst considerable attainments id human knowledge,
he also attained the more excellent divine knowledge of
Christ, as his Saviour and friend. After li\'ing for nine
years with Mr. Gurward, in Suffolk, £is domestic chaplain,
he obtained a living in the year 1633, but in the fol-
lowing year was ejected for neglecting the rubric and
removing a crucifix. He then became chaplain to Sir
Matthew Birnton, who brought him to London, where
he took charge of a congregation of Protestant dissenters,
originally formed in 1616 by Mr. Henry Jacob. Several
of the congregation becoming Baptists, Mr. Jessey, after
two or three years' attention to the subject, and conference
with his ministerial brethren, also espoused and publicly
avowed the doctrine of baptism of believers only, and
* "A Letter containing many remarkable Passages in the most
holy Life and Death of the late Lady Lettice, Viscountess Falk-
land." ]64a
216 JAMES I. CHARLES I. [a.d. 1602-1648.
that hj immersion. '* But," says his biogi^apher, "notwith-
standing his differing from his brethren in this or any
other point, he maintained the same Christian love and
charity to all saints as before, not only as to a friendly
conversation, but also in resj^ect of church communion.
He had always some of the Psedo-baptist persuasion, and
blamed those who made their particular opinion about
baptism the boimdary of church communion. He pub-
lished the reasons of his opinion in this case ; and when
he travelled through the north and west parts of England
to visit the churches, he made it his principal business to
excite them to love and union among themselves, not-
withstanding their differing from one another in some
opinions ; and was also the principal person that set np,
and preserved for some time, a meeting at London of
some eminent men of each denomination, in order to
maintain peace and union among those Christians that
differed not fundamentally; and this catholic spirit pro-
cured him the love and esteem of the good men of all
parties." *
He was famous, too, as a student of the Hebrew (at a
time when this study was rare), of the Greek, Syriac, and
Chaldaic; for his efforts for the Jews, and for foreigners
in general ; for his own charities, and his public urgency
in favour of benevolence. On the Restoration, he was
ejected from a living which he had held under the
Commonwealth; was thrown into prison (in spite of his
goodness) for his nonconformity, and there died at the
age of sixty-three, in the year 1663, beloved and
* Crosby's "History of English Baptists," vol. i., p. 312.
A.D. 1602-1648.]
JAMES I. CHARLES I. 217
lamented by all, as a man of rare learning, piety,
moderation, diligence in doing good, and catholicity of
spirit. He was an accomplislied, devout Christian
gentleman.
An amusing incident in the history of the Pilgrim-
Fathers serves to illustrate the general religious habit of
the men whom evil legislation was now banishing from
our shores. John Fisk, a pious graduate of Cambridge,
escaped in disguise with another Puritan preacher, and
embarked for New England. When the ship had passed
the Land's End, they "made themselves known, and
entertained the passengers with two sermons every day,
besides other devotional exercises. Indeed, the whole
voyage was so much devoted to the * exercises of religion,
tliat when one of the passengers was accused of diverting
himself with the hook and line on the Lord's day, he
protested, saying, "I do not know which is the Lord's
day. I think eveiy day is a Sabbath day; for you do
nothing but preach and pray all the week long."*
In November, 1640, a respectable prebendary of
Durham, Mr. Peter Smart, dared to preach against the
ritualistic ceremonies then being engrafted on the cathe-
dral service at Durham by Dr. Cosins. He was perse-
cuted, tried, defended himself on the ground of the
Prayer-book, Articles, and Homilies, — but all in vain:
he was heavily fined aud imprisoned, untU released by
the Long Parliament. We get a glimpse of the family
piety from the following letter, written to him by his
wife whilst he was in prison : —
* Brook: from Mather's "History of New England."
218 JAMES I. CHARLES I.
[A.D. 1602-1648.
" Most loving and dearly beloved Husband,
" Tlie grace and blessing of God be with yon, even as
unto mine owne soule and body, so do I dayly in my
harty prayer wish unto you and my children; for I doe
dayly twise, at the least, in this sort remember you. And
I do not doubte, deere husband, but that both you and I,
as we be written in the booke of life, so we shall together
enjoy the saime everlastingly, throught the saveing gi'ace
and mercy of God, our deare Father, in his Soonne our
Christ : and for this present life, let us wholly appointe
ourselves to the will of our God, to glorifie him, whether
by life or by death ; and even that mercifull Lord make
us worthy to honor him either way, as pleaseth him,
Amen. Ye what great cause of rejoysing have we in our
most gratious God, we can not but brust fourth into the
prasing of such a bountiful! God, which maide you worthy
to suffer for his name and worde saike : for it is given to
you of God, not only that ye should believe in him ; but
also, that ye should suffer for his saik. 1 Peter, 4, 5. Yf
ye suffer rebuke in the name of Christ, that is, in Christ's
cause, for his truths sake, then ar ye happy and blessed;
for the glory of the Spirit of God resteth upon you, and
therefore rejoice in the Lord, end againe I say rejoice;
for the distresed church doth yet suffer dayly thinges for
her mortification, and for this cause, is contemned and
despised. But alas ! if thy servant David, if thine onely
Soone our Christ livede in shame and contempt, and
weere a moking stocke for the people ; whie should not
we then patiently suffer all things, that we might enter
into glory, through many troubles, vexations, shame, and
1.J). 1602-1648.]
JAMES I. CHARLES I. 219
ignominy, &c. 1 — The blessing of God be with all, Amen,
pray, pray. — Your loving and faithful! wife untill death,
" Susanna Smart." *
Whatever differences of opinion may exist as to the
political qualities of Puritanism, there ought to be none
as to the reality and depth of the personal religious
conviction which lay at its base. Setting aside from
the observers all those who are wilfully prejudiced, and
from the observed all those who are obviously mere
shallow dissemblers, the judgment must be unanimous
in favour of the reality, heartiness, truth, and power of
the life of God in their souls. The religion which they
professed, the interpretation of Scripture which they
received, the views of duty which they carried out, were
all grounded on the idea of a transaction between God
and the individual soul. The work of Christ, the
covenant of grace, the promises of Scripture, all had
respect to the individual believer. The abuse of this
sentiment led to spiritual pride and fanaticism ; but its
more frequent use led to the manifestation of some of the
grandest characters and actions the world ever saw.
* "Illustrations of Neal," p. 61.
CHAPTEE XIII.
'^Tftc Commonlntaltfi.
After the free publication of the Holy Scriptures in the
days of Elizabeth, and during the long interval of peace
which prevailed in her reign, and in that of her unwarlike
successor, we have seen that there Tvas a great spread and
growth of individual personal piety. Silently, but surely,
the leaven worked ; and though many circumstances re-
pressed its outward action, yet the formation of evan-
gelical sentiments and the inculcation of evangelical
knowledge became exceedingly prevalent, and with these
a large underlying mass of sincere godliness. This is
shown by the sudden disclosure made by the troubles of
the Commonwealth. No sooner does the strife begin,
than there come to the front rank, on both sides, men,
whose high j^rinciple was sustained by the inner action
of a religious life. Nowhere on the page of history do we
find so much individuality of character, — nowhere such
a solemn realization of the maxim, " No man liveth unto
himself" They,
" Like a watch-tow'r on the steep of fame,
Shower light upon the sons of distant days. " *
* Camoeus.
A.D. 1648-1G60.
THE COMMONWEALTH. 221
One canse of this lustre of personal religion was the
necessity then created for the formation and avowal of
individual conviction. In the great political strife now
commencing, neutrality was impossible. Religion un-
derlaid all the questions of the day. The mind of
every person was compelled, by the surrounding circum-
stances, to act in an elective manner. Many chose their
side, whether for Crown or Commonwealth, under the
influence of the highest motives, professedly for the highest
ends ; and thus were formed the sterling characters which
dignify this important period of our history.
So it was with the great theologian Dr. Owen. Whilst
quite destitute of evangelical light, as he states, he had
at Oxford to choose betw^een the two rising parties. He
espoused that cause which he conceived to have the right
on its side, though at the cost of the forfeiture of all his
worldly prospects. At this juncture, too, he made another
choice : he struggled to obtain peace in his soul, which he
felt that he needed. Clouds and darkness suiTounded his
path both socially and spiritually. At this time, says his
biographer, " he accompanied a cousin to Aldermanbury
Church, to hear Mr. Edmund Calamy, a man of great note
for his eloquence as a preacher, and for his boldness as a
leader of the Presbyterian party. By some circumstance,
unexplained, Mr. Calamy was prevented from preaching
that day : in consequence of which, and of not knowing
who was to preach, many left the church. Owen's cousin
urged him to hear Mr. Jackson, the minister of St.
Michael's, Wood-street,— a man of prodigious application as
a scholar, and of considerable celebrity as a preacher. Owen,
222 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 1618-1660.
however, being seated, and unwilling to walk further,
refused to leave the church until he should see who was
to preach. At last, a country minister, unknown to the
congregation, stepped into the pulpit, and, after praying
very fervently, took for his text Matt. viii. 26, ' Why are
ye fearful, 0 ye of little faith V The very reading of
the text appears to have impressed Owen, and led him to
pray most earnestly that the Lord would bless the discourse
to him. The prayer was heard ; for, in that sermon, the
minister was directed to answer the very objections which
he commonly brought against himself ; and though the
same answei-s had often occurred to him, they had not
before afforded him any relief But now Jehovah's time
of mercy had arrived, and the truth was received, not as
the word of man, but as the word of the living and true
God. The sermon was a very plain one ; the preacher
never known ; but the effect was mighty, through the
blessing of God." *
Owen was born in 1616, the year of the death of good
Mr. Jacob, who organized the first Congregational church
in England.
The extensive development of religion at this time
cannot be questioned. Illustrious instances are there,
in proof of this, on both sides of the national dispute.
Allowing the utmost that can be claimed as a drawback
on the score of that hypocrisy which always dogs success,
there remains a vast amount of real, enlightened, devout,
fervid religious life. Piety was in those days a manly
pursuit. Virtuous lives and heroic actions abounded.
* Orme's Life of Owen, p. 27.
1 D. 16-13-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 223
The army of the Commonwealth especially bore testimony .
to the prevalence of real religion, notwithstanding the
contemporaneous existence of much dissimulation.
The most famous religious council ever held in England
was that which met in Henry YII.'s Chapel on the 1st of
July, 1643, in obedience to an ordinance of the Parlia-
ment for the settlement of such a government in the
Church as should, by common consent, be considered agree-
able to God's holy word, and might be enforced through-
out the kingdom. If these objects, so long and ardently
sought for by statesmen, were in their nature capable of
attainuient consistently with the so\ind action of the
powers by which they are arrived at, surely they would
now have been accomplished. But the protracted labours
of the wise, pious, and able men who constituted the great
majority of the Westminster Assembly were all in vain.
They have left no trace in the religious life of England,
and but little record in our literature, save the excellent
catechism which bears the name of the Assembly. This
great attempt to fix for a nation an inflexible type of faith
and worship, was a total failure.
The progress of time rolls away the mists which fre-
quently cloud Divine dispensations during their transit.
We can now plainly perceive, that, such was the temper
of the dominant sects during the Commonwealth, that all
the severe discipline of subsequent reigns was needed to
induce clear views of the sacred rights of conscience. The
old reformers acted rightly ; but ^vhen they came to reason
the onatter^ they admitted false premises, and so their
theoretical views lagged behind their practical doings.
224 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. ieis-\m.
It took a century of persecution to institute true tolera-
tion, and a century more to inaugurate full freedom. Per-
petual strife, on all liands, appears to be tlie normal condi-
tion of Christ's kingdom on the earth,— so inveterate is
Satan's opposition. The latter is manifested in all depart-
ments of the work, whether in its individual or collective
advancement, in its relations to the world or to God. The
truces occurring in the course of the conflict are always
followed by a resumption of the everlasting hostility. In
religion alone, exploded errors of the past are revived by
the youth of successive generations.
We gladly escape from these considerations to the more
congenial task of delineating the traces of godliness apart
from the errors of the times.
The testimony given by Royalist writers to the reality
of the piety prevalent in CromwelFs army is remarkable.
Chilling-worth says — "I observed a great deal of piety in the
commanders and soldiers of the Parliament's army ; 1 con-
fess their discourse and behaviour do speak them Christans."
This was the army of which Lord Clarendon writes — "An
army to which victory is entailed, and, which, humanly
speaking, could hardly fail of conquest whithersoever it
should be led ; an army whose society and manners, whose
courage and success, make it famous and terrible over the
world." It was in this army that the colonels, including
Cromwell, conducted worship and preached.
The growth of this habit greatly shocked the Long Par-
liament, and served as the topic of many heavy diatribes
and light witticisms. It seemed intolerable that whilst all
public parties were occupying themselves with the concerns
JL.D. 1648-16G0.] THE commo:>J'\at:alth. 225
of religion, private individuals should take leave to do tlie
same. But so it was : pious laymen organized a lay mission
around London, and began to preach the Gospel to the
poor without any other authorization than their own con-
victions. This was a step as yet too far in advance : five
of the offenders were, in 1641, summoned to the bar of
the Lower House, and admonished to desist, under the
threat of serious j^enalties for the future.
The preceding age had quickened not only thought, but
emotion, on the subject of religion. The solid conviction
of the mind was accompanied by the affectionate persua
sion of the heart. The familiar correspondence of the day
shows with faithfulness sometimes ludicrous, the interest
taken in all things pertaining to worship. Preaching and
psalm-singing were the favourite occupations of all ranks of
the people. By the aid of Mrs. Hutchinson, we may look
into the cannoneer's chamber at Nottingham whilst Fairfax
lay there. It will illustrate what was going on throughout
the host. Presbyterianism was in the ascendant ; but the
good cannoneer was not of " that way." He held private
meetings in his own chamber, at which Scripture was
expounded, and exhortations given by himself and his
comrades.
We may obtain an accurate impression of the religious
character of this period by examining the numerous details
we possess of the inner life of Cromwell himself His own
private letters, written under circumstances which pre-
clude all idea of artifice, may be properly accepted as
exponents of his real character, and descriptive of the
surrounding circumstances.
Q
226 THE COMMONWEALTH. [i^-B. 1M8-I6ti0.
It was quite possible for him to have counterfeited in
the high phices of the world ; but in the unobserved current
of social every- day life, continued simulation is wholly
unimaginable: for private life is a reaction from public
life. The hypocrisy of the latter would be flung off in
the congenial ungodliness of the former. On the 17th
of July, 1650, whilst at Alnwick, marching northwards
with the army into Scotland, he Avrites to Mr. Mayer, the
father of Dorothy, his son Richard's wife : —
" I hope you give my son good counsel ; I believe he
needs it. He is in the dangerous time of his age; and
it's a very vain world. O how good it is to close with
Christ betimes ! — there is nothing else worth the looking
after. I beseech you, call upon him. I hope you w^ill
discharge my duty and your own love. You see how I
am employed. I need pit}^ I know what I feel. Great
place and business in the world is not worth the looking
after : I should have no comfort in mine, but that my
hope LS in the Lord's presence. I have not sought these
things; truly T have been called unto them by the Lord;
and therefore am not without some assurance that He
v.ill enable His poor worm and weak servant to do His
uill." *
The only letter extant of the Protector's wife to him-
self, is one written to him at Edinburgh on October 27th,
1G50. It cannot be understood without the assumption
that both were sincerely religious.
" I should rejoice to hear your desire in seeing me ;
but I desire to su])mit to the providence of God, hoping
* Carlyk's Cromwell, vol. iii., j). 13.
.D. 1648-1660.]
THE COMilOXWExiLTH. 227
the Lord, who hath separated us, and hath often brought
us together again, will, in His good time, bring us again,
to the praise of His name. Truly my life is but half
a life in your absence, did not the Lord make it up in
Himself, wliich I must acknowledge to the praise of
His grace." *
Cromwell's letters to Fleetwood are signally decisive
not only as to the genuineness of his religious affections,
but as to their sound and healthful character. On one
occasion of his writing, the Secretary commences the letter;
then Oliver takes up the pen himself, writes the page full,
then the margin, and then, in the full flow of his emotions,
turns the sheet roimd and fills every part of it.
" Salute your dear wife from me. Bid her beware of
a bondage spirit. Fear is the natural issue of such a
spirit ; — the antidote is Love. The voice of Fear is :
If I had done this, if I had avoided that, how well it
had been with me ! — I know this hath been her vain
reasoning.
" Love argiieth in this wise : What a Christ have I ;
what a Father in and through Him ! What a name
hath my Father : Merciful, gracious, long-suffering,
abundant in goodness and truth ; forgiving iniquity,
transgression and sin. What a nature hath my Father :
He is Love ; — free in it, unchangeable, infinite ! What
a covenant between Him and Christ, — for all the seed,
for every one : wherein He undertakes all, and the poor
soul nothing. The new covenant is Grace, to or upon
the soul; to which it, 'the soul,' is passive and receptive.
* Carlyle's Cromwell, vol. iii., p. 13G.
22S THE COMMONWEALTH. l^.d. 1648-1660.
I'll do away their sins ; Til ivrite my laio, d'c. ; I'll 2mt
it in their hearts : they shall never depart from me, (tc.
" This commends the love of God : it's Christ dying
for men without strength, for men whilst sinners, whilst
enemies. And shall we seek for the root of our comforts
within us, — What God hath done, what He is to us in
Christ, is the root of our comfort : in this is stability ;
in us is weakness. Acts of obedience are not perfect, and
therefore yield not perfect grace. Faith, as an act, yields
it not ; but ' only' as it carries us into Him, who is our
perfect rest and peace ; in whom we are accounted o:^
and received by, the Father, — even as Christ Himself.
This is our high calling. Rest we here, and here only."*
The dismissal of the little Parliament by the Protector
was mainly owing to his fears lest religion should suffer
from their intolerance.. This is explained in one of his
familiar letters to Fleetwood, proving that his actions, in
this respect, were not grounded on reasons of State, but
on a desire for the glory of God.
"Cockpit, 22nd August, 1G53.
"Dear Charles,
"Although I do not so often as is desired by me acquaint
you how it is with me, yet I doubt not of your prayers in
my behalf, that, in all things, I may walk as becometh
the Gospel.
" Truly I never more needed all helps from my Chris-
tian friends than now ! Fain would I have my service
accepted of the saints, if the Lord will ; but it is not
* Carlyle's Cromwell, vol iiL, p. 246.
L.B. 1648-1660.] THE COMMOXWEALTH. 229
SO. Being of different judgments, and ' those ' of each
sort seeking most to propagate their own, that spirit of
kindness that is to them all, is hardly accepted of any.
I hope I can say it, my life has been a willing sacrifice,
and, I hope, for them all. Yet it much falls out as when
the two Hebrews were rebuked : you know upon whom
they turned their displeasure !
" But the Lord is wise, and will, I trust, make mani-
fest that I am no enemy. Oh, how easy is mercy to be
abused ! Persuade friends with you to be very sober.
If the day of the Lord be so near as some say, how should
our moderation appear 1 If every one, instead of con-
tending, would justify his form 'of judgment' by lo^e
and meekness, wisdom would be 'justified of her children.'
But, alas ! —
" I am, in my temptation, ready to say, ' Oh, would
I had wings like a dove, then would I,' &c. : but this,
I fear, is my ' haste.' I bless the Lord I have somewhat
keeps me alive : some sparks of the light of His coun-
tenance, and some sincerity above man's judgment
Excuse me thus unbowelling myself to you : pray for
me ; and desire my friends to do so also. My love to
thy dear wife, whom indeed I entirely love, both naturally
and upon the best account ; and my blessing, if it be
worth anything, upon thy little babe."*
And another : —
" Dear Charles, my dear love to thee ; ' and' to my dear
Biddy, who is a joy to my heart, for what I hear of the
Lord in her. Bid her be cheerful, and rejoice in the Lord
* Carlyle's CromweU, vol. iii., p. 301.
230 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 16i8 1660.
once and again : if she knows the Covenant, she cannot
but do ' so/ For that Transaction is without her ; sure
and stedfasfc, between the Father and the Mediator in His
blood : therefore, leaning upon the Son, or looking to Him,
thirsting after Him, and embracing Him, we are His
Seed ; — and the Covenant is sure to all the Seed. The
Compact is for the Seed : God is bound in faithfulness to
Christ, and in Him to us : the Covenant is without us ;
a Transaction between God and Christ. Look up to it.
God engageth in it to pardon us j to write His Law in our
heart ; to plant His fear ' so' that we shall never depart
from Him. We, under all our sins and infirmities, can
daily offer a perfect Christ j and thus we have peace
and safety, and apprehension of love, from a Father in
Covenant, — who cannot deny Himself. And truly in this
is all my salvation ; and this helps me to bear my great
burdens."*
We may also contemplate the great man in his decline,
touched by the death of his dear daughter Elizabeth. The
sketch is by one of a class concerning which it is said
that no man is a hero before them, — the groom of the bed-
chamber.
"At Hampton Court, a few days after the death of
the Lady Elizabeth, which touched him nearly, — being
then himself under bodily distempers, forerunners of that
Sickness which was to death, and in his bedchamber, —
he called for his Bible, and desired an honourable and
godly person there, with others, present, To rsad unto him
that passage in PhiUj^pians, Fourth : * Not that I speak
* Carlyle's Cromwell, vol. iv., p. 23.
AD. 1648-1660.] THE COM^ION^YEALTH. 231
in respect ofioant : for I have learned in whatsoever state
I am, therewith to he content. I know both how to he
abased, and I know how to ahound. Everywhere, and hy
all things, I am instructed ; hoth to he fall and to be hungry,
both to ahound and to suffer need. I can do all things,
through Christ which strengtheneth me.^ Wliich read, —
said he, to use Lis own words as near as I can remember
tliem : ' This Scripture did once save my life ; when my
eldest Son' poor Oliver ' died ; which went as a dagger to
my heart, indeed it did.' And then repeating the words
of the text himself, and reading the tenth and eleventh
verses of Paul's contentation, and submission to the will
of God in all conditions, — said he : ' It's true, Paul, you
have learned this, and attained to this measure of grace :
but what shall / do ? Ah poor creature, it is a hard lesson
for me to take out ! I find it so !' But reading on to
the thirteenth verse, where Paul saith, * / can do all things
through Christ that strengtheneth me^ — then faith began
to work, and his heart to find support and comfort, and
he said thus to himself, " He that was Paul's Christ is
my Christ too 1' And so drew watei-s out of the well of
Salvation."*
" All the Promises of God are in Eim : yes, and in
Him Amen ; to the glory of God by us, — by us in Jesus
Christ."- "The Lord hath filled me with as much as-
surance of His pardon, and His love, as my soul can hold.'
— "I think I am the poorest wretch that lives : but I
love God ; or rather, am beloved of God."—" I am a con-
« Carlyle's Cromwell, vol. iv., p. 392.
232 THE COJOIOXAVEALTH. [a.d. 1«8-1650.
qneror, and more than a conqueror, through Christ that
strength eneth me !'"*
We feel that we have been in the presence of one who,
with all his faults and failings, was a striking exemplificar-
tion of the life of God in the soul, — a man of prayer and
piety.
The explicit tesi^imony of Mr. Richardson, a pei*sonof calm
judgment, keen mind, and independent halDits of thought,
a contemporary and a Londoner, probably expresses the
exact truth : — " He hath a large heart, spirit, and prin-
ciple that will hold all that fear the Lord, though of
different opinions and practices in religion, and seek their
welfare. I am persuaded there is not a better friend to
the nations and people of God among men, and that there
is not any man so unjustly censured and abused as he is."t
A beautiful picture of the divine power of faith is shown
in the closing scene of the life of another great soldier and
noble Christian English gentleman. Colonel Hutchinson,
who died whilst tyrannically imprisoned at Walmer.
" He was never more pleasant and contented in his
whole life. When no other recreations were left him, he
diverted himself with sorting and shadowing cockle-shells,
which his wife and daughter gathered for him, with as
much delight as he used to take in. the richest agates and
* Carlyle's Cromwell, vol. iv., p. 398.
t Tracts on Liberty of Conscience, p. 241. The scope of
Mr. Richardson's mind is characterized by the title of one of his
publications: "Newes from Heaven of a Treaty of Peace; or,
a Cordiall for a Fainting Heart. Wherein is manifested that Jesus
Christ, and all that is His, is freely offered to all who need, '' &c.
1643.
A.D. 1648-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 233
onyxes he could compass, with the most artificial engravings,
which were things, when he recreated himself from more
serious studies, he as much delighted in as any piece of
art But his fancy showed itself so excellent in sorting
and dressing these shells, that none of us could imitate it,
and the cockles began to be admired by several persons
who saw them. These were but his trifling diversions,
his business and continual study was the Scripture, which
the more he conversed in, the more it delighted him ;
insomuch that his wife having brought down some books
to entertain him in his solitude, he thanked her, and told
her that if he should continue as long as he lived in prison,
he w^ould read nothing there but his Bible. His wife bore
all her own toils joyfully enough foy the love of him, but
could not but be very sad at the sight of his undeserved
sufferings ; and he would very sweetly and kindly chide
her for it, and tell her that if she were but cheerful, he
should think this suflfering the happiest thing that ever
befell him ; he would also bid her consider what reason
she had to rejoice that the Lord supported him, and how
much more intolerable it would ha-ve been if the Lord had
suffered his spirits to have sunk, or his patience to have
been lost under tliis. One day when she was weeping,
after he had said many things to comfort her, he gave her
reasons why she should hope and be assured that this cause
would revive, because the interest of God was so much
involved in it that he was entitled to it."*
We trace some of the survivors of the heroic age in the
London churches during subsequent reigns. Dr. Owen's
* Life of Col. Hutchinson (Bohn), p. 468.
234 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 1648-1C60.
churcli numbered Lord Charles Eleetwood, Sir John
Hartopp, Colonel Desboroiigh (brother-in-law to the
Protector), Lady Abney, Lady Hartopp, Lady Yere "Wilkin-
son, Lady Thompson, Mrs. ' Bendish (Cromwell's grand
daughter), and others, who have all left on the pleasant
pages of personal biography some proof that they were
examples of the vital godliness prevalent in their younger
days.
Presbyterianism was established by an ordinance of the
House of Lords on the 6tli of June 1646 ; and in May,
1648, its assembly ordained the punishment of death for
certain excesses of blasphemy and heresy. The Presby-
terian model was never, however, enforced. It was adopted
in Lancashire, Cheshire, and a few other counties ; but the
spiiit of the times favoured liberty. Some church livings
were held by Independents, some by Baptists, many by
Presbyterians, the majority by the old clergy, who macte
no difficulty as to the slender amount of conformity to the
ruling powers then required. Eomanists, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, Independents, all in their turn pleaded
divine right, and divine obligation of enforcement and
support as its correlation ; but religion, as though disdain-
ing such pretensions, did not exclusively dwell with either
of the rivals.
Another formal public establishment of religion under
the Commonwealth is contained in the ordinance of Govern-
ment signed and sworn to by Cromwell on the 16th
December, 1653, and is as follows : —
"35. That the Christian religion, conteined in the
Scriptures, bee held forth and commended as the publick
A.D. 1618-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 235
profession of tliese nations ; and tliat as soon as may-
bee, a provision less subject to scruple and contention,
and more certain tban the present, bee made for tbe
encouragement and maintenance of able and painful
teachers, for instructing the people, and for discoverie
and confutation of error, heresie, and whatever is con-
trary to sound doctrine : and that, until such provision
bee made, the present maintenance shal not be taken
away nor impeached.
" 36. That to the publick profession held forth, none
ehall bee compelled by penalties or otherwise, but that
endeavors bee used to win them by sound doctrine, and
the example of a good conversation.
" 37. That such as profess faitrh in God by Jesus
Christ (though differing in judgment from the doctrine,
worship, or discipline publickly held forth) shall not
bee restrained from, but shall bee protected in the pro-
fession of the faith, and exercise of their religion ; so as
they abuse not this liberty, to the civil injury of others,
and to the actual disturbance of the publick peace on
their parts : provided this liberty bee not extended to
Popery or Prelacy, nor to such as, under the profession
of Christ, hold forth and practise licentiousness.
" 38. That all laws, statutes, ordinances, and clauses
in any law, statute, and ordinance to the contrary of the
aforesaid libertie shall bee esteemed as null and void."*
Whenever the force of divine truth presses on the Church
with unusual power, the efforts for its diffusion overstep
the limits which spiritual ease prescribes in ordinary times-
♦ Collection of Ordinances, &c., printed 1654, p. 21.
236 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 1648-16C0.
Preaching is tlien no longer confined, as a practice, to
those who are specially and most properly set apart for
the work; but others, seeing that the wants of the world
can never be overtaken by the efforts of appointed minis-
ters alone, feeling impelled alike by a sense of duty to the
cause and regard for their fellow-men, go out, and in the
highways and hedges, in market-places and village-greens,
in hall and cottage, publish, as best they can, the word of
life. This was much practised in the days of the Common-
wealth. Sometimes, doubtless, conceit was the moving
spring, and shallow teaching the scope of the layman's
efforts j but, in the great majority of instances, it was
genuine missionary spirit, prompting to the accomplish-
ment of genuine missionary work.
It is easy to detect the incompleteness and inconsistency
of the tenets of George Fox, the founder of the Quakers ;
but it is impossible to regard him otherwise than as a man
with many elements of goodness and greatness. The life
which he lived was a life of faith. How grand is Penn's
testimony concerning him ! — "The inwardness and weight
of his spirit, the reverence and solemnity of his address and
beJiaviour, and the fewness Sbnd fulness of his words, have
often struck even strangers with admiration, as they used
to reach others with consolation. The most awful, living,
reverent frame I ever felt or beheld, I must say, was his
in prayer. And truly it was a testimony he knew and
lived nearer to the Lord than other men ; for they that
know him most will see most reason to approach him with
reverence and fear."
At this time the practice commenced of requiring from
i..D. 1648-1660] THE COMMONWEALTH. 237
those who wished to be joined to a church, a statement of
their faith. This usually took the form of a biographical
sketch of that portion of the life which related to religion.
Many of these "experiences," as they were called, were
published. By their aid we can demonstrate the actual
identity of the Christian life everywhere and at all times, in
the divinity of its origin, its vital connexion with revealed
truth, its liableness to temptation and fluctuation, its spe-
cific individual character, various as the lives and circum-
stances of its subject. There are passages in the inner life
of David, Paul, Augustine, Bernard, k Kempis, Bilney,
Rutherford, and Payson, which might be a^itly exchanged
from one biography to the other with truth and con-
sistency. In like manner they woulji be expressive of the
experience of thousands whose obscurity has never been
removed on earth, but will be for ever done away with in
heaven.
In the year 1653, John Rogers, the incumbent of St.
Thomas the Apostle's, in the City, published, in a curious
work entitled " Beth-Shemesh, a Tabernacle for the Sun,
or, Irenicum Evangelicum," a statement of the religious
experience of several members of his congregation, com-
prising persons of all ranks in society, including several of
Cromwell's soldiers. They are just such as may be found
in the volumes of religious biography more ancient or
more modern, — the same discoveries, conflicts, lights and
shadows. Two short instances, relating to ordinary per-
sons, will serve as types of the whole.
" Experience of Laurence Swinfield.
" I have been a travellour for some yeares, and wandred
238 THE COMMONWEALTH. [ad. 1648-1660.
about in far countries beyond seas till I came back againe
into England, and all this wbile in my natural condition ;
and so I continued a great while. But I came hither in a
sad condition and very comfortlesse, and could not tell what
to doe, but to fall to prayer and I did that often, and found
{I thank God) much of refreshment from that meanes, but
nothing to satisfie my minde, for I have been much troubled
in conscience, and could not take comfort, until the Lord
was pleased to give me some promises to feed upon, as
Matth. xi. 28, 29, 30, where He promised to ease the heavy
oppressed, and to make His yoke easy and light : and then
I began to long for a reformation, and to desire to be under
His yoke, which was before (I thought) a burthen to me ;
and so Isaiah Iv. 1, 'come buy without price and without
money :' and soe, I came as freely as T was called, and was
presently confirmed by the Spirit of God pers wading me
to give myself up into God's hands upon these His owne
termes ; and soe I did to this day. And many other sweet
promises I had, whereby I had a great deal of peace and
comfort, and can confidently say the Lord is my God; and
I have ever since found in me a very great change from
what I Was before."
" Experience of Jeremy Heyward.
"The Lord hath opened my eyes to see sin, and shewne me
myself ; and I lay under this wrath half a year ; and soe
long as I sought to make out my own righteousnesse, I lay
thus ; and yet this while I followed the meanes, heard the
word, and I saw at length nothing but Christ would save
me, and till then I could have no comfort : wherefore one
*.D. 164S-1GG0.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 239
first day of the week I fell to prayer. I prayed thrice, and at
the third time I heard him say, ' Lo ! my grace is sufl&cieut
for thee ;' wdiereby I was much satisfied ever since, rowling
my selfe on Christ, and living in Him alone : and I find
soe great a change, that J can say. Whereas I was blind,
now I am sure I see."
It will be readily admitted that the two prodigies
of human learning in the days of the Commonwealth
were John Selden and Archbishop Usher. They took
opposite sides in the great political contention of the day,
but were one in the ground of their religious hope.
Selden, shortly before his death, sought a special inter-
view with the archbishop. They conversed about things
transcendently more important in the estimation of both,
than were the vast st .res of erudition they had each
accumulated. Selden bore testimony to the sole sufficiency
of Scripture to sustain the soul, and stated that the
passage which of all others fixed itself upon his memory,
" stuck close to his heart," and im2)arted comfort to his
mind, was that from the Epistle to Titus beginning
thus: ^^ For the grace of God that bringeth salvation.''
(Titus ii. 11 — 14.*) The ponderous volumes which he had
written were all directed to show the origin and con-
stitution of human institutions ; but the hope of his soul
was in the simi^le direct gift of God, — tlie grace that
bringeth salvation, t
The incomparable Archbishop Usher expeiienced the
* Life of Usher ; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge,
t The reader will be reminded of the exclamation of the dying
Grotiiis : Heu! vitam perdidi operose nihil agendo.
240 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 1648-1660.
trials incident to being deprived of ]iis dignities and
possessions by tlie legislation of the Common wealtli ; v/e
find liis true character, as one of God's children, shining
with an uncommon lustre. His magnanimous mind, though
he differed in many conclusions from the great men among
the Nonconformists, yet led him to form sanctified friend-
ships with them. Some of his sayings on prayer will
serve to show the secret of his strength and peace : —
" No honey is sweeter to the taste than spiritual prayer
to God." " God's children, let Him deny them ever so
long, yet they will never leave knocking and begging :
they will pray, and they will wait still, till they receive
an answer. Many will pray to God, as prayer is a duty ;
but few use it as a means to obtain a blessing. Those
who come to God in the use of it, as a means to obtain
what they would have, will pray and not give over
petitioning till they receive it." *
So do we get an insight into his spiritual condition by
the following passage on meditation from one of his
sermons :
" If but half the precious time we impertinently trifle
or squander away upon employments that will be sure to
cost us either tears or blushes were carefully laid out in
the cultivating of this kind of thoughts, it might often
save our ministers the labour of insisting so long upon
the uses of their doctrines, when the whole world would be
a pulpit, every creature turn a preacher, and almost every
accident suggest all use of instruction, reproof, or exhorta-
tion. No burial but would toll a passing-bell to put us
* Life of Usher ; Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. -
A.D. 1618-1660.] THE COMMOXWEALTH. 241
in mind of our mortality, no feast but would make us
aspire to the marriage feast of the Lamb ; no cross but
would add to our desires to be dissolved and to be with
Christ ; no mercy but would be a fresh engagement unto
obedience to so good a master as the author of it ; no
happiness of others but would prove an encouragement to
serve Him that can give that and much greater ; no misery
of others but would awaken and heighten our gratitude
that we are privileged from it ; no sin in our neighbours
but would dissuade us from it, though it looks so rich and
comely in others, nor any virtue of theirs but would
excite our emulation and spur us on to imitate or
surpass it."
In the year 165G, at the hospitable priory house at
Reigate, the mansion of the Countess of Peterborough,
this great man, one of the noblest of the ancient light-
bearers, was slowly going down into the dark valley,
and closing his life of study and effort by the calm, clear,
simple expression of personal faith and hcioe. The last
words of one who was so habitually strong in the assu-
rance of an interest in the Redeemer's work, so anxious
throughout life to redeem the time for his Mastei', were,
— " 0 Lord, forgive me ! especially my sins of omission !"
How he had kept open the affections of his heart
amidst the din of great controversies in which his mind
had been engaged, may be ascertained from his habit of
suspending discussion with his friends on difficult points
in theology, history, or chronology, by saying, " Come,
let us talk a little now of Jesus Christ."
One of the finest spectacles in the course of the succes-
R
24:2 THE COMMONWEALTH. [ad. 1648-1660-
sion of spiritual life, is that which is, from time to time,
displayed by men with rare intellects and rich acquire-
ments in philosophy, such as Anselm, Usher, Boyle, and
Chalmers, becoming as "little children" before the majesty
of the divine oracles, using all their mental endowments
as aids to faith, and making all that is written there,
conducive to the paramount duty of winning mankind to
the loving knowledge of the Saviour, and to the vindication
of His cause in the world. Never is man so truly great
as when he makes liimself of no account in order to
magnify his Lord ; thus decomting the triumphant car of
religious progress with the spolia opima of his own moral
ability, after he has wandered far and gathered much in
the realms of mind and matter.
About the year 1620, Hanserd Knollys was passing
through the halls of Cambridge as an under-graduate.
He was well born, skilled in polite literature, of en-
Sfagins manners and address. He beo^an work as master
of a grammar-school. Having scruples respecting the
Prayer-book, he relinquished his charge ; but his diocesan
allowed him for two years to preach. Embracing Baptist
views, he left the Establishment altogether, and for the
remainder of his active life of ninety-three years w^as
eminent as a preacher. Driven once to New England,
and at another time to Germany ; deprived of his property,
harassed and worried by persecution ; yet he kept up a
constant effort and influence to do good, which was
combined with much of the power of religion in his own
personal experience. He was a warm-hearted, useful,
blameless Christian among his fellows, and before the
A.D. 1618-1660.] THE COMMOXWEALTH. 243
world. Everywhere, and at all times, he preached the
Gospel. Frequently, when preaching in Great St. Helen's,
in Bishopsgate-street, he would have a thousand hearers.
Persecuted by the Presbyterians, interdicted from his
favourite occupation, he managed to disobey without
creating any uproar. He was a man of learning, goodness'
and force of character, notable in liis age.
Such was also Kiffin, the London citizen who began
life as a child, left an orphan by the Great Plague. A
London apprentice without friends, life dawning upon
him without any sunshine, he resolved to run away from
turbulent John Lilburne, his master. He fulfilled his
design, and used his liberty to wander into a church and
hear the preacher discourse on the fifth commandment,
which had the effect of sending him back to ''honest
John " again. He went to the church again, and then
heard about peace with God through our Lord Jesus
Christ : he saw himself as a sinner in need of this provision,
and, as yet, knew not how to attain it. He went again,
and heard a sermon from the text, " And the blood of
Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." He says
thit he found this sermon to be a great satisfaction to his
soul ; his heart closed with the offer of these true riches,
his fears vanished, his heart filled with love to Jesus Christ.
After some years, he began to visit the sick and to exhort
the outcasts in the low parishes of the City to turn to God.
He was committed to prison for preaching. He became a
successful merchant, trading to Holland ; amassed a fortune,
but still preached, itinerating through the country for the
same purpose. Neither the purity of his motives, nor his
244 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 1648-1660.
known attachment to the Government, nor his loans to
Charles II., could save him from frequent annoyance. He
always avowed and maintained his principles with courage,
— interfered for the oppressed, vindicated the character and
claims of evangelical religion through a long and troubled
life of eighty-six years.
Baxter, in his " Duty of Pastors and People," published
in 1643, argues from Acts viii. 1 — 4, the obligation of
preaching to be incumbent on all faithful brethren. Prom
Boyle's Life, we learn that before the Restoration, Sir Harry
Vane used to have preaching in his own house, which was
thronged to excess on these occasions. After sermon,
discussions were held. Yane was doubtless a fanatic
in some of his opinions ; but the habit then obtaining
amongst the educated class, of meeting together to stud}/
the highest of all sciences, was surely not fanatical.
Dr. Gouge's Wednesday morning lecture at Blackfriars,
continued from 1608 to 1643, was much frequented by
citizens, lawyers, and strangers. It was considered that
no well-disposed visitor to the Metropolis had completed
his business there until he had been to Blackfriars lecture.
The worthy lecturer's " Guide to goe to God " was printed
in 1626. Its dedication shows the pains-taking care and
diligence with which he inculcated the habit of personal
devoutness in the families of his large flock.
Philip Henry, who was trained at Oxford at this time,
says that the scholars of Dr. Owen, the then chancellor,
used to meet together for prayer and Christian conference,
" to the great confirming of one another's hearts in the
fear and love of God, and the preparing of them for the
service of the church in their generation."
AD. 1648-1660] THE COMMONWEALTH. 245
Baxter's preaching at Kidderminster at tins period was
so well appreciated, that the capacious church required
to be enlarged by the addition of five galleries. At Dudley,
when he preached, the church would be so crowded that
people would hang on the windows.* He had enlisted
the able laymen in the place to work with him ; they
went from house to house, promoting prayer and piety.
Meetings for Scripture-reading were common. There
were about six hundred communicants, out of a church-
going adult population of sixteen hundred. The beneficial
efiects of this vigorous spiritual cultivation continued
visible for a century.
The Lord greatly blesses the efforts of such as simply
endeavour to make the most of their opportimities for
advancing His cause. Such was the case with Mr.
Blackerby, the incumbent of Feltwell, in Norfolk, who
after his ejection for Nonconformity settled in the village
of Ashen, near Clare, in Suff'olk, and there spent his time
in educating youth, and in teaching, preaching, and
lecturing in the surrounding places. He was a man of
eminent piety, spirituality, and steady activit}^ He
acted as "ever in his great Taskmaster's eye," and is
said to have been the known instrument in the con-
version of two thousand persons in his lifetime. He had
so carefully cultivated the Christian virtues, that holiness
and self-command became, as it were, habitual to him,
though none had a more humbling conviction of personal
sinfulness and weakness. His happiness lay in the anti-
cipation of the future peace and glory of the Church.
* Orme's Life, vol. i., p. 150.
246 THE COMMONWEALTH.
[AD. 1648-
Like John Newton, lie could, and did declare, that for
forty years God had not permitted him to have a
doubting thought respecting his salvation. He died in
1651.
The literature of the Puritan age betokens a vast
amount of religious attainment and religious attention
on the part of those to wdiom these bulky works were
addressed. The sermons on which, for the most part,
the great treatises are founded, were evidently adapted
to the taste of the times. Doctrinal religion was the
staple of thought. It gave substance and colour to the
age. The exhaustive discursive expositions, wdiicli now
serve as mines whence we extract golden ore in fragments,
were then welcomed by eager and patient listenei-s.
Taylor, Owen, Howe, Baxter, and their compeers, were
not content with doing as Tyndale or Bilney would have
done, — stating a proposition from God's word, and leave
it with the sanction of its divine authority, — but they set
it out in all the glory and variety of language, and showed
its congruity with the constitution of tliiugs past, present,
and to come, and then enforced it with the aid of all tha
considerations that could be brought to bear on our nature.
In 1658, seven of the London ministers formed them-
sdves into a society for publishing works of practical
devotion. The names of these good men who were so
far in advance of their age were, — Thomas Goodwin,
William Greenhill, Sydrael Sympson, Philip Nye,
William Bridge, John Yates, and William Adderley.
The incipient book society did not long continue its
labours ; but it was the model of others which occasionally
A.D. 1648-1660.] THE COMMONWEALTH. 247
arose and aided in the diffusion of religious know-
ledge.
Puritan times were characterized by lengthy and
elaborate preaching, ponderous and exhaustive treatises
on practical divinity, multifarious and minute personal
records. It was at once an age of folios and of diaries.
Every one appeared to be acting in the presence of the
future. The dignity of life was never exhibited so power-
fully as in the sayings and doings of these days. All
persons were appealing to each other, to their country,
to the world, to Grod. Many diaries have been preserved
and published, fragments of many others are still in MS.,
showing that the current of inner life ran strong in the
souls of men.
We have not yet done with persecution. During the
Commonwealth, and subsequently, it pressed hard upon
the Quakers.
IMany instances of genuine evangelical life are to be
found in the annaLs of their society ; for though most of
the immediate followers of George Fox were much more
mystical than evangelical, yet there have never been
wanting, whether in the days of persecution or prosperity,
bright instances of Friends who have lived a life of faith
on the Son of God, " who loved us and gave himself for
us." The mode in which their belief consisted with their
peculiar action, and the general state of thought and
feeling m religious society during the Commonwealth, will
best be illusirated by reproducing from John Tomkins's
" Piety Promoted, in a Collection of Dying Sayings of
many of the People called Quakers : with a Brief
248 THE C0M3I0K WEALTH. [a.d. 1648-1660.
Account of Rome of their Labours in the Gospel, and
Sufferings for the same ; " — one whole narrative.
"John Burnyeat was born in the parish of Lows- water,
in the county of Cumberland, about the year 163L And
when it pleased God to send his faithful servant George
Fox, with other of the messengers of the Gospel of peace
and salvation, to proclaim the day of the Lord in the
county of Cumberland and north parts of England, this
dear ser\^ant of Christ was one that received their testi-
mony, which was in the year 1653, when he was about
twenty-two years of age : and through his waiting in
the light of Christ Jesus, unto which he was turned, he
was brought into deep judgment and great tribulation
of soul, such as he had not known in all his profession of
religion ; and by this light of Christ was manifested all
the reproved things, and so he came to see the body of
death, and power of sin which had reigned in him, and
felt the guilt thereof upon his conscience, so that he did
possess the sins of his youth. ' Then,' said he, 'I saw that
I had need of a Saviour to save from sin, as well as the
blood of a sacrificed Christ to blot out sin, and faith in
His name for the remission of sins ; and so being given
up to bear the indignation of the Lord, because of sin,
and wait till the indignation should be over, and the Lord
in mercy would blot out the guilt that remained (which
was the cause of wrath), and sprinkle my heart from an
evil conscience, and wash our bodies with pure water,
that we might draw near to Him with a true heart in the
full assurance of faith, as the Christians of old did,
Heb. X. 22.' Thus did this servant of the Lord, with
1648-1660.]
THE COMMONWEALTH. 249
many more in the beginning, receive tlie tvutli (as nore
at large may be seen in tlie journal of his life) in mncli
fear and trembling, meeting often together, and seeking
the Lord night and day, until the promises of the Lord
came to be fulfilled, spoken of by the prophet Isaiah,
chap. xlii. 7, and xlix. 9, and Ixi. 3, and some taste of
the oil of joy came to be witnessed, and a heavenly glad-
ness extended into the hearts of many, who in the joy of
their souls broke forth in praises unto the Lord, so that
the tongue of the dumb (which Christ the healer of our
infirmities did unloose) began to sj^eak and utter the
wonderful things of God. And great was the dread and
glory of that power, that one meeting after another was
graciously and richly manifested amongst them, to the
breaking and melting many hearts before the Lord.
Thus being taught of the Lord, according to Isaiah liv. 13,
John vi. 45, they became able ministers of the Gospel,
and instructors of the ignorant in the way of truth, as
this our friend was one, who, after four years waiting,
mostly in silence, before he did appear in a publick testi-
mony, which was in the year 1657, being at first con-
cerned to go to divers public places of worship, reproving
both priests and people for their deadness and formality
of worship, for which he endured sore beating w^th their
staves and Bibles, &c., and imprisonment also in Carlisle
gaol, where he suffer'd twenty-three weeks' imprisonment
for speaking to one priest Denton, at Briggham. After
he was at liberty, he went into Scotland, in the year 1658,
where he spent three months, travelling both north and
west. His Avork was to call people to repentance from
250 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d 1648-1660.
tlieir lifeless hypocritical profession and dead formalities,
and to turn to tlie true light of Christ Jesus in their
hearts, that therein they might come to know the power
of God, and the remission of sins, &c. And in the year
1659 he travelled to Ireland, and preached the truth and
true Mth of Jesus in many parts of that nation. About
the seventh month, 1659, he met with Eobert Lodge, a
minister, coiuperned in the same work, with whom he
joined, and they laboured together in that nation twelve
months in the work of the Gospel, and returned to
Cumberland the seventh month, 1660. And in the year
1662 he travell'd to London, where he met w^ith G. Fox,
E,. Hubberthorne, and E. Borroughs ; and in his return-
ing home thro' Yorkshire, at Eippon, he was committed
to prison, and kept fourteen weeks, for visiting the Friends
prisoners there, and exhorting them. After he was dis-
charged of that imprisonment, he returned home, where
he abode, except visiting Friends in adjacent counties, till
tlie beginning of summer, 1664. He took shipping for
Ireland, and visited most meetings in that nation, and
from thence embarqued for Barbadoes, in order to his
journey into America, which had lain before him for four
years past ; and from Gallway he arrived at Barbadoes,
after seven weeks sailing, and stayed three or four months
there, and had great service, and much exercise also,
occasioned by the imaginations of John Parrot, and that
fleshly liberty he had led many into, not only there, but
in Virginia and other places : from whence he went to
Maryland, about the second month, 1665, afterwards to
Virginia, labouring in the work of the Gospel ; and in
.D. 1648-1660.]
THE COMMONWEALTH. 251
the fourth month, 1666, came to New York, so to Rhoacl
Island, New England, and Long Island, till the second
month, 1667. He arrived again in Barbadoes, and spent
that summer there ; and in the seventh mouth of the
same year, arrived at Mil ford Haven in England, and
labour'd much in the Gospel in this nation, from the
time of his arrival from America, till the latter end of
the year 1666, that he did spend that winter among
Friends in Ireland, and return'd to London in the year
1670, and in the fifth month embarqued for Barbadoes
again, in company with William Simpson, who died in
peace with the Lord in that island ; from thence he went
to New York, Long Island, Rhoad Island, and New
England, and afterwards to Yii'ginia, and Maryland,
where he met George Fox, and several brethren, just
come from Jamaica ; afterwards having spent much time
and labour up and down in America, till the 25th of
the second month, 1673, they came from the capes of
Virginia, and arrived at Gallaway in Ireland, the 24th
of the third month, and to the yearly meeting at London,
in 1674 ; and from that time he continued in this nation,
labouring among the churches, until the eighth month,
1683. He went to Ireland again, and tarry 'd there till
the sixth month, 1684; then he came into Cumberland,
and so to Scotland, and into the north parts of England
again, visiting the meetings of Friends, and so returned
to Ireland, the 25th of the first month, 1685, where he
tarry'd till he departed this life."
Dissent now took the specific form in which it has
subsequently appeared, so far as separation in worship is
252 THE COMMONWEALTH. [a.d. 1648-1660.
concerned. Some of the ministers wlio held livings
during the Commonwealth, formed churches within their
parishes, composed of persons whom they accredited as
godly. They next proceeded further, and constituted
those whom they considered to be worthy communicants,
though residing in several parishes, into one church, for
the sake of convenience. This practice excited the
anger of such as held the communion, and other church
rites, to be the common property of the parishioners.
The controversy was commenced by the publication of
an apology for administering the Lord's Supper in a
select company, published by the Puritan party; and
was continued by William Morice, of Werrington in
Devonshire, in a folio overflowing with misapplied
learning, entitled "The Common Right to the Lord's
Supper asserted in a Diatribe and Defence thereof."
The policy of the Establishment clearly required the
adoption of the latter practice ; the constitution of Non-
conforming associations equally necessitated the former;
and thus the breach between the two was widened and
rendered impassable by a total difierence in discipline.
One result was, that those parish ministers who had
gathered chiu-ches independent of their parishes, during
their incumbency, found, on their expulsion from the
parishes, such churches ready to receive and support them.
This was the case with Caryl of St. Magnus, Bridge
of Yarmouth, and a number of others ; and in this
manner originated several of the Dissenting churches
which still exist.
CHAPTER XIV.
m)t lUcigus Of m^xks Ih, 3Jam0S M,, anb
Milliam Mh
It may be an equally instructive task to follow the down-
ward course of a noble institution as to trace its rise, but it
is not so interesting. The study of the causes and courses
of degeneracy or misfortune is practically useful to all who
are under a common liability to their occurrence ; but it
has neither the zest of novelty, nor the attractions of hope,
to recommend it.
The latter half of the seventeenth century is a period of
constant decline : great men lost heart. Persecution from
avowed enemies would have been in accordance with pre-
cedent, but persecution from avowed friends was hard to
bear. Faith and patience were, in many instances, unequal
to the trial, and embarrassment led to inaction.
The course of the legislation concerning religion was
most mischievous. Piety was mocked, profanity en-
couraged.
The King soon disappointed the hopes he had excited by
his declaration in Holland concerning religious toleration.
254 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [a.d. 1660-1702.
The Savoy Conference, in 1661, between tlie Episcopalians
who had now returned to power, and the Presbyterians
who had been driven from it, was governed by foregone con-
clusions. In 1 6 6 2, the Act of Uniformity, and the resulting
Bartholomew evictions, deprived the Established' religion
of two thousand able, conscientious ministers. In 1665, the
Act rendering it penal for any gathering of Nonconformists
to be held within five miles of a market town, was a blow
at the means for sustaining piety in the provinces. In
1669 and 1670, the legislation against conventicles, pressed
sorely against the old Evangelicals. The dispensation with
these laws, effected by Royal proclamation in 1672, in
order to favour Popery, was not satisfactory to any party.
In 1675, the Test Act, making the reception of the sacra-
ment in the Episcopalian Church a necessary qualification
for office, degraded religion. In 1685, the accession of
James II. and the relaxation of penal statutes, with the
view of again establishing Popery, was met by the revolt
of the bishops, and led to the abdication and change of
government in 1689 ; after which toleration in matters of
religion became a recognized principle of our legislation.
The spiritual declension fostered by the course of
these political changes commenced at the Restoration, and
first manifested itself in the changed aspect of things at
Court and in the upper ranks of society. Godliness was
again driven into disfavour and obscurity. Concurrently
with this, there also began to prevail amongst the public
teachers of religion a lower standard of doctrine respecting
the divinity of our Lord, and the value of His atonement.
This soon produced visible decay in j^ublic piety, for it
A.D. 1660-1702.] JAMES 11.5 AND WILLIAM III. 255
sapped evangelism in its foundations. In the true cliurcb
all things languished and became withered. We no longer
have to encounter lofty souls prepared for service by a
lively sense of the presence and favour of God. The race
ofLatimers and Bradfords, of Lord Falklands and Colonel
Hutcliinsons, had passed quite away.
The evil result, however, was not reached all at once.
Luminaries of former days continued to shine until they
set in the clouds which encumbered the horizon.
" So, when a ship well-freighted with the stores
The suu matures on India's spicy shores,
Has dropp'd her anchor and her canvas fiirl'd
In some safe haven of our western world,
'Twere vain inquiring to what port she went ;
The gale informs us, laden wij:h the scent."
John Howe, the noble, elegant, large-hearted, accom-
plished preacher and gentleman, familiar with courts, and
now to be contemptuously silenced, lived to adorn his
adversity with the same deep individual faith which had
kept him sober during the days of his prosperity. Before
his death, he insisted that all his private biographical
memoranda should be burnt; but the following, written
on a leaf of his Latin New Testament, reveals the source
and nature of his support : —
" Dec. 26, '8D.— After that I had long seriously and
repeatedly thought Vy'ith myself, that besides a full and
undoubted assent to the objects of faith, a vivifying savoury
taste and relish of them was also necessary, that with
stronger force and more powerful energy they might
penetrate into the most inward centre of my heart, and
there being most deeply fixed and rooted, govern my life ;
256 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES 11., u.d. 1660-1702.
and that there coukl be no other sure ground whereon to
conclude and pass a sound judgment on my good estate
Godward ; and after I had in my course of ]3reaching
been largely insisting on 2 Cor. i. 12, 'This is my rejoic-
ing, the testimony of a good consience,' &c, ; — this very
morning I a\yoke out of a most ravishing and delightful
dream, that a wonderful and copious stream of celestial
rays, from the lofty throne of the Divine Majesty, did
seem to dart into my open and expanded breast.
" I have often since, with great complacency, reflected
on that v^eiy signal pledge of special divine favour
vouchsafed to me on that noted memorable day, and have
with repeated fresli pleasure tasted the delights thereof.
But what of the same kind I sensibly felt^ through the
admirable bounty of my God, and the most pleasant com-
forting influence of the Holy Spirit, on Oct. 22, 1704, far
surpassed the most expressive words my thoughts can
suggest. I then experienced an inexpressibly pleasart
melting of heart, tears gushing out of my eyes, for joy that
God should shed abroad His love abundantly through the
hearts of men, and that for this very purpose mine own
should be so signally possessed of and by His blessed Spirit.
Rom. V. 5."
He began public life amidst the broken sunshine of the
Commonwealth, became intimate with the Protector, passed
through the evil times of the Restoration, saw the Revolu-
tion, outlived William III. and ere he died received the
poetical laudations of Dr. Watts. The controversies at
the begiuDing of his career were about forms of church
government ; to these succeeded disputes respecting con-
K.D. 1660-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM IlL 257
formity , at his death the great Trinitarian debate was
beginning. These matters successively occupied the minds
of great men, to the exclusion of full primary effort for the
spread of the Gospel itself In all the controversies Howe
displayed his profound reverence for God and his great love
to humanity. He was an anticipator of the evangelical
union of better days to come. The very title which he gave
to two of the famous sermons preached by him at the
Merchants' Lecture in Broad-street, resounds with the
music of peace : — " The Carnality of Religious Conten-
tion."
Towards the close of the Protectorate there sprung up a
desire for Christian alliance among ministers of different
denominations, which evinced itself in the formation of
county associations for mutual counsel and prayer. Such
were the Worcestershire Association, that of Cumberland,
and afterwards, that of Cheshire.
Philip Henry, who promoted the last-named, observes
that there was generally a great change in the temper
of God's people, and a mighty tendency towards peace
and unity, as if they were, by common consent, weary
of their long clashings. They expressly agreed to respect
each other's judgment as episcopalian, congregational,
or presbyterian, but to lay aside, for the present purpose,
the thoughts of matters of variance, and to give each
other the right hand of fellowship, that with one consent
they might each in his place studj^ to promote the common
interests of Clirist's kingdom, and the common salvation
of precious souls.
The warrantable hopes of these good men expressed
258 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [a.d. 1660-1702.
in tlie year 1658, were no sooner formed, tlian they
were doomed to present disappointment, by the effects
of the flood of evil which followed in the train of the
E-estoration.
Most of the considerable London ministers met after the
ejection in 1662, and agreed to hold communion with the
Church, not quitting their own ministry, or declining the
exercise of it as they could have opportunity. Howe, to
whom we are indebted for this fact,* says that as far as
he could by inquiry learu, this was also the judgment of
their fellow-sufferers throughout the nation. Their spirit
had, he says, in it "so much of the spirit of primitive
Christianity ; such largeness of mind ! such reverence of
what bears a divine stamp and signature upon it, unde-
faced ! such benignity, even towards them by whom they
suffered."
A large proportion of the more celebrated Noncon-
formist ministers was received into the establishments of
the nobility and gentry as chaplains and tutors, where they
continued to exercise a good influence, and from which
compulsory leisure many of their able doctrinal works
proceeded.
About a thousand Nonconforming communities were
formed throughout the kingdom, exclusive of Papists and
Quakers, t
Others of these good men laid down their special function
and adopted secular callings. One of these was Dr. Burgess,
who became a physician of some eminence : he did not
* Considerations on a Preface, &c., Works, p. 186.
t Life of Oliver Hey wood, p. 412.
A.D. 16G0-1702.] JAMES 11. , AND WILLIAM III. 259
forget his Master's work, and whilst attending the Dnehess
of Bedford, so coupled spiritual instruction with medical
skill, that the lady became a convert to Puritanism, to the
great amazement of her gay connexions. The result was,
that the good doctor was forbidden to practise within ten
miles of the Court.*
The farewell sermons of eleven of the most eminent
Nonconformist ministers, which were published soon after
the event, give a favourable view of the scope and method
of puritanical preaching. With a large discussion of the
text, there is a strict limitation to scriptural argument, and
a close personal application of the truth. The references to
the all-important event of their compulsory secession are,
though slight, in a serious tone, without a trace of bitter-
ness. We can recall the full eloquence of Dr. Bates at St.
Dunstan's, preaching his last sermon (with Pepys amongst
the crowd in the gallery) descanting on the peace which
Christ gives to all who believe in Him ; and closing in the
morning with the earnest request that every one would
pray for the peace of Jerusalem ; and, in tlic afternoon, with
the fine sayings — " When Christ died for us,it was not His
design only to quiet our consciences, but to quicken our
souls ;" — " The death of Christ, as there was value in it to
purchase God's favour, so there was virtue in it to restore
to God's image." f Well does the preface to this unique
historical volume commence, — "The sermons here pre-
sented, are the words of dying men who did count their
* MS. State Paper Office, quoted by Dr. Vaughan, English
Noucouformity, p. 73.
t Farewell Sermons,
260 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [a.d. 1660-1702.
dayes by hours, and that time lost that was not spent in
labour ; their busie thoughts out-vyed the labouring sands,
because their lives rid on a dial's point, to end at the
arrival of an hour." It speaks of the throngs of people
attending to hear the discourses.
Some of the silenced ministers were, like Cincinnatus,
sought out and recalled in the time of emergency. Soon after
the year 1662, a Wiltshire country gentleman upon the
dangerous illness of his wife sent for the clergyman of his
parish to pray with her. When the messenger reached the
parsonage, the minister was just going out with the hounds,
and sent word he would come when the hunt was over. Mr.
Grove, the distressed squii'e, expressed resentment at this ;
whereupon one of his servants said, " Sir, our shepherd,
if you will send for him, can pray very well : we have
often heard him at prayer in the field." The shepherd was
sent for, and asked whether he coul d pray : he replied with
solemnity, looking at Mr. Grove, " God forbid, sir, that I
should live one day without prayer." He then engaged in
prayer with fluency and fervour. The master was so much
struck, that he urged him to tell wlio and what he was ; and
the shepherd then owned himself to be one of the ejected
ministers, who, having no means of subsistence in the
ministry left to him, was content to earn a livelihood as a
shepherd. Mr. Grove, who was an 0})ulent, liberal and
learned man, erected a house for worship, and constituted
the praying shepherd the minister ; for he was a graduate
of Brazennose College, a good scholar, a Hebraist, a
superior preacher, and of so devout a habit that he was
called " Praying Ince," and had been rector of Dunhead.*
* Palmer, Noucou. Mem., vol. ii., p. 503.
AD. 1660-1702.] JAilES II., AND WILLIAM III. 261
The spread of spiritual life lias ever been intimately
connected with the energetic preaching of the Gospel : the
former is promoted by the latter, and, in its turn, each con-
tributes to the other. In times of religious persecution,
when faith is brought into lively exercise, and the unseen
world is a veritable power, it is impossible to repress the
ardent efforts of such as feel themselves under solemn
responsibility to deliver to their fellow-men the message
wliich God has committed to them concerning the way of
salvation. So was it in 1662 : for whilst many of the two
thousand retired into private life, or to become teachers in
schools, others possessed of great aptitude for preaching
could not be silent, but went everywhere proclaiming the
old truth, in spite of pains and penalties. One of these
was Mr. Oasland, the ejected minister of Bewdley, who
travelled throughout Leicestershire, Northamptonshire^
Herefordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, Stafford-
shire, and Shropshire, — and, as he went, preached in
a fervent evangelical strain, to the benefit of very great
numbers of people, so that his name became a household
word for one or two generations. His style would now be
called that of a revivalist ; and such was the scope of his
ministry.
The occurrence of the Great Plague, in 1665, was the
occasion of a general religious concern, which was much
augmented by the preaching of the ejected Nonconformist
ministers, who, in laudable defiance of the strict letter of
the law, under circumstances which virtually worked its
abrogation, reoccupied the vacant London pulpits. Their
services were attended by crowds of attentive hearers ; so
2(j2 the EEIGNS of CHARLES IL, [a.d. 1660-1702.
great, that tlie preacher had frequently, it is said, to be
lifted into his place over the heads of the people. The
attention was universal, the conversions numerous; many
of the he9.rers were among the subsequent victims of the
pestilence, but others outlived the dismal period to date
their religious awakening to its terrible and yet gracious
accompaniments.
In 1666 the desolation produced in the Metropolis by the
Great Fire was the means of calling out much evangelical
labour, and of developing some indications of that religious
union which had ajDpeared to be a possession lost to the
church. About twenty of the silenced ministers hired rooms,
or provided tents, and, in defiance of the law, recommenced
preaching to crowded auditories ; the best and ablest of
the conforming clergymen also gave extra services : so that
religion, like an angel in the storm, came with messages of
love and peace to the affrighted sufferers.
Neither domestic calamity, nor political change, had
power to arrest the downward tendency of religious faith
and practice throughout the kingdom. Much piety doubt-
less then existed among the quieter sort of people ; but it
had apparently lost altogether its progressive action. A
plaintive tone is assumed by all who speak of it. The
Church had lost hope and heart.
A glimpse of the great argument which should have
moved the Church of Christ to attempt the conversion of
the world is afforded by the preface to Baxter's " Reasons
of the Christian Religion," first published in 1666. He
says, " There is no more desirable work in the world than
the converting of idolaters and infidels to God and to the
-1702.]
JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 2G3
Christian faith. And it is a work which requireth the
greatest judgment and zeal in them that mnst perform it.
It is a doleful thought, that five parts of the world are
still heathens and Mahometans, and that Christian princes
and preachers do no more to their recovery, but are
taken up with sad contentions among themselves ; and
that the few who have attempted it, have hitherto had
so small success." The venerable man is still thinking in
Genevan channels, concluding that the only hope of the
world is from the rulers in Church and State. The duty
is recognized ; but the obligation, as binding upon all
who profess the name of Christ, is considered to be prac-
ticable only through the high agency of established
leaders.
In 1656 he published his " Exhortation to Unity," which
was founded on the rules of a voluntary association wdiich
he had actually organized amongst the ministers of Wor-
cestershii-e. He aimed at effecting a general union of all
ministers who sincerely professe<:l the common Christianity.
Although the scope of the association was confined to
ministers, yet the principles avowed would, had they pre-
vailed, have led to a visible union among all true Christians.
In 1680, he published again on the same subject, which
was, in fact, connected with his lengthened controversy on
" Catholic Communion."
The popularity of Baxter's preaching occasioned crowds
to follow him in London, to the frequent endangering of
the buildings in which he officiated. This is not to be
wondered at ; for Dr. Calamy tells us that " he talked in
the pulpit with great freedom about another world, like
264 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II,, [a.d. 1660-1702,
one who had been there and was come as a sort of express
from thence to make a report concerning it."
In December, 1657, he gave to the world his " Call to
the Unconverted," which he had written at the request of
good Archbishop Usher. Twenty thousand copies of this
treatise were sold in little more than a year from the date of
its publication. The conversions which originated through
its persual were unprecedented in number. In the preface
to this work he thus laments the irreligious tendencies of
his age : — " O Lord ! how heavy and sad a case is this,
that even in England, where the Gospel doth abound above
any other nation in the world ; where teaching is so plain
and common, and all the helps we can desire are at hand ;
when the sword has been hewing us, and judgment has run
as a fire through the land ; when deliverances have relieved
us, and so many admirable mercies have engaged us to
God, and to the Gospel, and to a holy life ; — that after all
this, our cities and towns, and countries shall abound with
multitudes of unsanctified men, and swarm with so much
sensuality as everywhere to our grief we see ! One would
have thought that after all this light, and all this experience,
and all these judgments and mercies of God, the people of
this nation should have joined together, as one man, to
turn to the Lord."
After unwearied and unexampled labovirs as a theological
writer, (extending to about sixty thick volumes,) ere he laid
down his pen at the command of his Master, he thus notes
the change which time had made by ripening the spirituality
of his thoughts and feelings. He says, " In my youth, I
was quickly past my fundamentals, and was running up into
A. D. 1660-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 265
SL multitude of controversies, and greatly delighted with
metaphysical and scholastic writings ; but the older I gi'ew,
the smaller stress I laid upon these controversies and
curiosities, though still my intellect abhorreth confusion,
as finding far greater uncertainties in them than I at first
discerned, and finding less usefulness, comparatively, even
where there is the greatest certainty. And now it is the
fundamental doctrines of the Catechism which I most
highly value, and daily think of, and find most useful to
myself and others. The Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the
Ten Commandments, do find me now the most accept-
able and plentiful matter for all my meditations. They
are to me as my daily bread and drink ; and as I can
speak and write of them over and Qver again, so I had
rather read or hear of them than of any of the school
niceties which once so much pleased me. And thus I
observed it was with Bishop Usher, and with many other
men." *
The two m-eat voluminous writers of the Puritan aoje,
Owen and Baxter, terminated their literary labours, the
one with his " Meditations and Discourses on the Glory of
Christ j" the other, with " Dying Thoughts," of the same
noble tenor. Fitting close was this of life-long labours for
the advancement of Christ's kingdom on earth. Owen's
letter to Fleetwood, written the day before his death, is
very characteristic of the man : — *' I am leaving the ship of
the Church in a storm ; but while tlie Great Pilot is in it,
the loss of a poor under-rower will be inconsiderable.
Live, and pray, and ho]3e, and wait patiently, and do not
* Orme, vol. ii., p. 457.
266 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [ad. 1660-1702.
despond : the promise stands invincible, that He will never
leave us nor forsake ns."
It is affecting to find Mm, amidst the strife of tongues in
which he himself was a perpetual actor, sighing for some
lone mission station amidst the Indians of the Far West,
where he could preach Christ without controversy.
It is clear that the best men in all ages have not regarded
tlieir lives as their own, but as belonging to God and man-
kind. They used their faculties for the accomplishment of
an end beyond the interests of tliemselves or their families ;
they acted and endured in order to establish and exhibit
the reign of God on theearth.
The gloomy days of the Bartholomew Act were relieved
in the west end of London by the active piety and winning
manners of Mrs. Baxtei-, who was indefatigable in renting,
buying, or building, chapels and schools, distributing books,
and collecting the poor together to hear the Gospel. When
all her efforts to obtain a peaceful shelter for the preaching
of her husband were frustrated, she got others, less ob-
noxious to the rulers to supply the truth she so much
loved. She was one of those ardent, active, devoted,
winning, accomplished women, whose admirable example
has never been wanting, in any period of our history, to
grace the progress of the Gospel on the earth. She
possessed in an uncommon degree the facidty of attracting
people's affection, and, whilst unwearied in her schemes
of evangelical philanthropy, did not neglect the cultiva-
tion of her own communion with God. Her lot was cast
amidst jars and discords, bat personally she everywhere
brought music and peace.
i. D. 1G60-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 267
A 2')eriod of decadence is often diversified by the occur-
rence of some rare temporary instance of prosperity, like
a rich autumnal flower blooming beyond its time amidst
the decays of the fading year. Thus Flavel, who lived on
until after the Revolution of 1688, published, during the
godless times of the Kestoration, his fine treatise on the
Soul; — seekingto win the attention of society, by pathos and
persuasion, to the great argument concerning the "Unseen.
The title-page runs thus : — "The Invaluable Precious-
ness of Human Souls, and the various Artifices of Satan
(theii* professed enemy) to destroy them, discovered ; and the
great duty and interest of all men seasonably and heartily
to comply with the most great and gracious design of the
Father, Son, and Spirit, for the salvation of their souls,
argued and pressed." His earnestness and eloquence w^ere
not in vain : the nooks and corners of South Devon wit-
nessed many a happy transformation in answer to his
appeals : but the fervour did not spread, — the frivolity of
the age overcame it. In vain he sought to impress society
with respect for the presence of God in their midst. They
were unworthy of such exquisite remonstrances as the fol-
lov/ing : — "No man would light and maintain a lamp fed
with golden oil, and keep it burning from age to age, if
the work to be done by the light of it were not of a very
precious and important nature. What else are the dispen-
sations of the Gospel, but lamps burning with golden oil,
to light souls to heaven !" *
Some unknown voice, about 1683, thus pours forth the
soul's aspiration for a better— that is, a heavenly
country : —
* On the SoiU, p. 338.
268 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., U-d. 1660-1702.
"the pilgrim's farewell. (Heb. xiil 14.)
" Farewell, poor world ! I must begone ;
Thou art no home, no rest for me ;
I'll take my staff, and travel on,
Till I a better world may see.
•' Why art thou loth, my heart ? Oh, why
Dost thus recoil within my breast ?
Grieve not, but say farewell, and fly
Unto the ark, my dove ! there 's rest.
" I come, my Lord, a pilgrim's pace ;
Weary and weak, I slowly move ;
Longing, but can't yet reach the j)lace,
The gladsome place of rest above.
" I come, my Lord ; the floods here rise,
These troubled seas foam nought but mire ;
My dove back to my bosom flies :
Farewell, poor world ! — heaven 's my desire.
" 'Stay, stay,' said Earth ; ' whither, fond one?
Here's a fair world ; what wouldst thou have ?'
Few world ! Oh no, thy beauty's gone —
A heavenly Canaan, Lord, I crave.
" Thus the ancient travellers, — thus they,
Weary of earthj sighed after thee :
They're gone before, — I may not stay,
Till I both thee and them may see.
" Put on, my soul, put on with speed ;
Though the way be long, the end is sweet :
Once more, poor world, farewell indeed !
In leaving thee, my Lord I meet." *
We have again to note that the history of religion
furnishes instances in which piety has become hereditary,
through a belief in the promise, coupled with correspond-
* Christian Lyrics, p. 277.
i..D 1660-1702];
JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 269
ing life and prayer. Tliis was the case in the family of
Philip Henry of Broadoak, where, amidst some strictness,
rendered necessary by the shameless dissoluteness then
becoming common, the household of the Puritan exhibited
a notable example of orderly godliness mingled with in-
telligence and affection. Among the family muniments
still in existence, is a series of formal baptismal covenants,
each in the handwriting of the child who subscribed it.
Matthew Henry in his Life of his father states that he
drew up the following form for the use of his children : —
" * I take God the Father to be my chiefest good and
highest end.
" ' I take God the Son to be my Prince and Saviour.
" ' I take God the Holy Ghost to \)e my sanctifier, teacher,
guide, and comforter.
" ' I take the word of God to be my rule in all my ac-
tions ; and tlie people of God to be my people in all my
conditions.
" ' I do likewise devote and dedicate imto the Lord my
whole self, — all I am, all I have, and all I can do.
" ' And this I do deliberately, sincerely, freely, and for
ever.'
" This he taught his children ; and they each of them
solemnly repeated it every Lord's Day in the evening
after they were catechized, he putting his Amen to it
and sometimes adding. ' So say, and so do, and you are
made for ever.'
" He also took pains with them to lead them to the under-
standing of it, and to persuade them to a free and cheerful
consent to it. And when they grew up, he made them all
270 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II.
[A.D. 1660-1702.
write it over severally with their own hands, and very
solemnly set their names to it, which, he tokl them, he
would keep by him, and it should be produced as a testi-
mony against them in case they should afterwards depart
from God, and turn from following after Him."
The custom has hardly yet fallen into desuetude, of in-
serting in long leases of farms, a covenant by the tenant
to keep a hawk or a hound for the landlord. The form of
such a covenant is still found in the law books. But, so
early as the days of our Puritan forefathers, we find an
instance in Shropshire, noted by Philip Henry, of a worthy
gentleman who, in renewing his leases, inserted, instead of
this condition, a covenant obliging them to keep a Bible
in their own houses for themselves, and to bring up their
children to learn to read and be catechized.
Yavasour Powell, the apostle of Wales, was an eminent
instance at this time of active Christian life. Church or
chapel, mountain or moor, fair or market, — wherever and
whenever it could be done, — he preached Christ with
remarkable success, until his death in 1671.
Hugh Owen was a candidate for the Church w^hen the
Act of Uniformity passed. Giving up this, he retired on
his own little farm in Merionethshire, and spent his life
in preaching the Gospel to the country people in that and
the surrounding shires. His regular circuit took him
three months to complete, preaching as he went. Thus he
lived and laboured until 1699, — a fine instance of a man
with one purpose, and that purpose concident and identical
with his heavenly Master's will.
From an inspection of the scantily-preserved records of
A.D. 1660-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 271
the first formation of Dissenting cliurclies in England in
the early part of the seventeenth century, we gather that
the founders were men of strong piety, ardent zeal, and
blameless life. Circumstances of persecution had called
forth from the bosom of society these " village Hampdens"
of the Church. They may have attached overweening
importance to their own views of church order and
discipline, but amidst obloquy and difficulties, they
paved the way for the free action of evangelical principles
in English society. Some of such communities had
existed from the first dawnings of spiritual life in the
Reformation, some took their rise from the Separatists
of the Elizabethan era ; but the greater number sprang
from the efi'ects of the Act of Nonconformity in 1662,
and were constituted by a people still attached to their
ejected ministers, and providing for the continuance
of their ministrations as the times and circumstances
permitted.
When we pursue religion into the holes and corners
whither the Bartholomew Act had driven it in the latter
half of the seventeenth century, we find numberless cases
of bright personal piety. The records of the ejected
ministers display not only their self-denial but their
soodness. One instance is an illustration of a multitude
of others : — For almost twenty years, Mr. Hughes had
faithfully filled the incumbency of St. Andrew's, Ply-
mouth. He found the liturgy laid aside, and did not
resume it. He was dismissed by royal commission in
1662 for Nonconformity, and sent to the barren limestone
rock in Plymouth Sound called St. Nicholas Island,
272 THE REIGXS OF CHARLES II., [i..D. 1660-1703.
where imprisonment broke his health. When liberated
by the kind influence of his friends, he went to Kings-
bridge, where he preached for a short time, and then
languished and died. His dying testimony was, — " The
dead cause of Reformation for which we now suffer shall
rise and revive again : salvation shall come to the
Churches." Whilst incumbent he had organized clerical
meetings of episcopal, presbyterian, and congregational
ministers, for mutual support and prayer. After he was
silenced, he happened one day to ride into the neigh-
bouring town of Totnes. It was, though unknown to
him, the visitation day of the bishop. The clergy of
that large archdeaconry were assembled to meet their
diocesan. Upon its being known that the silenced
Nonconformist was in the town and about to leave again,
all the clergymen, save three only, left the bishop,
and accompanied the good old man on horseback for a
mile out of the town on his homeward way. Such a
procession hastily gathering in the narrow streets of the
little town, and then defiling over the crown of the hill
along the deep lanes by the ruined castle, was a veritable
triumph.
The original Nonconformists now begin to disappear
from the scene. Persecution had brouo^ht into hia;h relief
the features of their personal religion. There is a pensive
yet hopeful cast in the meditations of the Cliristian sufferer.
In all ages the glorious future of the Church on earth has
been his solace. He has felt, too, that the refining pro-
cess has been a blessing to his own soul, and is a standing
necessity for the Church. There is a noble tone, for
AD. 1660 1702.J JAMES II., AND WILLIAM IIL 273
instance, in the following words expressed by the
spiritually-minded Joseph Alleine, after his own release
from prison, to one still unjustly suffering : —
" T can tell you little good of myself ; but this I can tell
you — that the promises of God were never so sweet in this
world to me as in and since my imprisoned state. Oh the
bottomless riches of the covenant of grace ! It shames
me that I have let such a treasure lie by so long, and have
made so little use of it. ISTever did my soul know the
heaven of a believer's life, till I learnt to live a life of
praise, and by more frequent consideration, to set home
the unspeakable riches of the divine promises, to which,
I trust, through grace, I am made an heir. I verily
perceive that all our work were done at once, if we could
but prevail with ourselves and others to live like believers :
to tell all the world by our course and carriage, that there
is such pleasantness in Christ's ways, such beauty in
holiness, such reward to obedience, as we profess to
believe. May ours and our people's conversations, but
preach this aloud to the world: that there is a reality
in what God hath promised j that heaven is worth the
venturing for ; that the sufferings of the present time are
not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be
revealed in us !" *
This good man, in his last publication, thus deplores the
decay of godliness : — "Friends, it is matter of astonish-
ment to consider how very few lively Christians there are
to be found amongst us. Thus we every one talk."t
* Stanford's Alleine, p. .304.
t "Instructions about Heart-work," p. ] 14.
T
274 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II.
[i..D. 1C60-17C
During tlie indulgence granted in 1672, there was, once
more, open and frequent and fervent preaching, in houses
and conventicles. Lectureships were established, and for
about three years the word of the Lord was again freely-
disseminated. But a suspicion of the object of govern-
ment, and a sense of the precarious tenure of the new
liberty, clouded the minds of God's people. Nevertheless,
there was a commendable amount of activity in the supply
of religious teaching, — very much confined, however, to the
gathered flocks, and not outward in its scope.
A bright beam of light falls upon the religious condi-
tion of the working classes in England from the record
of Bunyan's early life. His wife's father was counted for
a godly man : though he had no other worldly goods to
leave to his daughter, he gave her " The Plain Man's
Pathway to Heaven," and "The Practice of Piety."
The daughter fondly recounted to her husband, how her
father would reprove and correct vice, both in liis house
and among his neighbours ; and what a strict and holy
life he lived in his days, both in words and deeds.
Although Buuyan himself at this time had no relish
for the beauty of holiness, yet the possibility and pattern
of it in his own sphere had an attraction for his spirit,
which greatly helped him to leave off sinning and turn
^to the Lord. Another illustration of the same kind is
afforded by the well-known incident in his youth, of the
godly women at Bedford sitting in the sunshine, discuss-
ing the things which concern the kingdom of heaven.
" Upon a day, the good providence of God called me to
Bedford, to work at my calling ; and in one of the streets
i..D. 1860-1703.]
JAMES II., AND WILLIAM IIL 275
of that town, I came where there were three or four poor
women sitting at a door, in the sun, talking about the
things of God ; and being now willing to hear their dis-
course, I drew near to hear what they said, for I was now
a brisk talker of myself, in the matters of religion; but I
may say, I heard but understood not ; for they were far
above, out of my reach. Theii' talk was about a new-birth,
the work of God in their hearts, as also how they were
convinced of their miserable state by nature ; they talked
how God had visited their souls with his love in the Lord
Jesus, and with what words and promises they had been
refreshed, comforted and supported against the temptations
of the devil : moreover, they reasoned of the suggestions
and temptations of Satan in particular ; and told to each
other, by what means they had been afflicted and how
they were borne up under his assaults. They also dis-
coursed of their own wretchedness of heart, and of their uu
belief ; and did contemn, slight, and abhor their own right
eousness, as filthy, and insufficient to do them any good.
"And, methought, they spake as if joy did make them
speak ; they spake with such pleasantness of scripture
language, and with such appearance of grace in all they
said, that they were to me as if they had found a new
world ; as if they were ' people that dwelt alone, and were
not to be reckoned among their neighbours.'
" At this I felt my own heart began to shake, and mis-
tnist my condition to be naught ; for I saw that in all my
thoughts about religion and salvation, the new -birth did
never enter into my mind ; neither knew I the comfort ot
the word and promise, nor the deceitfulness and treachery
276 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., U-b. 1C60-1702.
of my own wicked heart. As for secret thoughts, T took
no notice of them; neither did I understand what Satan's
temptations were, nor how they were to be withstood and
resisted, &c.
"Thus, therefore, when I had heard and considered what
they said, I left them, and went about my employment
again, but their talk and discourse went with me; also
my heart would tarry with them, for I was greatly affected
with their words, both because by them I w: s convinced
that I wanted the true tokens of a truly godly man, and
also because by them I was convinced of the happy and
blessed condition of him that was such a one.
" Therefore I would often make it my business to be going
again and again into the company of these poor people ;
for I could not stay away ; and the more I went among
them, the more I did question my condition ; and as I
still do remember, presently I found two things within
me, at which I did sometimes marvel, especially consider-
ing what a blind, ignorant, sordid and ungodly wretch but
just before I was. The one was a very great softness and
tenderness of heart, which caused me to fall under the
conviction of what by scripture they asserted, and the
other was a great bending in my mind to a continual
meditating on it, and on all other good things which at
any time I heard or read of"*
John Bunyan is one of the most vigorous Christian
characters enrolled in history. He lived in and for both
worlds ; the things of time and sense, and the things of
eternity and faith, obtained proportionate measures of his
* "Grace Aboundinc;/' ch. ii.
A.D. 1660-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 2ii
sympathy, thought, and care. As a neighbour, friend,
counsellor, preacher, teacher, administrator, and author,
he shone, without any other effort than the unwearying
desire to serve Christ and glorify God.
Very rarely, in the nature of things, can we obtain a
glimpse of that fellowship of the Spirit which yet to a large
extent, pervades the Church in all ages;— the sympathy
which is enkindled by common resources in heaven above,
and kept up by common liabilities in the world below.
In the MS. records of a small church gathered at
Cockermouth in 1676, we read, that on April 14th the
congregation met, and spent some hours in prayer for
the Church of Christ in New England, on account ot
troubles by the Indians. So again ,on the 9th of June :
and on the 22nd of September they kept a day of thanks-
giving for "God's appearing for his people in New
England : ' Blessed be God, who is a God hearing prayer.' "
A pleasant instance do we get of religious friendship
from an entry in the diary of Halph Thoresby, the
historian of Leeds, in the year 1692 : —
"September 10th, afternoon. Had a letter recommen-
datory from Lord Wharton, for the eminent Mr. Howe
of London ; whose excellent company, with the Rev. Mr.
Todd's, I enjoyed rest of day; and evening, his assistance
in family duty.
" 12th, morning. — Enjoyed Mr. Howe's assistance in
family prayer ; then accompanied him to Pontefract. Lord,
presei-ve him from the danger of his journey, and convey
him safe to his own habitation, that he may be continued
as a blessing to his nation !"
^/O THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [i.D 1660-1702.
A more toiicliing one occurred six years afterwards,
when Howe thus writes to his venerable friend Spils-
burj, the aged Baptist minister, then drawing near
his end : — " If I tell thee I love thee, thou knowest it
before as to the quod sit ; but for the quid sit, no words
can express it ; therefore the offer at it is vain. When —
when shall we meet above *? That will make us pure
good comjDany when dulness and sluggishness are shaken
off and gone, and we shall be all spirit and life. Cordial
salutations from me and mine, to thee and thine. Fare-
well in our dear Lord : and still remember thy entirely
affectionate J. Howe."
Piety was, however, by no means confined to the
illustrious sufferers for conscience' sake who differed from
the dominant party. Let it not be supposed that there
were not bright lights and loving hearts amongst those
who saw not and felt not the necessity for separation.
Let us contemplate the work of Mr. Thomas Gouge,
the old vicar of St. Sepulchre's in London. For twenty-
four years he preached the Gospel there faithfully,
catechized in tlie church every morning, — instituted
industrial reformatory operations, by purchasing a stock
of flax and hemp, setting the poor to work, and re-
claiming them from poverty and vice. He diligently
taught all the children, gave a Bible to every person of age
to read it, and required from them an account of their
progress. In order to promote education and Bible-
reading in Wales, he made an annual journey thither. He
established between three and four hundred schools in the
Principality, published a large translation into Welsh of
AD 1660-1702] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 279
the Bible and Liturgy, and distributed them either gratui-
tously or at a low rate. The house of the Bible Society
in Earl-street, and the Ragged School and Reformatory in
Field-lane, have appropriately sprung up within sound of
the bells of St. Sepulchre.
In fact, the essential identity of Christian doctrine in
all ages is paralleled by the close correspondence of
Christian action in all time.
In the middle of this seventeenth century, there was
a young man of burning zeal and fail- abilities passing
through the halls of Cambridge, — Thomas Wadsworth. He
there formed religious classes among the under-graduates.
He became rector of Newington in South wark by election,
and distinguished himself there by carrying out alone
many enterprises of mercy in the then scattered suburb,
similar to those which have made it renowned in modem
times. He preached faithfully and constantly, taught the
people from house to house, gave Bibles to the poor,
expended his estate and time in works of charity among
his parishioners. He was a man of singular ability in
work, of good judgment and healthy piety ; mighty in
prayer, diligent in doing good. After he was ejected by
the Bartholomew Act, he still went among the people
preaching. Similar testimony might be given concerning
hundreds of other good men who pursued the practice of
piety and evangelical virtue under difficulties and worldly
disfavour.
This similarity of religious action in all times may be
discerned in the first formation of Young Men's Christian
Associations. In 1632, a number of London apprentices.
280 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., la d. 1060-1702.
having no other opportunity for religious conversation save
the Lord's Day, united together to meet at five o'clock on
Sunday mornings for an hour's prayer and religious con-
versation, and at six o'clock attended the morning lecture
at Cornhill or Christ Church.* In the Life of Dr.
William Harris, we find mention of a similar association,
meeting once a week for " prayer, reading, and religious
conversation ; for the mutual communication of know-
ledge ; and with a view of strengthening each other
against the solicitations of evil company." t This was
about 1695.
The course of life in the gay world is sometimes inter-
rupted by the conversion to religion of some eminent
votary of fashion. This was the case in the year 1680,
when the society of infidel libertines, among whom John
Earl of Kochester was ranked as a leader in ability,
attainments, and impiety, was startled by the report that
he had become a saint. He lay at Woodstock for five
weeks, languishing of an illness from which he did not
recover. In poignant distress, he repented ; and, as tlie
result of the intelligent direction of his mind to the whole
subject, he sought and accepted the mercy of Him whom he
had so long ridiculed. The letters and advice of Bishop
Burnet, and, above all, the counsels of Mr. Pai^ons, the
evangelical chaplain of his mother, were instrumental to this
end. The former gives the following account : — " He said
he was now persuaded both of the truth of Christianity and
* Wilson's "History of London Dissenting Churches," vol. i.,
p. 407.
t Ibid., p. 66.
1660 i:02.]
JAMES II., AND WILLIAM IIL 281
of the power of inward grace, of wliicb he gave me this
strange account : — He said, Mr. Parsons, in order to his
conviction, read to liim the fifty -third chapter of the
Prophecy of Isaiah, and compared that with tlie history
of our Saviour's passion, that he might there see a
I^rophecy concerning it, written many ages before it was
done j which the Jews, that blasphemed Jesus Christ,
still kept in their hands, as a book divinely inspired. He
said to me that, as he heard it read, he felt an inward
force ujDon him, which did so enlighten his mind and
convince him, that he could resist it no longer ; for the
words had an authority which did shoot like rays or beams
in his mind, so that he was not only convinced by the
reasonings he had about it, which satisfied his under-
tanding, but by a power which did so effectually
constrain him, that he did after as firmly believe in his
Saviour as if he had seen him in the clouds. He had
made it to be read so often to him, that he had got it by
heart, and went through a great part of it in discoursing
with me, with a sort of heavenly pleasure giving me his
reflections on it."*
In the year 1671 was published a treatise entitled
" The Causes of the Decay of Christian Piety ; or, an
Impartial Survey of the Ruins of Christian Eeligion under-
mined by Christian Practice. Written by the Author of
the Whole Duty of Man." It displays on the frontis-
piece an engraving of a ship at anchor being consumed by
tire, and sets forth in lachrymose vein, but in the strongest
terms, the degeneracy of the times in relation to religion.
* Burnet's '' Life and Death of John Earl of Rochester," p. 82.
2S4 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [.v.d. 1660-1702.
sister, describing liis first \isit to the Metropolis, lie writes,
in 1680, tlmt the crowd flocking to hear good Mr. Shower
preach was so great, that " you could scarce get any room,
it was so crowded." Wherever and whenever the clear
ring of Gospel truth is heard in the air, it acts as an
effectual call-note to the souls of men.
In the year 1682, Traill notices the commencement of
the great defection : — " In the beginning of the reforma-
tion from Popery, the worthies whom God raised up in
several countries did excellently in retrieving the sim-
plicity of the Gospel from the popish mixtures. But that
good work took a stand quickly, and is on the declining
greatly. How little of Jesus Christ is there in some
pulpits 1 It is seen as to success, that whatever the law
doth in alarming sinners, it is still the Gospel voice that
is the key that opens the heart to Jesus Christ." *
In 1685, the current of vital godliness is still fre-
quently running in prisons. The father of Dr. Watts,
who was persecuted and imprisoned for Nonconformity,
writes to his children, — " I charge you frequently to read
the Holy Scriptures ; and that not as a task, or as a burden
laid on you, but get your hearts to delight in them : there
are the only plexisant histories which are certainly true,
and greatly profitable ; there are abundance of precious
promises made to sinners, such as you are by nature ;
there are sweet invitations and counsels of God and Christ
to come in and lay hold of them ; there are the choice
heavenly sayings and sermons of the Son of God, the
blessed prophets and apostles. Above all books and
* Traill's Works, vol. i., p. 247.
AD. lGGO-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 285
writings, accoimt the Bible the best : read it most, and
lay up the truths of it in your hearts : therein is revealed
the whole will of God, for the rule of man's faith and
obedience, which he must believe and do, to be holy here
and happy hereafter." *
Dr. Horneck, who died in 1697, was for many years
a popular evangelical preacher at the Savoy Chapel. In an
age of frivolity and form, he was earnest in his life, pure in
his aim, pathetic in his pult>it, loving in his deportment to
others, and ingenious in efforts to i)romote the knowledge
of Christ. His church was so crowded, that it was
difficult to obtain admission. He was eminently a man
of spiritual mind ; for, unmoved by the rationalistic ten-
dencies of the current literature, he published in his book
entitled "Delight and Judgment," the following noble
description of the true pleasures of a Christian, declar-
ing them to flow from " a spiritual delight in God, in a
crucified Saviour, and in the blessed effects and influences
of the Holy Spirit, — in feeling the operations of the
Divine power and glory upon our souls, in the precious
promises of the Gospel, in the revelations God hath
vouchsafed to mankind, in the good we see wrought in
ourselves and others, in the providences of God, and in
contemplation of His various dealings with the several
states, orders, and degrees of men, — in psalms and hymns
and praises of the Divine Majesty — in the thoughts an^
expectations of a better life — in the treasures which God
hath laid up for thetn that fear Him, in another world,
and in the various privileges, prerogatives, and advantages
of holy men."
* Montgomery's "Christian Correspondent," voL iii,, p. 178.
286 THE REIGXS OF CHARLES IL, [i..r>. 1660-1702.
The close of the seventeentli century witnessed good
Matthew Henry at Chester working to the full extent of
man's life-power, in the promulgation of his favourite
doctrine. " I am most in my element," he says, " when
I am preaching Christ and Him crucified." All that
could be done to methodize time, to economize and apply
ministerial opportunity, was done by this diligent, able,
affectionate man. He catechized, expounded, visited,
fasted, prayed, counselled, wrote, preached, with unflag-
ging diligence, and yet maintained a full flow of personal
piety and communion with God. He was greatly success-
ful, A credit he would have been to any age, but a
particular contrast in his own.
Soon after the Restoration, the Institutions of Episcopius
were substituted as a text-book in our Universities for the
Institutes of Calvin. Apart from all controversy, this
fact is the indication of great deterioration in the standard
of religious thought. From the first, there have been
evangelical champions on both sides of the everlasting
controversy respecting grace and free wdll. On both sides
multitudes of combatants, equally loving and trusting
Christ, have ranged themselves. But it is nevertheless a
historical fact that vital Christianity has flourished mostly
in the times of Augustinism, Jansenism, and Calvinism.
When the first declined in the Romish Church, the second
in the Gallican, the third in the Anglican, the whole
religious power of each body became less effective and
its action less scriptural. Religion has been frequently
injured by the tactics of the combatants, and by
the partial successes on either side. The fashionable
^.D 1660-1702] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 287
extreme Arminianism wliicli prevailed in liigli places
after the Kestoration, led to a reaction in low places of a
dogmatic, unlovely Calvinism : both have left their blight-
ing influences on succeeding church-growth in our land.
In the present da}^, the deliverances of Scripture as it
is, are wisely accepted on all hands as the true limits of
religious thought, to the infinite advantage of the common
cause. In the unity of a common work, the labourers find
their individual difierences are practically overcome, with-
out being either despised or solved.
" 0 could we bear that sacrifice,
What lights would all arouud us rise !"
The religious publications of the period partook, with
rare exceptions, of the somnolency , creeping over the
visible kingdom of Christ. The first age of the Reforma-
tion produced controversial writers whose chief employ-
ment was the manifestation anddefence of the new doctrines
on the basis of holy Scripture. The second age was dis-
tinguished by men who strove to vindicate the reform, on
the tooting of its accordance with the tenets of the Primi-
tive Church. The third age found the controversy shifted,
for strife had arisen in the reformed camp as to the finality
of the measure. In the first stage, learning was subordi-
nated to personal assurance of salvation ; in the second,
both were used together ; in the third, personal assurance
no longer appears as the energizing motive. Every page,
for instance, of Tyndale, brings us into acquaintanceship
with the man and his hopes of heaven. Taylor's affluent
sentences show us far less of himself, but introduce a
cloud of witnesses ; wliilst Tillotson and his contemporaries
288 THE REIGNS OF CHARLES II., [a.d. 1660-1702.
leave us altogether strangers to tlie writers, in regard
to tlieir personal, cordial, pervading reception of Christ
crucified.
The closing years of the seventeenth century were, how-
ever, characterized by some few premonitions of future
revival. The Honourable Robert Boyle bears a name
which cannot well be left out in any history of the pro-
gress of experimental philosophy, and is worthy of still
higher commendation in the history of personal religion,
for he is the first notable instance of the acknowledgment
of those personal obligations for its difi*usion which lie at
the basis of modern religious manifestations. He not only-
sustained by his " nursing" letters^ and ample contribu-
tions, good John Eliot, the missionary to the Ked Indians,
but attempted, as a director of the East India Company,
to connect missionary efforts with mercantile under-
takings in the East. He printed 500 coi)ies of the Four
Gospels and Acts in Malay alim at his own expense, con-
tributed largely to the Turkish New Testament, printed
and distributed tracts in Arabic, had types cast and
Bibles printed in Gaelic, and published and distributed
the Bible in Welsh. This great man had been converted
by the impression made on him whilst a student by a
storm at Geneva, and attained to a peace and rest in
believing, which, though often tried by intellectual doubts,
yet became more and more fixed and operative as life ad-
vanced. His works abound in passages which show the
workings of the inner life. The following passage, on
meditation, will serve as a specimen : — " There is a thing,"
he says, in one of his pieces, " wondrously wanting
A..D. 1660-1702.] JAMES II., AND WILLIAM III. 289
amongst us ; and that is meditation. If we would give
ourselves to it, and go up witli Moses into tlie Mount to
confer with God, and seriously think of the price of Christ's
death, and of the joys of heaven, and the privileges of a
Christian ; if we would frequently meditate on these,
we should have these sealing days every day — at least,
oftener. This hath much need to be pressed upon us ;
the neglect of this makes lean souls. He who is fre-
quently in that, hath these sealing days often. Couldst
thou have a parley with God in private, and have thy
heart rejoice with the comforts of another day, even
whilst thou art thinkiag of these things Christ would be
in the midst of thee. Many of the saints of God have
but little of this, because they spend but few hours in
meditation."
There are very few poetical productions between the
age of the Commonwealth and that of Watts, which de-
note the existence of religious experience in the writer.
Exception must be made in favour of a popular volume
entitled " S})iritual Songs," issued anonymously towards
the close of the seventeenth century. The following
is a fair specimen of poetry wliich must have quickened
the pulsations of spiritual life in this dull time : —
**JOY IN THE HOLY GHOST.
*' There is a stream that issues forth
From God's eternal throne,
And from the Lamb a hving stream,
Clear as the crystal stone I
This stream doth water Paradise,
It makes the angels sing :
One cordial droj) revives my heait, —
Hence all my joys do spring.
290 CHARLES II. TO WILLIAM III. Il.t>. 1660-1702.
" Such joys as are unspeakable,
And full of glory too ;
Such hidden manna, hidden pearls,
As worldlings do not know.
Eye hath not seen, nor ear hath heard,
From fancy 'tis concealed,
What thou. Lord, hast laid up for thine,
And hast to me revealed.
" I see thy face, I hear thy voice,
I taste thy sweetest love :
My soul doth leap : but, oh for wings,
The wings of Noah's dove !
Then should I flee far hence away.
Leaving this world of sin ;
Then should my Lord put forth his hand,
And kindly take me in."
CHAPTER XV.
Prevalent contempt for evangelical religion produced
its inevitable consequence, — universal clegeneracy inmorals.
Lady Mary Wortley Montague's comic proposal implies
the whole truth. Her ladyship suggested that in the
next session, Parliament should pass a law to have the
word "not" taken out of the Commandments^ and
" clapped into the Creed ; " " the world being entirely
revenue de bagatelle, and honour, virtue, reputation, &c.,
which we used to hear of in our nursery, being as much
laid aside and forgotten as crumpled ribands."
Prudent men took the alarm : the opening of the
eighteenth century witnessed several attempts to ame-
liorate the corrupt state of things.
The first movement was made by voluntary societies,
under high patronage, for the direct suppression of vice.
Queen Anne inaugurated one of them; another was
formed by and of London citizens ; a third, of the City
constables, for the due execution of the laws against
292 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY, [ad. 1700 1750.
Sabbath-breaking and immorality ; a foarth, for the
impartial discovery and prosecution of evil-doers ; and
so on, to the number of eight distinct incorporations
for similar purposes in the Metropolis alone.
These, not being founded on the sound principle of
dealing with the root of the matter, soon fell into for-
mality, and died out.
Another series of societies arose in a different manner,
and were somewhat more effective. It appears that, in
the year 1667, two pious clergymen in London — the
Rev. Dr. Horneck and Mr, Smithies, — preached so pun-
gently as to produce considerable effect, in exciting
anxiety respecting religion, in the minds of great numbers
of people. Under the influence of this feeling, various
small, isolated religious societies were formed in the
Metropolis and other places.
In 1699, Dr, Woodward published an account in which
he enumerates forty of these associations in and around
London. The public progress of spiritual things first
showed itself by faithful, simple gospel-preaching ; next
came the manifestation of personal concern and inquiry
respecting the way of salvation ; then mutual communi-
cation, and meetings for religious conversation and prayer.
Thus the first symptoms of the returning current of
spiritual life became visible.
These voluntary gatherings were the fosterers and
forerunners of the subsequent outflow of religious energy.
They were mainly promoted by young persons in whose
hearts religion had newly become a power. When
Wesley began his work, he eveiy where went to these
1700 1750.]
FIRST PART. 293
societies, and used them as the first stations in his great
movement.
The societies were governed by rules which might "be
conformed to by any serious, sober-minded person. The
non-evangelical character of these regulations proved the
causes of the comparative failure, and early extinction of
the associations. That burning zeal for the proclamation
and prevalence of Christ's Gospel which overleaps the
barriers of ecclesiastical topography, was lacking ; and
hence, though they were the precursors, yet they had not
the honour of restoring the fainting religious life of the
nation.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel was
formed in 1701 ; but the defective theology at this time
patronized by tlie Church of England, effectually neu-
tralized all official efforts at evangelization. The degene-
rate views of Bishop Bull's " Apostolic Harmony," pub-
lished in 1669, gained extensive acceptance : the doctrine
c^f justification by faith was displaced ; faith and works
were to be united as joint conditions ; salvation was
considered to be a pursuit only, and not as an attain-
ment in any sense, on this side of the day of judg-
ment. King William, in 1695, and King George, in
1721, prohibited anti-Trinitarian teaching ; but the pro-
hibitions were ineffectual, and now only serve to indicate
the extent of the evil.
Nor was the prospect more attractive in other parts
of the field. The original Nonconformist ministers had
no successors in the proper sense of the term. The
learning and orders which they brought to their work.
294 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1700-1750.
came to be considered as necessary qualifications. When
these could no longer be had, they were substituted
by such approximations towards learning and orders,
as could be provided by dissenting academies and
ministerial ordination. The original positions of the
separated congregations, would have led to the selection
of ministers, in whom fervid piety and ability to preach,
should be the first, — perhaps the only qualifications ; but
under the influence of a supposed propriety, derived
through the good men who had been thrust out of the
Establishment, they established a clerical institute of their
own, sustained it by the best educational apparatus they
could command, produced a few able men, and gave
authority to a host of mediocre youths, to monopolize
ministerial work, on the ground of their formal training for
the purpose. The burning zeal of the Lollard missionary,
the lofty self-sacrifice of the Tudor reformer, the great
power of the Commonwealth puritan, were lost. All
things ran in prescribed channels. Forms, such as they
were, usurped the chief place. The doctrine of our Lord's
divinity, guarded only by creeds, fell into less prominence,
and extensively dropped altogether from the system of
many preachers; and with it vital Christianity died
out. Aggression was no longer the law of the kingdom.
A kind of ecclesiastical stagnation prevailed. General
society became eminently anti-religious. Godliness, ba-
nished from polite circles, was regarded as an eccentric
weakness. Men everywhere became ashamed of Christ ;
the waters from the wells of salvation, flowed only in
secluded dells, hidden from the public gaze. In the midst
K.I,. 1700-1750] FIRST PART. 295
of the thirty years' political peace, there was an absolute
decay of all that exalts a nation, or ennobles and blesses
individuals.
The voice of Christian song, which has so often
heralded the better time coming, did so now. About
1706, Dr. Watts's hymns furnished aliment for the
hopeful. In 1709, his "Horse Lyricse," prefaced by
laboured apologies, proved that evangelical piety might
be allied to taste, and that poetry might be found in the
neighbourhood of religion. In 1719, he published his
versification of the Psalms, which was adapted to the
most advanced and joyous state of the Church. Hising
above the surrounding mist, like the lark, he greeted the
heavens, and sang —
" Jesus shall reign where'er the sim
Doth his successive journeys run ;
His kingdom stretch from shore to shore,
Till moons shall wax and wane no more."
These utterances continued, for nearly half a century,
to be in advance of the average amount of religious feel-
ing amongst evangelical Christians. They were certainly
far in advance of the style of sermonizing then current.
It was not from want of learning that the preachers of
this period failed to lay hold of the public mind, nor was
it from want of opportunity, but from the entire absence
of individuality/ both in the subject and mode of their
addresses. They presented learned disquisitions and able
vindications, to minds needing to be interested in ele-
mentary principles, to souls needing a personal supply of
the knowledge of salvation, to hearts requiring a personal
296 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1700-1750.
awakening. The feelings were not aroused, affections not
engaged ; people were tired of being convinced without
being persuaded. Fervour and zeal were condemned quali-
ties ; spiritual life sank into inanition. In a few places the
Gospel was still preached with genial hearty plainness of
speech : in these cases it proved to be, as it ever has been
and must be, "the power of God unto salvation," and
thus life was continued in the land. Watts blamed
Doddridge for patronizing the Methodists and Lady
Huntingdon ; but the affectionate pastor of Northampton
saw further than his brethren, — he felt that themes classi-
cally correct and chastely polished, were not adapted to
accomplish the work of converting the world. Never
before had Nonconformity attained so genteel a position
as in the times of tlie first monarchs of the Hanoverian
succession, never were its spirituality and usefulness at
so low an ebb.
We miss from the picture altogether the public interest
in the Gospel. There was nothing like the exhibitions
which might have been witnessed at Paul's Cross when
Hooper was the preacher; or at St. Margaret's, when
Latimer preached; or at St. Mary's at Oxford, when
Cartwright had the pulpit, and the sexton was obliged
to take out the windows to make more room ; or at a
meeting-house on the Surrey side of London, in a dark
winter morning, when Bunyan preached to thousands;
or at the Barbican Chapel, when worthy John Gosnold,
an ejected minister, had three thousand stated hearers ;
or at Bristol, where there were fifteen hundred regular
listeners at one chapel, in the later days of Puritanism.
A.D. 1700-175O.] FIRST PART. 297
The press was almost equally cheerless in regard to pro-
ductions of an evangelical spirit, with the exception oi
the works of Dr. Watts and Doddridge.
The religious literature of the Reformation period, save
so far as it dealt with Romanist controversy, was essen-
tially expository. The Bible was used with unquestioning
faith. It was felt to be God's truth. Afterwards, when
Christian scholars were allowed some breathing-time from
persecution, they began to indulge freely in controversy
respecting doctrines : as this abated, there arose argumen-
tative discussions touching the evidences. It was fondly
hoped by Baxter and others, who opened the defensive
batteries of the citadel, that a solid demonstration of the
transcendental claims of the Bible and of the world to come,
would bear down the stream of frivolity, and create a
generation of dignified, thoughtful men. The event did
not answer the expectation. The life of God in the soul,
is not often kindled by mere study, and real students
are always few in this busy world. The noblest considera-
tions concerning God's ways are devoid of interest, until
the soul is touched with power from on high. The latter
sometimes surprises with its genial glow the earnest
scholar, for it is ever the reward of devout research into
the oracles of God, but the multitude are wrought upon
by fervid, repeated exhortations, and not by the slower
process of study.
If standards of orthodoxy could have availed to prevent
declension, then the perspicuous, decided Articles of the
English church on the one hand, and the full definitions
of the Assembly's Larger Catechism on the other, would
298 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a..d. 1700-1750.
have prevented the subscribers to the first from becoming
Arminian, and the southern partisans of the second from
becoming Arian, both which perversions became almost
universal in spite of unexceptionable dogmatic forms.
The general decline was quite obvious to the good men
who had been trained up in the preceding age. It is dif-
ficult to assign a reason for the mournful acquiescence
with which many of them regarded it. Some were still
found faithful, but no hero arose. We may read in the life
of Samuel Harvey, a devoted young London minister in
1722, that, " he took great pains to press upon his hearers
the vast importance of the mediation of Christ, and the
standing influences of the Holy Spirit, as the great pecu-
liarities of the Christian dispensation, and feared that the
want of due regard to them was one great reason of the
languishing state of religion, and of the frequent revolts
from the Christian interest." *
To the same effect writes Mr. Hay ward in 1751, in his
correspondence with Dr. Conder : — " I am sorry to find
you complain of the state of religion amongst you. Infi-
delity abounds, and churches grow cold and lukewarm ;
ministers labour, and in a great measure in vain. It
requires courage and resolution now to confess Christ
before men : things cannot continue long in the present
posture; either there must be a reformation, or some sore
judgment." f
Dr. Watts, in the preface to his "Humble Attempt to
Kevive Religion," published in 1731, laments "the decay
* Wilson's " History of Dissenting Churches," vol. i. p. 87.
t Ibid, vol. iii. p. 109.
x.D. 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 299
of vital religion in the hearts and lives of men, and the
little success which the ministrations of the Gospel have
had of late for the conversion of sinners." Recalls upon
" every one to use all just and proper efforts for the re-
coveiy of dying religion in the world." Archbishop Seeker,
in 1738, says, "In this we cannot be mistaken, that an
open and professed disregard to religion is become,
through a variety of unhappy causes, the distinguishing
character of the present age, that the evil is gi'own to a
great height in the metropolis of the nation, and is daily
spreading through every part of it,"
All contemporary literature bears testimony to the same
dismal conclusion. Doubtless the lines of Wesley express
the suitable conviction and prayer, — •
' ' I pass the churches through,
The scattered bones I see,
And Christendom appears in view,
A hideous Calvary.
" Can these dry bones perceive
The quickening power of grace,
Or Christian infidels retrieve
The life of righteousness ?
•' All-good, Almighty Lord,
Thou knowest thine own design.
The virtue of thine own great word,
The energy divine.
" Now for thy mercy's sake.
Let this great work proceed,
Dispensed by whom thou wilt, to wake
The spiritually dead."
There can be no doubt about this decline of piety in the
300 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1700-175C.
dissenting cliurches in tlie middle of the eighteenth cen-
tury, for we have the statement from the ministers them-
selves. Mr. Barker, morning j^reacher at Salters' Hall,
in a letter to Lady Huntingdon, says : — " Alas ! the dis-
tinguished doctrines of the Gospel — Christ crucified, the
only ground of hope for fallen man, — salvation through
his atoning blood — the sanctification by his eternal Spirit,
are old-fashioned things, now seldom heard in our churches.
A cold, comfortless kind of preaching prevails almost
everywhere; and reason, the great law of reason, and the
eternal law of reason, is idolized and deified." The Coun-
tess replies that " were the Gospel of our adorable
Saviour preached in purity and Avith -zeal, the place would
be filled with hearers, and God would bless his own word to
the conversion of souls. Witness the effects produced by
those whom He hath sent forth of late to proclaim His
salvation. What numbers have been converted to God,
and what multitudes attend to hear the word wherever it
is proclaimed in the light and love of it."* Dr. Dod-
dridge testifies to the same effect concerning both the
disease and the remedy.
Defoe, in 1712, published his tract entitled, " Present
State of Parties in Great Britain, Particularly an Enquiry
into the State of the Dissenters," in which he contrasts
the degenerate piety and puny religious attainments of
the age then comiug, with those of the former days.
His essay affords a fine description of English Puritanism,
He says : —
" Their ministers were men known over the whole
* "Life of Countess of Huntingdon," vol. i. p. 144.
A.D 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 301
world ; tlieir general character was owned even by their
enemies; generally speaking, they were men of liberal
education, had a vast stock of learning, were exemplary
in piety, studious, laborious, and unexceptionably capable
of carrying on the work they had embarked in.
" As were the ministers, so, in proportion, were the
people; they were conscientious, diligent hearers of the
word preached, studied the best gifts, encouraged, but not
worshipped their ministers ; they followed the substance,
not the sound of preaching ; they understood what they
heard, and knew how to choose their ministers; what
they heard preached, they improved in practice ; their
families were little churches, where the worship of God
was constantly kept up ; their children and families were
duly instructed, and themselves, when they came to trial,
cheerfully suffered persecution for the integrity of their
hearts, abhorring to contradict, by their practice, what
they professed in principle, or, by any hypocritical com-
pliance, to giv^e the world reason to believe they had not
dissented but upon a sincerely-examined and mere con-
scientious scruple.
" Among these, both ministers and people, there was a
joint concurrence in carrying on the work of religion : the
first preached sound doctrine, without jingle or trifling;
they studied what they delivered; they preached their
sermons, rather than read them in the pulpit ; they spoke
from the heart to the heart, nothing like our cold declaim-
ing way, entertained now as a mode, and read with a
flourish, under the ridiculous notion of being methodical ;
but what they conceived by the assistance of the great
302 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [ad. 1700-1750.
Inspirer of his servants, the Holy Spirit, they delivered
with a becoming gravity, a decent fervor, an affectionate
zeal, and a ministerial authority, suited to the dignity of
the office, and the majesty of the work ; and as a testimony
of this, their practical works left behind them are a living
specimen of what they performed among us : such are the
large volumes of divinity remaining of Dr. Goodwin, Dr.
Manton, Dr. Owen, Dr. Bates, Mr. Charnock, Mr. Pool,
Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Baxter, Mr. Flavell, Mr. Howe, and
others, too many to mention.
" It will be a sad testimony of the declining state of
the Dissenters in England, to examine the race of minis-
ters that filled up the places of those gone before, but
more especially the stock springing up to succeed those
now employed, and to compare them with those gone off
the stage."
The prevalent irreligion attracted the attention of all
classes. The House of Commons presented an address to
the King on April 6th, 1711, declaring their opinion that
the want of churches had contributed to this sad result,
and asked for fifty new churches in the metropolis. Public
morality was at its lowest ebb. The Duke and Duchess
of Marlborough and the famous Pobert Walpole were
censured and deprived of place for separate systematic
plundering and misappropriation of public money. A
proclamation was issued, offering a reward of £100 to any
one who should discover a " Mohock " — the name given
to a set of fashionable brawlers who infested the streets
at night, and diverted themselves with maiming and
wounding whomsoever they met and could overcome. The
A.D. 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 303
political preface to Bishop Fleetwood's sermons was
ordered to be burnt in Palace Yard by the common
hangman. Duels were frequent and sanguinary. Clubs
for the express purpose of promoting blasphemy and irre-
ligion (Hell-fire Clubs) were in vogue. So rapid had been
the progress of degeneracy, that all this occurred ere
Richard Cromwell, the last of the actors in the previous
period, had died. He ended a religious, though inglorious
life in July, 1712, in the 90th year of his age.
Lewis, the historian of the English Bible, writing in
1738, says: "Whatever reputation the Holy Bible has
been had in, it is now treated with the utmost slight and
neglect, and is scarce anywhere read but in our Churches !
So far, too, are many of our modern Christians here in
England, from reading this book, meditating on it, and
letting the sense of it dwell richly or abundantly in them ;
that everybody knows, the writings of the most silly and
trifling autliors are often preferred and read with greater
pleasure and delight. What surer sign can be given that
we have a name that we live, and are dead 1 " Yet the
weapons were already forged which, in Butler's hands,
should vindicate the ways of God to men, and in Wesley's
should persuade men everywhere to be reconciled to God
through the living, loving Saviour.
Good men had gjven iip all hope of general success
for the Gospel ; they had consigned to spiritual cloud-
land the fulfilment of God's promises to his Church.
This was the case even with Doddridge, who lived in
advance of his age. His religious affections were warm
and demonstrative, his catholicity as wide as possible, his
304 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [i..D. 1700 1750.
temperament sanguine ; and yet, in his personal religions
exercises, publications, sermons, and letters, we discover
the faintest symptoms only of pity for the wants of an
unconverted world. His highest ambition was to be
able to furnish a due supply of orthodox preaching to
the then existing dissenting congregations. The heroic
aspirations and noble presages of former days had de-
parted, and the rushing tide of modern missionary zeal,
resounding on every shore,
' * Wide as the world is thy command ! "
had not yet come.
In Dr. Doddridge's six rules for the government of
his ministerial conduct at Kib worth, the 1st, 3rd, 4th, and
6th refer to the maintenance of his own piety ; the 2nd to
the choice of topics suitable to his congregation : the
5tli is, " T will more particularly devote some time every
Friday to seek God, on account of those who recommend
themselves to my prayers, and to pray for the public
welfare — a subject which I will never totally exclude."*
The good man speaks of the " curious life of Count
Zinzendorf," and says of the greatest revivalist of the
coming age, " I take Mr. Whitfield to be a very honest,
though a very weak man." Dr. Watts writes to Dod-
dridge, "I am sorry that since your departure I have
had many questions asked me about your preaching or
praying at the Tabernacle, and of sinking the character
of a minister, and especially of a tutor, among the dis-
senters so low thereby." The leading laj^men of his
* " Doddrid(;e CorreF^pondence," vol. ii. p. 3.
*. D. 1700-1750.]
FIRST PART. 305
party also remonstrated with Doddridge on the impro-
priety of his showing sympathy to any extent with the
rising leaders of Methodism.
All this is calculated to give grave warnings concern-
ing ecclesiastical associations of every kind, endowed or
unendowed, in respect of the inherent tendency of such
bodies to change the promotion of truth into its guardian-
ship, and then to allow the latter to pass into conservancy
of form only, and so to become, first coldly affected, and
afterwards even hostile, to the fundamental object. The
glad welcome given to the free, open proclamation of the
Gospel came again once more, not from the great, or even
from the good, but arose in shouts from the multitude
who had suddenly become awaken»ed into newness of
life. Christ was preached throughout the land ; and,
as in the days of the first Beformation, the ploughman,
the smith, the artisan, the shopkeeper, the farmer, the
collier, the miner, with liere and there a yeoman, a
gentleman, and a priest, heard the word with gladness.
Doddridge was on the brink, at times, of departure
from the settled modes of action ; but during his short
life his zealous, diligent soul found enough to do in the
particular path before him. In 1742, when he preached
in London, it was to " vastly crowded auditories." In
1744 he published his incomparably moving treatise on
the " Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul," a book
which has been of signal service to the cause of personal
religion. The good men of this period appear to have
been unable to benefit the cause of Christ, save by way
of legacy.
X
30G THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. lTOO-1750.
A bright instance of personal piety was during a quarter
of this dull century, from 1720 to 1745, afforded by the
brave Colonel Gardiner. The sense of religion which had
been kindled in his mind, in a manner truly remarkable,
appears to have kept his soul in a continual glow of love
and praise to the Saviour, rendering his society elevat-
ing and delightful. He first met Dr. Doddridge on
the occasion of a sermon preached by the latter at
Leicester, on June 13, 1739, from the 158th verse of
Psalm cxix., when, after the sermon, one of Doddridge's
beautiful hj^mns (then only existing in MS.), was sung —
"Arise, my tend'rest thoughts, arise." This was the
commencement of an interesting friendship, to which we
owe a memoir which has greatly enriched the Church of
Christ. The two good men hailed the news of the revival
at Kilsyth with true appreciation of its character ; but it
did not apparently occur to them that a like blessing might
be sought and found elsewhere. The soldier rode on his
journeys, loving the communion with God which such
solitude permitted ; singing as he went the new com-
positions of his friend, — his two favourite hymns, " Hark
the glad sound ! the Saviour comes," and " Jesus, I love
thy charming name," — strains well fitted for the raptures
of his soul. Doddridge's estimate of his character is
worth transcribing, as a good type of a noble, manly,
earnest Christian : — " On the whole, if habitual love to
God, firm faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, a steady
dependence on the Divine promises, a full persuasion of
the wisdom and goodness of all the dispensations of Pro-
vidence, a high esteem for the blessings of the heavenly
world, and a sincere contempt for the vanities of this,
A.D. 1700-1750.1
FIRST PART. 307
can properly be called entliusiasra, then was Colonel
Gardiner, indeed, one of the greatest enthusiasts our age
has produced ; and in proportion to the degree in which
he was so, I must esteem him one of the wisest and
happiest of mankind."*
In the year 1734 "William Grim sh aw, a Lancashire
clergyman of the ordinary type in those degenerate days, a
worldly sportsman, without the least sympathy with his
work, was attacked by earnest anxiety respecting his own
salvation. After a year or two of conflict he became a
hearty, ardent, devoted promoter of evangelical doctrine.
In 1742 he began to preach on the excellency of faith in
Christ, and on salvation by Him alone. It was with great
surprisethat he discovered that the way of life he had now
entered upon was the good old way of God's people at all
times. He went literally from house to house exhorting
and warning all concerning the truths of the Gospel ; he
preached with readiness, liveliness, and fervour. Crowds
flocked over the rugged hills to Haworth, which was his
parish. He extended his ministrations, and proclaimed
the glad tidings constantly, not only in the hamlets of his
own parish, but throughout the West Eiding of Yorkshire,
and even in the houses of the unwilling, if he could over-
come their reluctance. Thus he went on for twenty years,
preaching fifteen, twenty, or sometimes thirty sermons
a week, until the whole country side was thoroughly
awakened to the necessity and nature of true religion.
He died in 1763, but his influence and his name still
survive.!
• Doddridge's "Life of Colonel Gardiner," p. 84.
t Middleton, " Biographia Evangehca," voL iv. p. 324.
308 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [ad. 1700-1750.
In November, 1729, Charles andJohn, the sons of Mr.
Wesley, the rector of Epworth, went to Oxford to follow
theii' father's footsteps into the ministry. With two
others, they agreed to meet three or four evenings in the
week to read classics, and on Sunday evening, divinity.
In the following summer, one of their friends several
times mentioned to them^ that he had called at the gaol, to
see a man condemned for killing his wife, and that, whilst
there, one of the debtors suggested that it would be a good
thing for some one, now and then, to come to speak to
the prisoners. After some delay the Wesleys went, and
were so well satisfied that they appointed to go twice a
week. Next, they were asked to visit a sick woman in
the town. The success of this step led them to resolve
to devote a few hours a week to the occupation, if the
consent of the clergyman of the parish could be obtained.
Diffident of their own judgments, they wrote to the old
rector, their father, for advice ; and he warmly and thank-
fully bade them go on ; telling them that in his day he
preached to the prisoners at the Castle at Oxford ; urging
them to be superior to fear, promising to pray for them at
the set periods of their duty, and concluded, "accordingly,
to Him who is eveiywhere, I now heartily commit you,
as being your most affectionate and joyful father."
Opposition, which was soon manifested, led to a formal
temperate defence ; the controversy became public. The
young men were styled the Godiy Club, Supererogation-
men, — Methodists. At this time they were merely con-
scientious from a sense of duty. The Wesleys went to
Georgia. John Wesley, after his return, visited the
.D. 1700-1750.]
FIRST PART. 309
M(iravians at Herriihut in search of earnest piety. A
sermon preached by Christian David there, first conveyed
to his mind correct views concerning the ground of a
sinner's acceptance with God, the nature and force of the
Atonement. He became a new man. Immediately on
his return to England, he began to proclaim freely and
fully the abounding grace of God. His journal well
shows the upspringing of forces which had recently
become dormant in the Church, though vital to the Gospel
from asje to ao^e. The movement thus commenced has
in effect reanimated the whole Christian world, and,
we trust, is never again to subside. He writes, in the
year 1738, —
" Sunday. — I began again to declare in my own
country the glad tidings of salvation, preaching three
times, and afterwards expounding the Holy Scrip-
tures to a large company in the Minories. On Mon-
day I rejoiced to meet with our little society, which
consisted of thirty-two persons. The next day I went
to the condemned felons in jSTewgate, and offered them
free salvation. In the evening I went to a society in
Bear-yard, and preached repentance and remission of sins
The next evening, at a society in Aldersgate-street. Some
contradicted at first, but not long : so that nothing but
ove appeared at our parting.
" On Monday I set out for Oxford. In walking, I read
the truly surprising narrative of the conversions lately
wrought in and about the town of Northampton, in New
England. Surely this is the Lord's doing, and it is mar-
vellous in our eyea.
310 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [ad. 1700-1750.
" On Thursday, March, 1739, 1 left London, and in the
evening expounded to a small company at Basingstoke.
" Saturday, 31. — In the eveuing I reached Bristol, and
met Mr. Whitefield there. I could scarce reconcile myself
at first to this strange way of preaching in the fields, of
which he set me an example on Sunday, having been all
my life (till very lately) so tenacious of every point
relating to decency and order, that I should have thought
the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been in
a church."
John Wesley's own testimony to the nature of the
Christian life and its counterfeits, is invaluable. He gives
it in a letter to one of his correspondents : —
"From the year 1725 to 1729 I preached much, but
saw no fniit of my labour. Indeed, it could not be that
I should, for I neither laid the foundation of repentance,
nor of believing the Gospel, taking it for granted that
all to whom I preached were believers, and that many
of them needed no repentance. — 2. From the year 1729
to 1734, laying a deeper foundation of. repentance, I saw
a little fruit. But it was only a little ; and no wonder. — 3.
From 1734 to 1738, speaking more of faith in Christ, I
saw more fruit of my preaching and visiting from house to
house than ever I had done before ; though I know not
if any of those who were outwardly reformed were in-
wardly and thoroughly converted to God. — 4. From 1738
to this time, speaking continually of Jesus Christ, laying
Him only for the foundation of the whole building ;
making Him all in all, the first and the last, preaching
wholly on this plan — ' The kingdom of God is at hand ;
AD. ircO-1750.] FIRST PART. 311
repent ye, and believe the Gospel ; ' — the wjorJ of God
ran as fii-e among the stubble ; it was glorified more
and more : ^multitudes cried, ' What must we do to be
saved V "
In the year 1739, the fiii-st society was formed by John
Wesley in London : it consisted, in the beginning, of
eight or ten persons, who desired him to spend some
time with them in prayer, and to advise them how
to flee from tlie wrath to come. In the same year, a
deserted building called the Foundry, in Moorfields, was
opened by them for worship ; a chapel was built at
Bristol, classes formed in that city; and the brothers
published their " Hymns and Sacred Poems" for the use
of their followers, and the Church TJ^niversal.
There was never any obscurity respecting the nature
and object of the reform promoted by the Wesleys and
Whitefield. It struck at the innermost stronghold of
moral evil, and aimed to bring the individual man into a
state of peace with God, through faith in the work of our
Lord Jesus Christ. It dragged him first to the tribunal
of his own conscience for condemnation, next to the bar
of God for a confirmation of the verdict, and then opened
up to him the infinite love of God in the gift of a Saviour,
ui'ging immediate acceptance on the ground of imminent
danger. It produced a reform truly radical. Of course
there were some persons who counterfeited penitence and
peace ; but, in the main, genuine spiritual religion has been
from the first the product of the movement. John
Wesley, in his own succinct and lucid manner, published
his opinions at the commencement of his career, and, as is
312 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. iroo 17S0.
well known, his sentiments have ever been characteristic
of his followers. He says, in answer to the inquiry, Who
is a Methodist 1 —
" I answer — A Methodist is one who has the love of
God shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given
unto him ; one who loves the I^ord his God with all his
heart, and with all his soul, and with all his mind, and
with all his strength. God is the joy of his beart, and the
desire of his soul ; which is constantly crying out, ' Whom
have I in heaven but Thee 1 and there is none upon earth
that I desire beside Thee ! My God and my all ! Thou
art the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever! ' "
After a statement of Christian disposition and duties, he
continues : — "If any man say, ' Why, these are only the
common fundamental principles of Christianity!' — thou
hast said, so I mean ; this is the very truth. I know
tliere are no other, and I would to God both thou and all
men knew that I, and all who follow my judgment, do
vehemently reluse to be distinguished froiu other men by
any but the common principles of Christianity ;— the plain
old Christianity that I teach, renouncing and detesting
all other marks of distinction ; and whosoever is what I
preach (let him be called what he will, for names change
not the nature of things), he is a Christian, not in name
only, but in heart and life. He is inwardly and out-
wardly confirmed to the will of God, as revealed in the
written word."
In the mean time, Whitefield, an equally powerful in-
strument for resuscitating the decayed spiritual intelli-
gence of the country, had arisen, and was progressing in
.!>. 1700-17.50.]
FIRST PART. 313
the same track. He began, at Christmas 1738, by preach-
ing nine times, and expounding eighteen times in one
week, in London, being at the same time employed from
morning till midnight in conversing with those who called
on him for religious advice. On the 17th of February,
1739, he yielded to what appeared to be a necessity, and
preached his first open-air sermon to the Kingswood
colliers, at Kose Green. A few only attended; but on each
repetition of the service the numbers increased, until
thousands formed his audience. His own feelings he thus
describes: — "As the scene was quite new, and I had just
begun to be an extemporary preacher, it often occasioned
many inward conflicts. Sometimes, when twenty thousand
people were before me, I had not, in my own apprehen-
sion, a word to say. But I wixs never totally deserted.
The open firmament above me, the prospect of the adjacent
fields, with the sight of thousands and thousands, some in
coaches, some on horseback, and some in trees, at times
all affected and drenched in tears together, to which was
added the solemnity of the approaching evening, was
almost too much for me, and quite overcame me,"* His
journal shows the man and his work : —
" Chepstow, April 7. — Oh, how swiftly has this week
passed off! to me it has been but as one day. How
do I pity those polite ones who complain that time hangs
heavy on their hands ! Let them but love Christ, and
spend their whole time in His service, and they will find
no dull, melancholy hours. Want of the love of God I
take to be the chief cause of indolence and vapours. Oh
* "Life of Countess of Himtingdon/' vol. ii., p. 359.
314 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
ri..D. 1700-17oO.
that they would be up and be doing for Jesus Christ !
they would not complain then for want of spirits.
" May 6. — Preached this morning in Moorfields to about
20,000 people, who were very quiet and attentive, and
most affected. Went to public worship morning and
evening, and at six preached at Kennington. But such a
sight did I never see before. I believe there were no less
than 50,000 people; and what was most remarkable, there
was an awful silence among them, and the word of God came
with power. God gave me great enlargement of heart.
I continued my discourse for an hour and a half.
" May 7. — Received several letters of the fruits of my
ministry in several places, and had divers come to me
awakened, under God, by my preachings in the fields.
"Friday, June 1. — Preached in the evening at a place
called May fair, near Hyde-park Corner. The congrega-
tion, I believe, consisted of near 80,000 people. It was
by far the largest I ever preached to yet. In the time of
my prayer there was a little noise, but they kept a dead
silence during iny whole discourse. A high and very
commodious scaffold was erected for me to stand upon;
and though I was weak in myself, yet God strengthened
me to speak so loud that most could hear, and in such a
manner, I hope, that most coidd feel. All love, all glory,
be to God through Christ."
\yhen we analyze the effects thus produced, we find the
same product, and trace the same power, as have been
effected and manifested in all ages of the Church. One
case will not only serve as representative of the whole
contemporary movement, but will also serve to link this
1700-1750.]
FIRST PART. 315
with all other phenomena of conversion. In 1747, a few-
obscure persons in Barnard Castle, who had heard of the
fame of Mr. Wesley, and began to think about the salva-
tion of their souls as theii' chief personal interest, met
together to read the Scriptures, the books which John
Wesley had published, to sing hymns, and to pray. This
they did nightly, though frequently mocked and disturbed.
Among the mockers was a young man named Thomas
Hanby. In the midst of his mirth, he felt a secret per-
suasion that the poor people whom he had been despising
were right. He begged to join them, and endured the
fate of those who turn from the ranks of the persecutors
to those of the persecuted. Finding direct opposition to
be Lmavailing, the clergyman of the parish proposed to
him to be at the head of a class for moral reformation.
This position he took, and his class soon outnumbered
the Methodists. This negative association did not last,
and Hanby rejoined the society in the uj^per room for
reading and prayer. He says, " God continued to draw
me with strong desires : I spent much time praying in
the fields, woods, and barns. Any place, and every place,
was now a closet to my mourning soul, and I longed for
the Day-star to arise in my poor benighted heart. And it
pleased Infinite Mercy, while I was praying, that the Lord
set my weary soul at liberty. The next day the Lord was
pleased to withdraw the ecstasy of joy, and I had weU-nigh
given up my confidence ; but the Lord met me again, while
I was in the fields, and from that time I was enabled to
keep a weak hold of the precious Lord Jesus." *
* ' ' Arminian Magazine, " vol. iii.
316 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. ^.d. 1700 !:.•;.».
We have heard similar utterances so often, that they
would be properly considered to be conventional, were it
not that they have come from solitary hearts utterly un-
acquainted with each other, and ignorant of any other
expressions than those which their own experience dic-
tated. It is not merely the similarity which arises from
common agreement or sympathy, but the operation of
the same Divine Spirit which worketh all in all.
The reappearance of vital religion at this time did not
result from any restitution of forgotten doctrines, but from
tlie newly-awakened concern respecting eternal things
produced by fervent Gospel-preaching. The masses of the
j^eople were so far gone in insensibility, that the very-
sense of spiritual things appears to have been practically
lost. The world that now is, had succeeded in ignoring
the world that is to come. Correct standards of belief
were still displayed in some places ; but they kindled no
attachment or enthusiasm, and were really deserted.
There was no extraordinary obloquy, no virulent persecu-
tion, but all parties accepted as sound reason, the maxim
that worldly-mindedness was the whole duty of man.
Meanwhile, the kingdom of God was coming, not with
observation, not in one mode only, not by formal announce-
ment or contrivance, but in its own spontaneous way.
In 1735, Mr. Howell Harris, a Christian gentleman, of
Trevecca in Brecknockshire, of good attainments, ardent
piety, and ready utterance, began to go from house to
house in his own parish, exhorting sinners to "flee from
the wrath to come." He next traversed the whole dis-
trict, read, expounded, and finally preached God's word.
A.D. i:o;i irso,'
FIRST PATIT. o\
Multitudes flocked to listen ; many were cou verted and
saved. In four years he established four hundred gather-
ings of believers in South Wales. Many ministers joined
the ranks : a general itineracy for preaching was esta-
blished. Again the necessities of the soul broke through
human systems. A great revival of religion took place.
For twelve years the work progressed. The preaching was
in the open air, or in any public building that could be
secured. The people then began to build chapels. The
first was opened at Builth in 1747.
About the year 1743, a few poor persons in Scotland
associated themselves together for a service of prayer for
the revival of religion. Mr. Robe, minister of Kilsyth,
speaks in this year of thirty societies of young people
then existing in Edinburgh for united prayer. The
example spread : there were forty-five in Glasgow, others
in Aberdeen and Dundee. In October of the next year,
1744, a number of Scottish ministers resolved to promote
this method. They fixed a time when, on every Saturday
evening, every Sunday morning, and every first Tuesday
in the quarter, special prayer should be made for the
extension of Christ's kingdom on the earth. They began
the holy practice. Before the first season had closed,
they felt their hearts so warmed, that they agreed on a
memorial on the subject, to be addressed and sent to the
Churches of Christ in England and America This precious
document is dated August 26th, 1746. The request was
well received, and acted upon. England, Wales, Ireland,
and North America responded to the appeal. The reign
of apathy had ceased. We are standing over the upburst
318 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. i:oo-i7JO.
of the great stream of divine life, which has ever since
flowed in augmenting volume.
Another instance, lying quite apart from the currents
of public life, is afforded by the case of the Eev. Thomas
Adam, the worthy rector of Winteringham, in Lincoln-
shire. About the year 1740, he was fulfilling his routine
of duties with exactness, living so as to satisfy himself
and stand well with the world. He became acquainted
with the writings of Mr. Law and the mystics. These
induced within him the desire for peace with God, but
showed him not the way of its attainment. After
stumbling for a year or two amidst theological diffi-
culties, consulting commentators in vain, striving for
inward satisfaction so strenuously that his friends deemed
him to be insane, he emerged into the glorious liberty and
divine peace of the Gospel. The process is narrated by
his biogi-apher, Stillingfieet, as follows : — " One morning,
in his study, being much distressed on the subject, he fell
down upon his knees before God in prayer — spre^ his case
before the Divine Majesty and Goodness, imploring Him
to pity his distress, and to guide him by his Holy Spirit into
the right understanding of his own truth. When he arose
from his supplication, he took the Greek Testament, and
set himself down to read the first six chapters of the
Epistle to the Romans, sincerely desirous to be taught
of God, and to receive, in the simplicity of a child, the
word of His revelation ; when, to his unspeakable comfort
and astonishment, his difficulties vanished — a most clear
and satisfactory light was given him into this great sub-
ject. He saw the doctrine of justification by Jesus
A.D. 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 319
CLrist alone, tlirough faith, to be the great subject of the
Gospel, the highest display of the Divine perfections, the
happiest relief for his burdened conscience, and the most
powerful principle of all constant and unfeigned holiness
of heart and life. He was rejoiced exceedingly : he found
peace and comfoi-t spring up in his mind ; his conscience
was purged from guilt through the atoning blood of
Christ, and his heart set at liberty to run the way of
God's commands without fear, in a spirit of filial love and
holy delight; and from that hour he began to preach
salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ alone, to man,
by nature and practice lost and condemned under the
law, and, as his own expression is, always a sinner."*
In the year 1739, Mr. Ingham, one pf the small clerical
Wesleyan band at Oxford, on his return to his native
Yorkshire, began to hold religious meetings in his mother's
house, at which the neighbours attended, and from which
a considerable religious awakening originated. He went
to Georgia, afterwards to Germany; but in 1738 preached
with great fervency and power in the populous towns of
the West Ridinof ; and when the churches were denied to
him, he went out into the fields, or into barns, and there
proclaimed his message, until the whole country rang
with the fame of the Gospel, and forty religious societies
were formed. A number of lay preachers likewise went
out to meet the urgency of the times.
Among those who went to hear the first preaching of
the Methodists, was a noble lady, the sister of Lord
Huntingdon, — the Lady Margaret Hastings. The ti-uth
* Life of Adam, by Dr. Staiingfleet, 1785.
320 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUHY. [i-.n. 1700-1750,
was blessed to her conversion : she immediately urged her
own beloved relatives to seek for themselves the peace
which she herself had gained. She found a willing auditor
in the young Countess of Huntingdon, her sister-in-law,
who was much struck with Lady Margaret's assertion,
that " since she had known and believed in the Lord Jesus
Christ for life and salvatio7i, she had been as happy as an
angeV This gave direction to her thought ; sickness
gave the opportunity for reflection ; God gave the bless-
ing ; and thus commenced the foundation of a move-
ment the good effects of which will endure longer than
time itself. With characteristic vigour, she first van-
quished the moderation of the bishop who was sent to
remonstrate and reconvert her, then sent a message of
encouragement to the Wesleys, and went herself and
took her husband to hear Whitefield.
Some of those who were thus brought to the knowledge
of the truth had to endure great domestic persecution :
they were compelled to forsake home, with all its attrac-
tions ; and in many cases, as in that of Lady Anne
Frankland, of London, and Mrs. Scud am ore, of Bristol,
sank under the sorrows of social desertion, broken-
hearted, but happy in the assurance of their Saviour's
love.* Lady Huntingdon was a member of the first
Methodist society formed in Fetter-lane : here she induced
Mr. Maxfield (who had been left by John Wesley in
charge of the society, and to lead their devotions) to
expound the Scriptures, and afterwards to preach ; and
thus was begun at that time the systematic movement of
• **Arininian Magazine," 1793.
A.D. 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 321
the great engine of lay j)reacliing, whicli has subsequently
acted so considerable a part in the history of the kingdom
of God amongst us, in connexion with Wesleyan and
Nonconforming oro-anizations. With marvellous incon-
sistency, her ladyship resolutely opposed the extension of
the i)rinciple she had thus aided to inaugui-ate, and
brought under the discipline of the Church those who
speculated on the possibility of dispensing with orders in
the administration of the sacraments.* But though the
infant body of revivalists was thus disturbed in relation
to ecclesiastical questions, the grand glorious work of
preaching and conversion, went on upon a scale and with
a success hitherto unknown.
About 1748, Lady Huntingdon began the practice of
making progresses through selected j)arts of England and
Wales, accompanied by a considerable staff of able
preachers. She travelled slowly, in order that two of the
ministers might daily preach in some town or village on
the route. Her following absorbed into its ample ranks
godly clergymen, and all persons of local eminence who
were willing to join in the crusade. Thus armed, she
literally attacked the country ; and taking possession of
market-place, village-green, field, or public place. White-
field, or Wesley, or Berridge, or one of the fiery Welsh-
men, or other of her chosen heralds, would declaim with
such fervour and force as to give rise to scenes of Pen-
tecostal character. Hymns were sung as they had never
been sung before, — sometimes both hymns and music
made for the occasion. Never did merry England resound
* See " Life of Countess of Huntingdon," vol. i., p. 35.
Y
322 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1700-1750.
to more joyful melodies. Opposition sometimes showed
itself; but on the whole the message was well received,
and its welcome acceptance laid the foundation of exten-
sive, powerful, religious life.
In the year 1748, the Countess inaugurated a series of
remarkable services, which were held in her drawing-room
for many years afterwards, and could only have been
brought about by such a rare union of talents and oppor-
tunities as she possessed. Whitefield was the preacher ;
Lord Chesterfield, Lord Bolingbroke, and others well
known to fame, attended as hearers. It became an
established mode of procedure. Her ladyship's ministers
were required to obey the welcome call, and urge in the
gilded saloons of May Fair, the same great truths which
they declared to the thousands in Moorfields, or at the
Tabernacle. Many persons were thus converted and
instructed in the ways of righteousness ; adding thereby
to the privileges of an earthly aristocracy, the nobler
rank of heirship to God.
The general spread of religion at this time, was much
promoted by the step taken by the Countess of Hunting-
don, in organizing a system of direct evangelization, by
commissioning well-known ministers to go out once a
year on a preaching tour. Their services were princi-
pally conducted in the open air : the audiences were
numbered by thousands. The results were the formation,
in many places, of distinct religious communities, and in
all places the advancement of Christ's kingdom in the
hearts of individual believers. Her ladyship's circular
letter on the subject shows the holy simplicity of her
A.D. 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 323
aim : — " It appears an important consideration to us, and
alike to all, that eveiy means in our power should be
engaged for those many thousands lying in darkness and
in the shadow of death, that the voice of the Gospel
by our faithful ministers should, by every means in our
power, reach them also. For this best end it was con-
cluded, at a late meeting, that the only means effectually
to reach the multitudes was, that the four principal
ministers— Mr. Glascott, Mr. Wills, Mr. Taylor, and
Mr. Piercy — should for three months visit universally
in four different departments, and, thus severally taken,
preach through the towns, counties, and villages of the
kingdom, by a general voice or proclamation of the glo-
rious gospel of peace to lost sinners."* *
Thus the patriotic idea of a home mission, which
Wycliffe had attempted, which King Edward's advisers
had commenced, which many a lover of his country had
hoped for against hope, was now actually set on foot.
Christianity again, as at the first, became aggressive on
its own account. Those who thus proclaimed it were
free from all bye-ends, and aimed simply and only to
bring into play "the power of God unto salvation."
Lady Huntingdon, from her position, combined with
the fervour and force of her mind, possessed the power of
fusing together the active Christian zeal of the revival
period. What joyful meetings there must have been,
when Whitefield and Hei-vey, Wesley and Romaine,
Cennick and Lady Frances Shirley, and even the rigid
Nonconformist doctors, Dr. Gill and Dr. Gifford, were
» Life, vol. ii., p. 432.
324 THE EIGHTEENTH CEXTURY. [a.d. 1700-1750.
assembled at her ladyship's invitation, and alternately-
prayed, sang, preached, and conversed together, like persons
on the verge of a new golden age of the Gospel ! In after
days, when many of these good men had become leaders
of different regiments in the Lord's army, there were
meetings at which, thongh each rejoiced in the other's
welfare, yet they were no longer one ; but at the first, the
gatherings were like those of the young Church, when
"all that believed were together, and had all things
common." Such were the days when Whitefield, writing
to the Countess Delitz, says of a visit at Lady Hun-
tingdon's,— "We have the sacrament every morning,
heavenly conversation all day, and preach at night."
The members of the new society formed in Fetter-lane
Chapel (now the Moravian Chapel, Neville' s-coui-t. Fetter-
lane) comprised the Wesleys, Whitefield, Ingham, Howell
Harris, and many others who afterwards became famous
as preachers. They sometimes spent whole nights in
prayer. Their earnestness, the singleness of their purpose,
and the adaptedness of the Gospel message to the souls of
men, soon drew a numerous assembly to the constant
services.
Many clergymen now caught the holy enthusiasm.
Fletcher in Shropshire, Perronet in Sussex, Griffith Jones
in South Wales, Berridge in Cambridgeshire, Yenn and
Grimshawe in Yorkshire, Thompson in Cornwall, and
several others, began to work in harmony with the move-
ment.
One of the most effective labourers in the great revival
was Mr. Berridge, the vicar of Everton. His decided
A.D. 1700-1750.] FIRST PART. 325
individuality renders liini conspicuous wherever present
in the picture. A burning zeal for his Master, resolute
determination to preach the Gospel everywhere and at all
times, moulded a character in which wit, learning, ready
power, and unbounded benevolence were all trained to
contribute to the good work. No ecclesiastical bonds or
topographical limits were allowed by him to interfere
with the great purpose of his life, — the preaching of Christ
crucified. " Such was the powerful import and piercing
sharpness of this great preacher's sentences, so suited to
England's rustic auditories, and so divinely directed in
their flight, that eloquence has seldom won such triumphs
as the Gospel won with the bow of old eccentric Berridge.
Strong men, in the surprise of sudden ^elf-discovery, or in
joy of marvellous deliverance, would sink to the earth
powerless or convulsed j and in one year of ' campaigning'
it is calculated that four thousand have been awakened
to the worth of their souls and a sense of sin." *
The early records of Wesleyanism now begin to furnish
augmenting materials for the pleasing picture of spiritual
revival. They reveal the sighs and struggles of many
a lonely soul panting for peace with God through a
reconciling Saviour. As the originators of the great
movement passed through the country, they drew out the
latent evangelism of society. From persons of gentle
birth, down to the factory girl, there were instances ia
which the advent of Methodism caused the pre-existing
embers of spiritualism to kindle into a flame. The hope
and faith cherished in the ol^scure recesses of social life
* " North British Keview," voL vii., p. 324.
326 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUEY. [a.d. i:cO-1750
came out in oj^en profession and glad acknowledgment.
Then, the kindling ardour of sympathy, the contagion of
holy fellowship, acted and reacted ; the circle widened
every day, until the whole kingdom was aroused as if by
an invader.
One of the first helpers in this work was John Nelson,
a British stonemason. After his conversion, he felt that
as lie had the power, so he owed the duty, of making
known to others the sufficiency of Christ's salvation. At
Christmas, 1740, he returned to his native place. Mr.
Wesley narrates the rest : —
"His relations and acquaintances soon began to inquire
what he thought of his new faith, and whether he believed
there was any such thing as a man knowing his sins
were forgiven. John told them, emphatically, that this
new faith, as they called it, was the old faith of the
Gospel, and that he himself was as sure his sins were for-
given as he could be of the shining of the sun. This was
soon noised about, and more and more came to inquire
concerning these strange things. Some put him upon
the j)roof of the great truths which such inquiries
naturally led him to mention, and thus he was brought
unawares to quote parts of the Scripture. This he did,
at first, sitting in his house, till the company increased,
so that the house could not contain them ; then he stood at
the door, which he was commonly obliged to do in the
evening as soon as he came from work. God immediately
set his seal to what was spoken, and several believed, and,
therefore, declared that God was merciful also to their
unrighteousness, and had forgiven all their sins. In this
A.D. 1700 1750.]
FIRST PART. ^ 327
manner John Nelson was employed as a teacher of
Christianity at this early period. He afterwards extended
his labours by preaching during his dinner-hour, and in
the week-day evenings as well as on the Sabbath, and in
the surrounding towns and villages. By his early
preaching many of the greatest profligates in all the
country around were changed, and their blasphemies
tui-ned to praise. Many of the most abandoned were
made sober, many Sabbath-breakers remembered the
Sabbath-day to keep it holy. The whole of Birstal wore
a new aspect. Such a change did God work by the art-
less testimony of one plain man ; and from thence his word
sounded forth to Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax, and all the
West Riding of Yorkshire. For p,reaching, the magis-
trates interfered, and sent him into the army, where he
maintained his integrity, and nobly confessed his Lord.'' *
The workers multiplied ; divisions of creed broke out,
but did not quench their ardour or divert their aim from
preaching repentance towards God, and faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ.
In 1741, Mr. Deacon, a farmer, of Ratby in Leices
tershire, working in his field, was told that a man had
been preacliing in the streets in a village hard by, and
was going to preach again. This man was David Taylor,
one of Lord Huntingdon's servants, who, being a person
of some education and considerable ability and piety, was
sent out by the Countess as a village missionary. Deacon
laid down his scythe and went to hear Taylor, was struck
with the vein of new thought opened up to him, read,
* " Local Ministry," p. 128.
328 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1700-1750.
studied and prayed, found peace and joy in believing,
became himself a preacher, gathered a flock at Barton -
Fabis, which became the mother church of 113 societie
in the Midland Counties, now forming the new connexion
of General Baptists.
Many from the ranks of life both below and above
that of the Leicestershire farmer, and in different parts of
England, took a similar course. Some afterwards con-
sorted with the Wesleys, some with Whitefield, others
remained unincluded in any organization ; but all cared
little for party, and much for Christ and the souls of men.
Meanwhile the New World echoed back its welcome.
The lofty soul of Jonathan Edwards kindled into enthu-
siasm under the force of long-pent feelings. With all the
perspicuity of his capacious intellect, with all the mighty
instinct of intense personal religion, he responded to the
address from British Christians by a still more emphatic
memorial. The title-page is as the sound of a trumpet
addressed to the sleeping host : — " A humble Attempt
to 2)romote an explicit Agreement and visible Union of
God^s Peojde through the world, in extraordinary Prayer
for the Revival of Religion, and the Advancement of
Christ'' s Kingdom on Earth, jmrsuant to Scripture p>romises
and prophecies concerning the last time.^'
CHAPTER XYI.
C6c (IBialjtecntJ) Cniturj). ^cconti ^art.
Spiritual religion must always, in the nature of tilings
fail to be thoroughly understood by such as are strangers
to its power in themselves. " The natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are
foolishness unto him ; neither can he know them, be-
cause they are spiritually discerned." * But, how^ever
this may be, men should at least give each other credit
for sincerity. This, however, had ceased to be the case
in the early part of the eighteenth century. The progTess
of degeneracy had been so rapid, that the profession of
piety, which before this time had always commanded a
kind of respect from the world, now came to be con-
sidered as consigning a man to contempt. It was not
until after the lapse of nearly a century, marked by the
labours of two generations of good men, that evan-
gelical religion was restored to any recognized standing
among the forces actuating society. Even at the present
time, the irreverent tone in which sacred things are
usually dealt with in our periodical literature, is altogether
* 1 Cor. ii. 14.
330 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [ad. 1750-1800.
at variance witli the awe and tenderness displayed by the
Elizabethan writers on the same topics. It was not until
many years after Sir Richard Hill and Wilberforce had
avowed it in Parliament, Lady Huntingdon and Lady
Glenorchy in the saloons of the nobility, E-omaine and
Newton in the London pulpits, — Berridge, Whitefield, and
the Wesleys to the multitudes, — Hervey and Cowper to the
tasteful, Hannah More to the sensible, — that it ceased to
be a proscribed topic amongst genteel people. It was
usually treated with contemptuous superciliousness by the
votaries of fashion, and it is quite ignored in the dismal^
soulless literature of those dull, frivolous days.
Nor is the religious landscape brighter in any other
direction ; for with few exceptions, the darkness had over-
spread the land, in high and low places alike. The
utmost efforts of the leaders of small Nonconformist
societies, scattered in provincial towns and villages,
could scarcely keep out the chilling frosts of unbelief.
There were, among these lowly pastors, some persons
of great piety and good parts, who, though lost to
the world and uniniiuential in the Church, will yet
have a niche in the true Temple of Fame. Such a man
was old Robert Hall of Arnsby, himself a strong-
minded Northumbrian, having an afflicted wife and
numerous young family, and struggling to uphold God's
cause, as his minister, in a village of graziers, in the fat
pastures of Leicestershire, with a salary of fifteen pounds
a year. Thus he narrates the workings of his soul : —
" I have had in the course of the last year many
afflictions, and many mercies, under which I desire to be
A.r.. 1750-1800.
SECOND PAIIT. 331
humble and tlianlifuL O Lord ! hear my prayer, and
make me lioly, and in the enjoyment of Thyself happy.
I never before saw such need of the Lord to satisfy my
soul. Nothing but God can support me; and were
everything in the world quite as I could wish, I find
something in me that would be dissatisfied without God
as my portion. Lord, keep fast hold of my heart ; let it
never desert from Thee, or sin against Thee." This was
written about the year 1760.
In seeking to trace out the windings of the river of
life, we are constantly meeting with proofs of its con-
tinuity and freshness. No sooner are its sparkling
streams discovered by the needy, than there is a rush
towards them. One company affcej: another drinks, and
then gratefully proclaims the glad tidings, until the
welkin rings with the report. Such an instance do we
find in the dark days of 1757, when Mr. Abraham Mad-
dock, a lawyer of mature age, who had become a clergy-
man, aroused the dormant population in Northampton-
shire. For nearly thirty years he preached with fidelity,
with what results his own letter to Erasmus Middleton
shows : —
"When I came the first Sunday to this place in
October, 1773, I had not above twenty, which was the
usual congregation. Even the sound of the Gospel was
unknown in these parts. The very next Sunday, which
was the next time I preached, I could scarcely get into
church. In less than two years, viz., June 1775, I built
the gallery, for the chiu'ch would not contain the people.
I preached one year at Naseby. God was pleased to
332 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
work SO miglitily there, tliat in that time (for the rector
would not let me preach any longer, because the church was
crowded) many were converted — how many God knows,
but there were so many that they built a meeting-house
at Clipson, the next parish to Naseby, because Creaton
was too far for them to attend constantly with their
families. About eight years ago I was ill six weeks with
the gout. My people feared I should die : upon this they
built a meeting-house at Guilsborough, and both these
places are crowded. As soon as I lost these two con-
gregations, my church was immediately filled with new
faces, who before could not get in ; so I never missed
them ; and I am so full, that every Sabbath very many
stand in the churchyard under the windows, because
they cannot get in even into the porches. But why
should you urge me to say more 1 It was the same at
Kettering. It was the same twenty-four years ago, when
I left Weston-Favell. Mr. Hyland had above a hundi^ed
of my people, and owns at this day that his meeting is
greatly indebted to my leaving his neighbourhood. There
are four, if not more, who are now Dissenting ministers,
who were converted under me, and who, because they
could not get ordination in our Church, preach among
that people. Three have stated meeting-houses : one in
Huntingdonshire, one near Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire,
and one in Shropshire. Thus hath God wrought ! Biit
if it is boasting, remember you have compelled me to do
it, and therefore I hope you will pardon me. But, blessed
be God, the best of it is, the work is not yet at an end."*
* Middleton, " Biographia Evangelica," vol. iv.
A.D. 1-50-1800.] SECOND PART. 333
An " Earnest and Affectionate Address to the people
called Methodists " was published by " The Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge, at the Bible and Key
in Ave-Mary Lane," and went through several editions.
The object of this publication was to recall the Methodists
to the sole teaching of the Church, on the ground of its
sufficiency and authority. It purported to come " from
a person who has been long grieved to see so much
honesty and well meaning, as I yet believe and hope to
be among you, so greatly imposed upon ; to find you
ignorantly going on in serving the designs of Enthusiasm,
and in giving credit to the most extravagant and ground-
less Pretences." * But the call " to leave those teachers,
who have hitherto deluded you with vain pretences," t
fell unheeded; nor did the contemporaneous publication,
by the same Society, of various short essays on the
practice of devotion, stay the progress of the life-giving
Gospel. As old Berridge writes, — " The people who are
chiefly loaded with morality are booksellers; and they
have got their shops full, but are sick of the commodity,
and long to part with it." X
In 1754, Henry Yenn, who had been passing through
the phases of religious thoughtfulness, self-reliance, and
penitence, to faith in the work of Christ, became curate
of Clapham. He preached fervently and intelligently the
doctrines which had given peace and joy to his own soul.
* "Earnest and Affectionate Address," &c., 5th edition, 1751,
p. 3.
t Ibid, p. 47.
J " Christian World Unmasked."
OOi THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
Tlie enmity wliicli he had to encounter from one party,
and the warm attachment of another, soon made it mani-
fest that the truth he procLiimed was calculated to revo-
lutionize society as then constituted. He went to Hud-
dersfield, and impressed the great West Eiding with
excitement for the Gospel. He then retired to a secluded
incumbency near Cambridge, where he was the foster-
father of the young men who became famous as the
preachers of the next age, — Thomas Kobinson, Simeon,
and others, — the fathers and founders of the modern
Evangelical school of the Church of England. Personally,
Mr. Venn fully illustrated the value of the doctrines
which he prominently preached.
The self-tauglit architect of the " Bainbow Bridge,"
Pont-y-Prydd, over the Taff in South Wales, William
Edwards, in addition to liis business as farmer and engi-
neer, preached for forty years, from 1750, conveying the
truth to successive generations in his native country,
earning a reputation for godliness and charity Y\7hich
wore brighter to the last. The example of such a man,
undaunted by successive failures at the commencement of
his career, triumphing over obstacles and ridicule, rising
from obscurity into fame by the exercise of genius and
patience, and all the while preserving his modesty,
religious fervour, and steady zeal for the diflfusion of
saving truth, in an age of dull indifierence, is truly
refreshing.
The contemporaries of such men pitied them as fanatics,
and socially persecuted them. They little anticipated
that, within a century, legislators and philosophers would
AD. IToO-l&oo.] SECOND PART. 335
come to regard them as the benefactors ot theii' country
by their earnest goodness and practical virtues.
The scheme of a formal alliance between all those who
love the Lord Jesus Christ, (that ever-recurring ideal in
the minds of his followers,) was attempted by John Wesley
at this time. He addressed a circular letter to every
evangelical clergyman then known, proposing that they
should be allied for the purpose of their great work,
leaving each free in regard to doctrine and discipline.
Finding this fail, he again attempted it, in 1766, among
the leaders only : but the times were not propitious ; or
else there is inherent, and perhaps insuperable, difficulty,
in forming into an organization, that which can only
exist in the independent action of personal religious con-
viction.
In 1767, a second outburst of zealous piety occurred in
the English Universities. Dr. Stillingfieet, and about a
dozen students, formed the band at Oxford, of whom six
were expelled from St. Edmund's Hall for the offence of
meeting together to read and expound the Scriptures,
sing hymns, and pray. At Cambridge, Rowland Hill
headed an equal number of similar offenders. Personal
devoutness, belief in the necessity and spiritual nature of
regeneration, in the duty of preaching the Gospel to the
poor, and nonconformity to the worldly habits of the gay
crowd around them, constituted the peculiarities which
were ridiculed and complained of.
But, notwithstanding the discouragements, the avowed
helpers of evangelical religion amongst the ministry of the
Church of England began to increase, though still com-
33 G THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY,
La.d. 1750-
2^aratiTely few. To the isolated instances of the previous
fifty j^ears, now succeed the honoured names of the Venns,
Grimshawe, Fletcher, Hervey, E-omaine, Toplady, and
Milner, who all died before the close of the century ; after
lia^dng lived to witness the successful establishment of the
great work which had been commenced in the midst of
social difficulties and popular opposition.
About this time a retired soldier, of simple, un-
ostentatious piety, settled in a village in the Weald of
Sussex. He first admitted his neighbours to attend his
family worship, then began to expound the Scripture
read by him at these little gatherings ; next visited the
adjacent hamlets and villages, to speak to the people
concerning their souls ; then began to preach; and during
the remainder of a long and blameless life, statedly
announced the glad tidings of the Gospel throughout the
scattered villages of the Kent and Sussex "VYeald. This
was George Gilbert, whose name is still honoured by
many a ploughman and many a yeoman as the " Apostle
of Sussex." He continued his trade as a carpenter and
preserved his bearing as a soldier, but ever sought the
glory of God in the simple difi*usion of the Gospel.
Ere long the battle was rife all over the United
Kingdom. Spiritual life was once more openly strug-
gling for the mastery. The resistless artillery of "White-
field, the incessant swift attacks of the Wesleys, occasional
sallies of earnest laymen, the continuous fire from the
regulars enlisted in the service, the long- withheld sympathy
of the Nonconformists, the newly-found boldness of many
hidden ones who now came out and gathered around
A.D, 1750-1800] SECOND PART. 337
their proper banners, made the whole country, from
Caithness to Cornwall, resound with the proclamation of
free mercy. Some of the nobility, ladies who had place
in Court, men who sat in the Council, promoted the
movement. Lady Huntingdon, with a choice band of
earnest, fervent preachers, weut from place to place, dis-
arming all opposition ; so that, by all means aud every-
where,'salvation through a crucified Eedeemer might be
practically and plainly offered to the people.
In one of the letters of the pious Lord Dartmouth,
wi-itten to Mr. Hill probably about the year 1760, he
narrates an instance of the pleasure received and given
by the discovery of sympathizing fellow-labom'ers in the
Christian cause. " My dear Mr. Hill, — As often as you
have any such accounts to give of the experience of a
soul made subject to the power of Divine grace, and
such indisputable instances to produce of the Holy
Spirit's agency upon the soul during its abode in the
flesh, your time cannot be thrown away in committing
it to paper, both for the satisfaction of your friends,
and the benefit of those who may be inclined to dispute
the reality of such communications. In return, I can
send nothing more agreeable to you than that I left our
friends in Yorkshire well the beginning of last week.
Mr. was there : he had lately been a progress with
Mr. Venn into the northern parts of the county, where
they saw nothing that gave them so much delight as did
the company and conversation of Mr. Conyers, minister
of Helmsley, of whose uncommon zeal and extraordinary
love to the people who have been converted under him
z
338 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTUKY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
they give a wonderful account. ' You,' says Mr. Yenn,
' who are a husband and a father, may know something
of the love that he bears to his people by what you feel
towards your wife and children.' Till these gentlemen
came within his doors, he had never seen the face of a
Gospel minister, nor heard a Gospel sermon but from a
curate whom he has himself instructed, and to whom his
instructions have been blessed. You may guess, then,
what was his rapture at the sight of them. He accosted
them in the most devout and serious manner, with
' Blessed be my God, who habh sent you to me : who am
I, that I should be thus highly favoured ? '" *
Whitefield revived the practice of open-aii* preaching.
He began it, in 1777, in Islington Churchyard, where he
preached outside the church, because the churchwarden
refused to allow him to enter the building, although it
had been previously promised to him.
On the eldest son of one of the noblest of England's
families, — the Hills of Hawkstone, — becoming the subject
of a personal change of heart and life, in 1759, he seized
at once the true idea of duty, and became a soldier of
the Cross. His own family, the servants, his father's
tenantry, the neighbours rich and poor, in gatherings
or alone, at all times, in season and out of season, not
always "VNith discretion, but always with one aim, sud-
denly became his opportunity for the proclamation of the
glad tidings. A glorious harvest sprang up, with only the
discouragements common to all manifestations of Christ's
kingdom amongst men. We can read with lively plea-
* Sidney's Life of Sir E. Hill, p. 90.
A.D. 1750-1800.J
SECOND PART. 339
sure the language in which Miss Hill writes to her
brother Kowland, at college, concerning the work : " My
dear brother, why should we doubt 1 We can never
have deserved so much as Christ has merited : justice
can have no demand upon the believer. Jesus has dis-
charged all. It is true, we have sinned, greatly sinned :
but we are assured our iniquities are laid on Jesus ;
and shall we suppose tliat God will demand payment of
us also 1 These are dishonourable fears. Cleave close
to Jesus by faith, and lay hold on the everlasting pro-
mise of the Gospel."
The authorities of the University, the dignitaries of
the Church, the family at home, all opposed, both by
influence and direct authority, the wish of Rowland Hill
to become an itinerant : but conviction of duty, and com-
passion for the souls of men, broke through all obstacles ;
and he uttered, as Sheridan said, " red-hot from the
heart," those vigorous, homely declarations of Gospel
truth which, in all parts of England, soon made his name
a household word.
The lapse of a century has consigned to merited
oblivion the violent polemics of Toplady ; but the fer-
vour of his exhibitions of personal saving faith in the
work of Christ, still shines out in liis hymns, to the
delight of thousands. The ruling pi'inciple of his inner
life, is readily ascertained by the aid of efiusions such as
the following : —
" Supreme High Priest, the pilgrim's light,
My heart for Thee prepare,
Thine image stamp, and deeply write
Thy superscription there.
340 THE EIGHTEENTH CEXTURY. [ad. ino-lSOO.
Ob, let my forehead bear Tby seal,
My arm Tby badge retain,
My beart the inward witness feel
That I am born again !
" Into Tby bvimble mansion come,
Set up Tby dwelling bere,
Possess my beart, and leave no room
For sin to barbonr there.
Ob, give me, Lord, the single eye !
I fain would live ; and yet not I,
But Jesus live in me."
The preaching of a homely peasant in a barn had been
the means of Toplady's conversion, at the age of sixteen.
The latter half of the eighteenth century was in Ire-
land, as in England, the time of extensive religious
awakening. Many men arose, like Averell, who, with-
out orders, but with gifts, perseverance, purity, and
zeal, went everywhere preaching the Gospel. They
found additional joy in the discovery that the doctrines
so novel to them, and methods so strange, into which
they had been led, were really in accordance with the
sentiments and actions of the English reformers. The
excitement produced by open-air preaching, was un-
equalled in the social history of that excitable people.
At such times men appear often to go beyond the
urgency of the occasion ; but it is only thus that the
stagnant pools of indifferentism can be lashed into life.
Such instances disprove the modern heresy, that the
Anglo-Saxon race alone, will receive and permanently
retain the truths of the Gospel, From the day of
Pentecost downwards, the Divine life has defied all the
divisions of ethnology, and proved its paramount claim
AD. 1750-1800.] SECOND PART. 341
to be " the power of God unto salvation, unto every one
that believeth ;" as it proclaims to all the world, "God
comniandeth all men, everywhere, to repent." AVhitefield
was equally successful amidst the Danes of Northumber-
land, the Belgae of Bristol, the Celts of Cornwall and
^yales, or the mixed i-aces of Colonial America. The
drawing power of Christ crucified, is equal on all sides of
Calvary.
At this time, too, arose a new branch of religious
literature,— namely, periodical publications professing to
give biographical sketches of individuals distinguished
solely for evangelical piety. Tlie " Arminian Magazine,''
and its more short-lived contemporary, the " Spiritual
Magazine," abound in these narratives.
Some of the experiences thus detailed, are those of
persons who had long known the happiness of true
religion, but who had enjoyed it in secret. They now
gladly threw off their reserve, proclaimed the source of
their peace, and hailed the advent of Methodism with
delight. Others, newly and suddenly converted, hastened
to give some fresh aspect of the story of grace, as it
affected their personal circumstances. Others had been
so dazzled by the great marvel of divine love, that they
attributed miracle to the commonest things in connexion
with its development in their souls. Many of the ac-
counts are deeply interesting, for the proofs they afford
that obedience to the faith of the Gospel gives polish to
the rustic, manners to the humble artisan, learning to the
ignorant, and dignity to all. Who would have supposed,
that society, at this time so apparently lost to all high-
342 THE EIGHTEENTH CEXTURY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
souled heroic j^urpose, contained witliin its bosom men
such as the first Wesleyan local preachers, John Nelson,
Thomas Walsh, Lee, Hopper, and many others, who
sprang ujd at the caJ 1 of their Divine Master, and exhibited
powers, patience, and zeal worthy of everlasting remem-
brance ?
Meanwhile, instruments of various kinds were being
prepared in different manners, for the service of the
Church of the future. Cowper's simple narrative of his
own conA^ersion, in 1764, is an instance of one of the
tliousand wonderful ways in which this was proceeding.
" But the happy period which was to shake off my
fetters, and afford me a clear opening of the free mercy
of God in Christ Jesns, was now arrived. I flung myself
into a chair near the window. Seeing a Bible there,
I ventured once more to apply to it for comfort and
instruction. The first verse I saw was the 2.5th of the
3rd of Bomans : ' Whom God hath set forth to be a pro-
pitiation through faith in His blood, to declare His right-
eousness for the remission of sins that are past, through
the forbearance of God.'
" Immediately I received strength to believe il, and
the full beams of the Sun of Bighteousness shone upon
me. I saw the sufficiency of the atonement He had made,
my pardon sealed in His blood, and all the feelings of His
justification. In a moment I believed and received the
Gospel. Whatever my friend Madan had said to me
long before, revived in all its clearness, with demonstra-
tion of the Spirit and with power. Unless the Almighty
arm had been under me, I think I should have died
A.D. 1750-
SECOND PAKT. 343
with gratitude and joy. My eyes filled witli tears, and
my voice choked with transport. I could only look up
to Heaven in silent fear, overwhelmed with love and
wonder. But the work of the Holy Ghost is best de-
scribed in His own words : ' It is joy unspeakable, and
full of glory.'
" Thus was my heavenly Father in Christ Jesus pleased
to give me the full assurance of faith, and out of a strong,
stony, unbelieving heart to raise up a child unto Abraham.
How glad should I now have been to have spent every
moment in prayer and thanksgiving ! I lost no oppor-
tunity of repairing to the throne of grace, but flew to it
with an earnestness irresistible and never to be satisfied.
Could I help it 1 Could I do otherwise than love and
rejoice in my reconciled Father in Christ Jesus ? The
Lord had enlarged my heart, and I ran in the way of
His commandments. For many succeeding weeks, tears
were ready to flow if I did but speak of the Gospel or
mention the name of Jesus. To rejoice day and night
was all my employment. Too happy to sleep much, I
thought it was but lost time that was spent in slumber.
0 that the ardour of my first love had continued ! But
1 have known many a lifeless and unhallowed hour since ;
long intervals of darkness, interrupted by returns of peace
and joy in believing." *
The jubilant, exulting character of the hymnology of
this period, is in accordance with the hopeful symptoms of
the Church. It is the privilege of poetry to be antici-
patory of brighter things to come. The ground of confi-
* Grimshawe's Cowper, vol. v. p. 294.
341 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
dence was expressed in one of the hymns of 1760
thus : —
" Paschal Lamb, by God appointed,
All our sins on Thee were laid ;
By Almighty love anointed,
Thou hast full atonement made :
All Thy people are forgiven
Thi'ough the virtue of Thy blood ;
Oj)ened is the gate of heaven ;
Peace is made 'twixt man and God."
The clear perception of obligation, expressed by such
beautiful hymns as Toplady's " A debtor to mercy alone,"
and by several others, composed by Doddridge and the
Wesleys, current about this time, led to the expression of
those high missionary expectations which were not ful-
filled until the next generation. The poets were heralds,
as they are ever wont to be. Such an announcement do we
find made by Wesley in stii-ring stanzas, now well known: —
' ' Blow ye the trumpet, blow
The gladly solemn sound;
Let all the nations know,
In earth's remotest bound,
The year of Jubilee is come ;
Eetxirn, ye ransomed sinners, home.
" Jesus, our great High Priest,
Hath full atonement made :
Ye weary spirits, rest ;
Ye mournful souls, be glad;
The year of Jubilee is come ;
Eeturn, ye ransomed sinners, home.
" Extol the Lamb of God,
The all- atoning Lamb ;
Bedemption through His blood
Throughout the world proclaim.
The year of Jubilee is come ;
Beturu, ye ransomed sinners, home.'''
A.D. 17J0-1800.] • SECOND PART. 345
And in 1768, by Michael Bruce, in strains that will
continue to be appropriate until time 'shall be no
more : —
" Behold the mountain of the Lord
In latter days shall rise
On mountain- tops, above the hills,
And draw the wondering eyes.
" To this the joy fid nations round,
All tribes and tongues shall flow :
' Up to the hill of God,' they'll say,
' And to His house we'll go.'
" The beam that shines from Zion-hill
Shall lighten every land ;
The King who reigns in Salem's towers
Shall all the world command.
' ' Come, then, 0 come ! from every land,
To worship at His shrine ;
And, walking in the light of God,
With holy beauties shine."
We can trace to its source, the revival of religion in the
Established Church in London, which took place towards
the end of tbe eighteenth century. Middleton, writing
in 1786, says, — " It is an anecdote which deserves to be
recorded, that, between thirty and forty years ago, when
only one pulj)it in or about the great Metropolis, and that
only on a Sunday and Tluirsday afternoons during Term-
time, was accessible for the pure doctrines of the Gospel
and of the Church, a certain number of serious persons
met at stated times for the sole purpose of praying that
God would be pleased, in His mercy to the Establishment,
to raise up faithful ministers in it, who should sound
forth the Gospel of His grace as in the days of old, when
346 THE EIGHTEEXTH CE^'TURY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
tlie Establisliment was adorned witli gracious pastors in
all parts of the land, and to give tlieir ministry abundant
success. Witliin a sj)ace it pleased God to answer tliese
petitions." *
Writing of tlie last centmy, lie says, — " In the former
part of this century, the Established ministers, who thought
themselves bound in conscience and duty to support their
own articles by preaching and living, were but thinly
scattered over the land. But nearer the middle of the
century they became yet more scarce ; and before the
revival of religion which ensued about forty years ago,
an evangelic ministry was hard to be found. Our pulpits
sounded with morality deduced from the principles of
nature and the fitness of things, with no relation to Christ
or the Holy Spirit ; all which the heathen philosophers
have insisted upon, and perhaps with more than modern
ingenuity; and, in consequence, our streets have resounded
with heathen immorality. "We had flowery language in
the Church, and loose language out of it. There was no
apparent spirit or grace in the public service ; and the
private life discovered none. Nay, the people were
taught not to expect it, but to esteem everything of a
sublime and spiritual influence as enthusiastic and de-
lusive." t
In similar strains writes a contemporary : " All things,
serious, solemn, and sacred, are wantonly thrown by, or
treated only as proper subjects for ridicule. All that
* " Biographia Evangelica," vol. iv., p. 889.
T Ibid, vol. iv., p. 380.
A.D. 1750-1800.] SECOND PART. 347
the pert and polite sinner need do now to establish his
reputation of wit, and be deemed the hero of all polite
assemblies, is to get rid of religion as soon as possible, to
set conscience at defiance, to deny the being or providence
of God, to laugh at the Scriptures, deride God's ordi-
nances, profane his name, and rally his ministry." *
There had been, however, some admirable exceptions.
Mr. Thomas Jones, who died in 1762, after a well-spent
life of thirty- three years, was an instance of a man who
in private life, and as chaplain of Saint Saviour's, South-
wark, sought with singleness of purpose to promote the
glory of God in the extension of the kingdom of our Lord
Jesus Christ among men. He felt the weight of his own
personal indebtedness to his Divine Sa^viour, and under its
pressure employed all his powers in personally and prayer-
fully commending to others His love and w^ork. Amidst
all the rebuffs which such close spiritual efforts is sure to
encounter, it is remarkable to v/hat a great extent it is
ever ultimately " twice blessed." It is a source of satis-
faction to the Christian observer to recollect how many
there are who are thus humbly labouring, not under the
approving view of men, but as " ever in the great Task-
master's eye."
About the year 1760, a laborious young schoolmaster,
living at Sutton Ashfield, in addition to daily labour in
his calling for the support of his family, and to constant
village preaching on the Sunday, wrote a treaties which
he entitled "The Eeign of Grace." He was an obscure
and unfriended individual ; but the MS. was sent to Mr.
* Monthly Review for 1705— Chiu'chill's Sermoiis.
31:8 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
[i.D. 17JO-180O.
YeiiD, at Hudclersfiekl, avIio was so much struck Avitli its
merit that he rode across the country to the author's
i-esidence, strongly urged its publication, wrote a recom-
mendatory preface, and formed an attachment to the writer
which endured during their joint lives, though separated
in ecclesiastical and local station. The good rector
invited Abraham Booth, the Baptist minister, to preach in
his kitchen, promising to get him a congregation, which
was duly effected. -=
Mr. Yaughan, the biographer of the Rev. Thomas
Robinson, writing of the state of things at Leicester about
the year 1774, says, — " Leicester was at this time in the
state exhibited by many other provincial towns, both pre-
viously and subsequently, in which pure Gospel light has
for a long season been obscured. Religion was a feeble
and sickly plant ; it consisted for the most part in names
and forms, and a sort of pharisaical attendance upon one
service upon the Sunday. What little af vital religion
there was, appeared principally among the Dissenters," t
About the year 1777, a young engraver of some note in
London, being under the influence of strong religious im-
pressions, caught the spirit of awakening Evangelism, and
itinerated through the Southern and Midland Counties of
England, proclaiming the glad tidings. He was mobbed
and scorned, but crowds attended the proclamation ; thus
vindicating the true character of the Divine message, which,
in s[Ate of all that men or devils can do, is still the most
popular of all themes. This itinerant was young George
* Life of Booth, prefixed to his Works, vol. i., p. 26.
t Life of the Rev. Thos. Robinson, p. 56.
A.D. 1750-ieoo.] SECOND PART 349
Burder, who lived to see the flow of evangelical preaching
gradually rise beyond it first irregular channels, and
become diffused over the whole land.
The inequalities which may temporarily exist in a
district as to its state of receptiveness for religion, are
quite beyond our ken as to their causes. The fact is
one constantly encountered in the history of the Gospel.
Thus, Yorkshire and Cornwall received and retained
Wesleyanism, more signally than other parts of the king-
dom. Cheshire, Lancashire, and Yorkshire were anciently
the strongholds of Presbyterian ism; the eastern counties,
the fortresses of Dissent. Puritanism was always strong
in London ; tlie halls of several of the City companies
were used as meeting-houses for many years.
Although the foundation - facts and arguments of
Christianity are unchangeable, and the identity of the
Divine life in all ages and places lanquestionable, yet
there is no limit to the adaptations by which it becomes a
new power, to the individual and to society. All its great
organizations, have been successful by an outgrowth in
connexion with the peculiar wants and circumstances of
the age in which they were set on foot. They have not
been struck out perfect at a heat, but welded piecemeal,
as the occasion arose. The work of the Holy Spirit
amongst men, depends upon the earnest faithfulness of the
daily orison, " Thy kingdom come ;" and it is given in
accordance with the promise, " As thy day, so thy strength
shall be."
In 1784, the low state of religion in general, affected
the hearts of a few Baptist folk, who were holding an
350 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 1750-1800.
association meeting at Nottingham, inducing tliem to
take the novel step of resolving to make common prayer
for the bestowment of spiritual influence from on high,
that God's cause might thereby be revived. The first
Monday evening in every month was recommended for
the purpose. The innovation was in accordance not only
with the demand of the age, but with the high behests of
our Heavenly Father. The practice has prevailed from
that time. It was first afterwards adopted by the Mid-
land Baptist Association, and soon became general. In
1789, Sutclifi", a Baptist minister at Olney, republished
Jonathan Edwards's tract on the subject of united prayer,
with a short preface ending thus : —
"In the present imperfect state, we may reasonably
expect a diversity of sentiments upon religious matters.
Each ought to think for himself; and every one has a
rio-ht, on proper occasions, to show his opinion. Yet all
should remember that there are but two parties in the
world, each engaged in opposite causes : the cause of God
and of Satan, of holiness and sin, of heaven and hell.
The advancement of the one and the downMl of the
other must appear exceedingly desirable to every real
friend of God and man. If such in some respects enter-
tain different sentiments, and practise distinguishing
modes of worship, surely they may unite in the above
business. O for thousands upon thousands, divided into
small bands in their respectiv^e cities, towns, villages, and
neighbourhoods, all met at the same time, and in pursuit
of one end, offering up their united prayers, like so many
ascending clouds of incense before the Most High ! — May
A.D. 1750-1800] SECOND PART. 351
He shower down blessings on all the scattered tribes of
Zion ! Grace, great grace be with all them that love the
Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity ! Amen ! — John Sutcliff.
Olnej, May 4th, 1789."
The practice of united specific prayer for the increase of
Christ's kingdom, thus established, was adopted by the
Dissenting Churches, and by the scattered societies of
God's people throughout the land, not classing themselves
in this category. A bystander, acquainted with the arrange-
ments of the plan of salvation, would have said, "Now
the day is at hand !"
It is always pleasant to recollect, that amidst the
mazes of the great world, there are by-23aths in which
piety is flourishing. In the last yea]; of the eighteenth
century died one of the most eminent sculptors of his age,
John Bacon. He was of a God-fearing lineage : his father
seldom sat down to a meal without opening his Bible j he
himself preserved, amidst the smiles of the gay world,
unsullied personal piety ; and his descendants have been
blessed with the same characteristics. In rebuke, or rather
rectification, of the vain-glorious epita23hs around, his in
Westminster Abbey stands out, a testimony for " things
unseen and eternal :" —
" What I was as an Artist,
Seemed to me of some importance
While I lived;
But,
What I really w^as as a believer
In Christ Jesus,
Is the only thing of importance
To me now."
o-)J, THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.i.. 1730-1800.
Cecil Avrites of him, — " Occupied with business, exalted
by favour, and tempted with wealth, religion still was his
grand concern. Animated by this, his family dv/elt in a
house of daily prayer and spiritual instruction. He even
used to visit his workmen when sick, and discourse with
them on the important subject that lay nearest his heart :
in some instances, when he deemed it proper, he prayed
with and for them at their bedside."*
Five years before Bacon's death (1795), Komaine had
closed an evangelical ministry of fifty years' duration in the
Metropolis, by testifying to his friends around his dying
bed, that he then had the peace of God in his conscience,
and the love of God in his heart. " I knew before, the
doctrines T preached to be truths, but now I experience
them to be blessings."
The lights now appearing, become so numerous, that it
will be impossible to particularize. God's life in man's soul
became a recognized power ; one by one, and then many
at once, instances of personal piety throughout all parts of
the land emerged from the dreary wastes of formalism or
indifference. Milner, Newton, Scott, Cecil, the Yenns,
and others, on the one hand, — and the Wesleys, Fletcher,
Booth, Fuller, and a host of others, were the centres of
long-continued evangelical influence, under which spiritual
life grew and spread apace.
In the year 1793, good Mr. Yenn was staying at Bath
on a visit to young Wilberforce, who had then recently
become the subject of personal religion. The friends
visited Hannah More and her sisters, where they saw the
* Cecil, Life of Bacon, p. 42.
1..D. 1750-1800.]
SECOND PART. 353
home-missionary operations which made the Mendips the
scene of Gospel triumphs. They spent several days
together in retirement at Perry's Mead. Wilberforce says,
in his diary, " Venn with me here a fortnight : he is
heavenly-minded and bent on His Master's work, affec-
tionate to all around him, and, above all, to Christ's
people, as such. How low are my attainments ! Oh, let me
labour with redoubled diligence to enter in at the strait
gate ! An indolent, soothing religion will never support
the soul in the hour of death : then nothing will buoy us
up but the testimony of our conscience that we have
fought the good tight. Help me, O Jesus, and by Thy
Spirit cleanse me from my pollutions ; give me a deeper
abhorrence of sin ; let me press for\Vard. A thousand
gracious assurances stand forth in Christ's Gospel. I
humbly pray to be enabled to attend more to my secret
devotions ; to pray over Scripture, to interlace thoughts
of God and Christ, to be less volatile, more humble, and
more bold for Christ." And then, soon afterwards, —
"Saturday, August 3rd, I laid the first timbers of my
tract."*
His meditation and prayer resulted in the formation of
a powerful desu'e to address his countrymen on the in-
adequacy of their prevalent notions and practices concerning
religion. He states that open and shameless disavowal of
religion had then become common, and that, apart from
this, few traces of it were to be found; that the publio
were becoming less and less acquainted with Christianity,
whilst improving in every other branch of knowledge.
* Life of Wilberforce, by his Sons, vol. ii.
AA
354 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d. 17o0-180O.
He discloses the root of the evil by ascribing this to the
habit of ignoring the peculiar doctrines of the Gospel.
Well did old John Newton pronounce the treatise, " the
most valuable and important publication of the age," and
say, with grateful fervour, "I accept it as a token for
good — yea, the brightest token I can discover in this dark-
and perilous day."
Concurring with other causes working in other parts
of the field, this work indicates the turning-point in the
public religious history of our country.
The visits of children to their fathers have always an
interest. Simeon, who was now as one of the former,
in the course of his travels, went to see the venerable
Fletcher of Madely, one of the latter. He introduced
himself; the good old man took the hand of his
visitor, led him into his house, and, kneeling down,
poured forth for him the utterances of his inmost soul.
It was Sunday : he asked Mr. Simeon to preach, and then
went down into the village with his hand-bell, as was his
wont, and proclaimed, " A gentleman from Cambridge will
preach this afternoon : be sure you come, and bring every-
body you can with you."
The prevalent feeling among the best men of the closing
century, may be collected from the writings of Joseph
Milner of Hull, one of the soundest promoters of the reviv^al
in high places. A tone of apology may still be traced in
the composition.
" On a fair examination, we shall find that the prin-
ciples which in this kingdom have been spreading for
about forty years, and have been stigmatized with the
A. D. 1750-1800.]
SECOND PART. 355
opprobrious terms of Methodism or Enthusiasm, are in
reality the religion of the apostles and primitive Christians.
And a little candid examination will convince any reason-
able man that they are no other than those which the
Reformers in Germany and England professed, and on
which the Church of England is founded. The decline
has been so deep with iis, and scepticism, profaneness, and
an illegitimate and unscriptural charity have been pro-
pagated in so general a manner, that the revival of these
principles subjects men to the censure of introducing some
strange sectarian ideas, though they contain nothing new,
nothing particular, nothing different from the creed of the
wisest and most intelligent Christians of all ages, nor
from the genuine doctrine of the Church. Much pains
have been taken to suppress them ; persecution has been
tried, but the spirit of the times and the lenity of Govern-
ment have ever rendered it ineffectual. The most inde-
cent publications on the plan of wit and raillery have been
attempted; nor has the more reasonable mode of argu-
ment been neglected. Yet these principles live and
flourish ; and every lover of truth will rejoice to find that
many of the Established clergy are opening their eyes more
and more, and entering into the spirit of the New Testa-
ment with increasing ardom\ The hand of God also has
evidently been with them. . . . Multitudes are reformed,
and lead holy lives, wherever these principles prevail. I
frankly avow that the recommendation of these principles
was the design of this publication. Let it only be allowed
that there is such a thing as a divinely revealed religion,
that the knowledge and power of it are of infinite import-
'S56 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
[A.D. 175C-180O-
ance, and then if any one will still fastidiously refuse these
principles a hearing, let him ask himself, where and
among what sort of persons he can expect to find the real
Christian religion 1 If he is not quite buried in profane-
ness and pride, he will scarce look for it among Arians and
Socinians. What ! is the Spirit of God with those who
degrade the essential dignity of the Saviour, or despise the
operations of the Holy Ghost, or explain away the only
hope ot a sinner — the atonement of the Son of God ?
Will he look for the Christian religion among the common
professors of orthodoxy 1 This will, in our days, com-
prehend a very large part ; about forty years ago, it com-
prehended almost the whole of the Established clergy.
But what signature of divine life can be traced among
them 1 Is there not an evident want of zeal with respect
to religion 1 not to say among many, a want of any plan
or system of ideas at all 1 Is there the least spiritual
good apparent among them 1 Do any in hearing dis-
courses from the pulpit ever obtain any benefit 1 Can a
single instance be produced, in the course of twenty or
thirty years, of a single person reclaimed from vice in con-
sequence of this religion 1
" He must then, if truly serious for his soul, look for
the religion of Christ among those who, under God, have
of late years been the instruments of the revival already
mentioned. And may he look to good purpose ! May
the dawTi of Gospel light, the very best symptom of Divine
favour which this kingdom, amidst all its alarming evils,
can boast, break out into open day ! I w^ould not desjiair
but that even some of the dignitaries of the Church may
A.D. 1750-1800.] SECOND PART. 357
not only view with more friendly eyes, as tliey lately have
done, but themselves also, with honest zeal, espouse and
support the precious peculiarities of Christianity. Devoutly
should we pray, that that ' God, who alone worketh great
marvels, would send down upon our bishops and curates,
and all congregations committed to their charge, the
healthful Sj^irit of His grace !'"*
On the 9th of March, 1796, a youth named Wilson,
living at a silk salesman's in Milk-street, London, was
engaged in the common congenial occupation of joining,
with others, in the general ridicule of evangelical religion.
One of the young men ventured an argument in favour of
the despised tenets. Wilson denied all personal respon-
sibility, on the ground that he was not elected to eternal
life, and that he had no feelings 'towards God. His
opponent merely said, " Then pray for the feelings !" The
remark was parried by a jest, but the bolt had sped on its
way. The same night, when alone in his chamber, he did
pray for the feelings. God heard and answered. His eyes
were opened : two days afterwards he sought further
instruction from Mr. Eyre, a clergyman of judicious piety;
then conferred with John Newton, found peace and joy
in believing, became in the course of years vicar of Isling-
ton, and died bishop of Calcutta.
The great political gulf which until recently has separated
Romanist from Protestant, has prevented justice being
done by the latter, to those of the former, whose love and
life for the truth have shone forth in spite of the grave
* "Reflections on the Life of WiUiam Howard," by Joseph
Miluer, A.M.
358 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [a.d 1750-1800.
errors of their position. Yet such instances have never
been wanting : Fisher in King Henry's time, poor South-
well in Elizabeth's days, Gotlier, Parsons, Leyburn,
Godden, Challoner, and othei-s, have continued the holy-
succession in their church, though scantily yet truly, down
to our own times. There have always been persons pro-
fessing Romanism, who have lived and died in simple
reliance on the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ alone,
for acceptance with God. They have acquiesced in the
existence of a thick veil of human fabrication, by which
the precious truth has been all but totally concealed, and
have even taken pride in the fancied advantages of their
darkened position. They say that it is impossible, that the
truths forming the quintessence of the Gospel, should in
their church ever be forgotten, because they are inseparably
interwoven in symbol with theii^ service and ritual. They
claim for the formula of their worship, the merit of
embodying the entire substance of revealed truth con-
cerning the atonement and teaching of Christ. Whilst
deploring their most serious errors, let us not ignore the
instances in which they have individually risen into real
fellowship with all who love the Saviour. We, with
spiritual advantages, higher because more in accordance,
as we deem, with the simplicity that is in Christ, need
not deny a welcome to those who, under disadvantages so
great, have yet been our unknown companions in the
pilgrimage to the better land.
Dr. Hook says that there is room, in the histoiy of
religion, for the large exercise of faith and charity. " The
Christian believes that whatever may be the outward
A.D. 1750-1300.] SECOND PART. 359
circumstances of the Church, the Spirit of the Holy God
is ever comforting and elevating the unknown souls of
thousands who, through the troubled sea of controversy,
not unmoved, not without much of care and watchfulness,
steer right onward, their compass being an honest heart
and upright intentions. A great part of the effects of the
Gospel must always remain hidden from the eyes of the
majority of men, and can find no place in history. They
are not made known to us by biographies of the present
age, or the legends of ages past." *
At the close of the eighteenth century we are still
rather amongst the germs of things than their expansions.
At that time, amidst the turmoil abroad, and the fears at
home, — with war raging from Syiia to Spain, from Egypt
to Ireland, — it would have been deeihed fanatical to have
predicated for the humble cause of Christ, a vitality and a
growth more potent than that of any of the nationalities
then conflicting throughout Europe. But amidst all the
public alarms, God was silently pressing forward His
own kingdom; enlarging its boundaries irrespective of
all political partitions and revolutions of empire.
We must briefly retrace our steps to show the history of
religious literature for the multitude.
In 1750, a society was formed on the principle of unit-
ing all Christians in the promotion of the Gospel through
the agency of the press. It was called " The Society for
Promoting Religious Knowledge among the Poor. " The
labours of the Society were confined to a few districts. It
was only one of the preparatives for better times. In 1756,
* " History of the Archbishops of Canterbury," vol. L, p. 335.
360 THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. [i.D. 1750-1800.
similar associations were formed in Edinburgli and Glasgow.
It was not, however, until the last fifteen years of the
century that successful efforts were made to enlist cheap
literature in the diffusion of the Gospel. Miss Hannah
More was the most assiduous and influential of the tract
writei-s and distributors. The first of Miss More's tracts
were rather moral and political than religious. Mr.
Burder, a Dissenting minister at Lancaster, a scholar of
Whitefield and Fletcher, conceived that publications more
decidedly evangelical might be advantageously distributed.
In 1781, he wrote and printed a small tract called "The
Good Old Way," in which the fall and redemption of
man were proved from Scripture, and stated from the
Articles and Liturgy of the Church of England. This
tract encountered opposition, which induced the writer to
engage in the work with more zeal. He published a series
of six, called "Village Tracts," exclusively religious. His
bookseller failing, he laid before a meeting of ministers
and others a plan for the formation of a publishing society,
which was resolved upon at a meeting of forty persons, held
on the 9th of May, 1799, at St. Paul's Gofiee House, St.
Paul's Churchyard.
By this time the editions and issues of the English
Bible had become so numerous, that even industrious
bibliographers have found it simply impossible to
enumerate and distinguish them. The next step in the
onward career was the formation of the British and
Foreign Bible Society, which belongs to the succeeding
century, though it had its origin in the last year of this.
The decade of time commencing in 1800 witnessed the
A.D. 1750-1800.1
SECOND PART. S61
formation of great religions associations, and tlie public
avowal of evangelical relioion. The realities of the Chris-
tian life, which were previously classed with the vagaries
of fanaticism, began to be considered as things possessing
truth and importance. Henceforth, at least in England,
spiritual life is openly treated as an actual feature of
society, and as constituting an essential element in the
glory which God has bestowed upon our land.
It is true that after the great evangelical revival which
characterized the close of the eighteenth century, there was
still in the aspect of things, much that was calculated to
depress or moderate religious ardour : there were frequent
temporary retrogressions. But in all reforms the ultimate
wave-mark is below the temporary surf Whilst watching
the latter, we fain hope that it will never recede ; but
unerring law requires that it should do so, and we must
wait for the average of the effects, in order to count the
permanent gain.
At the close of the century, an attentive observer would
perceive signs that the good ship of the Church was about
to sail on a bolder voyage than ever before : with all
stores on board, her crew full of courage and hope, the
elements propitious, the signal is sounded, " Stand-by !" —
and all things are ready for the venture, towards a bright
and brightening future.
" ' Thank God !' the theologian said,
* The reign of violence is dead,
Or dying surely from the world ;
While Love triumphant reigns instead,
And, in a brighter sky o'erhead
His blessed banners are unfurled.
362
THE EIGHTEENTH CENFURY. f^.c. 1750-1800.
And most of all thank God for this :
The war and waste of clashing creeds
Now end in words, and not in deeds ;
And no one suffers loss or bleeds
For thoughts that men call heresies.' "*
* Longfellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn."
CHAPTER XTX.
Conclusion.
There are times in the history of every thoughtful
Christian, when he is tempted to question the presidency
of God in the affairs of the Church, and even to doubt the
existence of a particular Providence. All things within
and around us are so much opposed to faith, that the latter
is frequently overcome by the current of adverse influences.
In the heat of the battle of life, we lose sight of the Com-
mander ; the issue of the conflict seems to be doubtful : but
we look again, and perceive unmistakeable proofs of His
superintendence, and the victory which from the chaos
around us, appeared to be lost, is already crowning the
distant heights. So, the contemplation of the true history
of God's cause on earth, is calculated to restore our fading
confidence, and reassure our fainting hearts. If we analyze
it, and first separa.te all that may be attributed to the
working of natural laws, the residuum is the direct in-
fluence of God the Holy Spirit acting through revealed
truth. There have ever been men, who, contrary to the
tendencies of society, have truly professed to feel their
own sinfulness and helplessness in the sight of God, who
in this extremity have heartily sought pardon and aid
3G4 CONCLUSION.
on the gi-ound of the Redeemer's merits, have realized
spiritual cominunioD with God, and have hence derived
strength to resist evil and follow that which is good.
These are the Christians, and their history is the history
of Christianity. Those who blame the Gospel for the follies
and vices displayed in ecclesiastical history, show their
ignorance of the nature of true religion ; for, as Joseph
Milner said half a century ago, " the scenes which fill
Mosheim's book have no more to do with Christianity
than robbers and assassins have to do with good govern-
ment."
It has been usual to class the religious revivals which
have placed our country at the head of the evangelical
action of the world, with the great events well known in its
secular history, such as the Crusades, the invention of
printing, the introduction of Greek literature, the dis-
covery of America, the commencement of inductive philo-
sophy, and the rise of the middle classes. But the origin
and succession of spiritual life in England had a source
paramount to all these occurrences. It was evidently the
product of revealed truth, acting through the quickened
consciences of men who sought and obtained Divine guid-
ance. The "Word of God and prayer, have been the be-
ginning and continuance of the work throughout.
Formal scholastic theology has a history of its own. The
Augustinism of the early converts here, was assailed by
Pelagianism : the latter was vanquished, and the former
compacted into an artificially complete system. Aristotelian
methods prevailed from the time of Alcuin in 736 ; John
Scotus taught it at Oxford in the ninth century, and the
CONCLUSION. 365
*
great Anselm instructed the whole world in the eleventh.
John of Salisbury was a master of the logic current in the
next century ; and the renowned schoolman Duns Scotus,
a Northumbrian, born in 1275, was his successor in the
same line. After this, Roger Bacon vainly endeavoured
to get rid of the obscurities which had become classical.
William Ockham, about 1300, distinguished himself by
similar efforts ; and then Bradwardine, and his successor
John Wycliffe, saw that the soul of theology was better
tlian the body, and by unlocking the Bible opened the
way for a flood of light.*
The Church, as a human institution, also has ample
records of its o^vn. The ponderous volumes of eccle-
siastical history are full of its fierce .political struggles.
Piety has a history of its own, written in the endow-
ment-charters and stately fabrics of numberless institu-
tions. The lawyer and the architect are its historians.
But, none or all of these constitute the history of true
religious life.
We have attempted to show, that, independently of all
surrounding circumstances, there have always been, in our
country, persons who have lived in habitual realization
of the Divine love through our Lord Jesus Christ ; in
earnest prosecution of Divine knowledge ; in diligent en-
deavours for its diffusion; in newness of life towards
God and man; in hearty enjoyment of Divine favour;
in firm hope of the Divine inheritance. We leave to
others the grateful task of demonstrating the secondary
* See Tennemaun, " Manual of the History of Philosophy,
Second Period. "
366 CONCLUSION.
blessings of spiritual life, in its effect on society. We
claim for it, on tlie ground of recorded facts, the character
of being true to its profession : '■'-Tohe spiritually-miinded^
is life and j^eacey
The history of religion, too, bears internal proof of its
relation to time. It had a beginning, and is developing
a progress towards a consummation. Its earthly career
is evidently limited to the partial accomplishment of its
glorious mission. In its present phase it is not intended
to be the perpetual condition of a permanent common-
wealth : heaven is the home of its complete unfolding.
We see the direction in which things are tending, the
constellation in the skies towards which the whole
system is travelling. We can prove that the progress
is not by natural selection, nor by the mere outworking
of implanted properties.
But the rate of progress is not for us to know, the
dial-plate of eternity is not legible from our present plat-
form. Yet, there are some waymarks. We may use-
fully learn what stations w^e have left behind, and law-
fully inquire what othei's are still to come. We ask
with the prophet, " O Lord, what shall the end of these
things be 1 " The coming voices announce to us the
consolation vouchsafed in former days to the same ques-
tion : " Go thou thy way till the end be ; for thou shalt
rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days."*
It is the known, and not the unknown, that is to guide
our conduct and be the ground of our peace. Nor let
the never-ending, still-beginning character of the work
* Dauiel xii. B.
CONCLUSION. 367
appal us. So long as the field is the world, there will
always be stony gi'ound, and always an enemy to sow
tares among the wheat. The condition of spiritual life,
is the same as that of natural and commercial life, in
so far as it is a competition for existence and progression.
The struggle is necessitated by the present constitution
of things. Doubtless, it is the best possible discipline
for us, in both our degenerate and regenerate state on
earth. We know that continuous powerful help is
promised, — "Lo, I am with you always, even unto the
end of the world," — and, that ultimate success is guaran-
teed,— "Be of good cheer ; I have overcome the world."
But will it always be, that the cry of the godly on earth,
shall partake more of the plaintive than of the triumphant *?
This is, at least, the experience of the past. At first
their complaint was, that the world would not receive the
t)ivine message; next, that the people would not heed
it ; then, that the adversaries raged ; afterwards, that
unspiritualism prevailed. Yet the kingdom extends,
spiritualism spreads more and more. The number of
evangelical men is augmented every year. Each genera-
tion surpasses in some respects its predecessor. True it
is, that sanguine Christians do not find their fond antici-
pations realized, and often retire from the scene at the
end of their career with the air of defeat ; but in other
quarters the cause is advancing amidst songs of victory.
The fifteenth century was the age of the undergrowth
of evangelical doctrine ; the sixteenth, that of its mani-
festation : the seventeenth century witnessed a similar
underc^rowth of sentiment concerning the constitution and
368 CONCLUSION.
place of the Cliurcli ; and the eighteenth, a coiTesponding
manifestation. It may be that the nineteenth century
wall be "characterized by the establishment of such relations
between the inner truth and its outward forms, that the
eaiiihly variations of the latter shall no longer by their
antagonism mar the heavenly beauty of the former ; but
everything, in and around the Church, shall proclaim
to angels and men, " the manifold wisdom of God."
uondon: benjamin pardon, pkinter, paternoster row.
DATE DUE
^^"^m^m^m
m
GAYUORD
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
BW5020.P32
The rise and progress of religious life
Princeton Theological Seminary-Speer Library
1 1012 00035 7220
t
Live Music Archive
Librivox Free Audio
Metropolitan Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Internet Arcade
Console Living Room
Books to Borrow
Open Library
TV News
Understanding 9/11