Chapter XXV (2)

Such is the substance of what I have been able to gather respecting the lives and characters of the Caroline prelates. They were far from being all alike. Charges are brought against them as a class, which individuals amongst them do not deserve. They were not all of the same disposition, although they all identified themselves with the same system. The reader will have noticed that facts prove Sheldon, Ward, Morley, and Cosin to have been more or less what Anglicans would esteem strict disciplinarians--what Nonconformists, and others beside them, will more justly pronounce religious persecutors; and what we know of Hacket, Wren, and Gunning, will show that they held principles adapted to make them like those of their brethren who have just been named. It should be remembered, however, that prelates had no longer the power they once possessed. They could not do what their predecessors had done before the Restoration; for the High Commission Court was abolished, the _ex officio_ oath could no longer be administered, and certain penalties once inflicted could be repeated no more. All the Bishops now mentioned suffered in the Civil Wars: yet Hacket retained the living of Cheam throughout the troubles; Ward took his degree at Oxford, and became president of Trinity College before the Restoration; and Gunning's ministry as an Episcopalian was winked at by Oliver Cromwell. Wilkins, Reynolds, Pearson, Croft, Laney, and Earl were more or less indulgent to Puritan clergymen within the Church, and not so unfriendly to those outside, as some others were;--and it may be mentioned, that the first three held academic or ecclesiastical preferment under the Commonwealth; and the last three were compelled to sacrifice emolument and endure hardship. Passing over the worst or the least known of the Bench, what shall be said of the best and most renowned? They were men of ability, of learning, of unimpeachable morals, hospitable and kind, orthodox and devout; but is there one amongst them to whom posterity can point as possessing, in an eminent degree, the true Episcopal faculty,--the gift of spiritual overseership, of a deep insight into Christ's truth, into God's providence, and into men's souls? Is there one who excelled in folding the sheep which were lost?--one who struck the world's conscience, making it feel how awful goodness is? Richard Baxter was far from perfect, nor did he possess qualifications adapted to the administration of a diocese; but had he accepted the mitre which he refused, would he have found sitting by his side an equal in spiritual power?

[Sidenote: 1662-1677.]

We have now reached a point where it is wise to inquire into the state of the clergy after the Restoration. It is seen what sort of men the diocesans were; we ought to inquire what sort of men ministered in their dioceses. Publications of the day bear witness to the fact, often overlooked, that there were clergy in the Establishment whose sympathies leaned towards Puritanism.[728] The Bishop of Bristol had much trouble with a person of this description, a Prebendary of the cathedral, who describes the conduct of his diocesan in the following manner:--"He citeth me afresh on pains of suspension; and tells me, at my appearance, that I was a saucy, proud fellow; of a Presbyterian hypocritical heart; upbraiding my preaching, praying, speech, face, and whole ministry, very opprobriously, before all the people."[729] Complaints occur of conforming Nonconformists, as wearing neither girdle nor cassock, being _à la mode_ and _in querpo divinus_--as setting up miserable readers to make the Liturgy contemptible, and as engaging for an hour in extempore prayer. They preached over, it is alleged, "the old one's notes," full of cant about "indwelling, soul-saving, and heart-supporting;" they "affected a mortified countenance," and "set the Sabbath above holidays," and "a pure heart above the surplice," and were men "overflowing with the milk and honey of doctrine, instead of the inculcation of honesty and obedience and good works."[730]

[Sidenote: CLERGY.]

From these and other circumstances it appears that the Act of Uniformity did by no means accomplish all its purposes. Some were Conformists only in name. The fact is, that whilst the Act drove out all the best and most eminent of the Puritan class, there still were many, of a pliable nature, who having opposed Episcopacy, and sworn to the Covenant, and adopted the Directory, were content to nestle under the wings of the Anglican Church, as soon as she arose, like a Phœnix out of its ashes.

The miserable condition of some of the clergy holding country benefices or cures became the subject of satirical remark. In a style of badinage, which aimed at being clever, one author speaks of a clergyman as trying to "weather out his melancholy by retiring into the little hole over the oven, called his study (contrived there, I suppose, to save firing); a pretty little vatican, the whole furniture whereof is a German system, a Geneva Bible, and concordance of the same; a budget of old stitched sermons, some broken girths, with two or three yards of whipcord behind the door, and a saw and hammer to prevent dilapidations."[731] Of course no reliance can be placed on such a trenchant description; but it shows the way in which clergymen were talked of. With gravity, and apparent truthfulness, it is stated elsewhere that clergymen sprung from the humbler ranks; and it is mentioned, as a novelty, and a subject for congratulation, that a few of aristocratic birth had entered holy orders. At the same time, it is affirmed, that an attorney, a shopkeeper, and a common artizan would hardly change their worldly condition with ordinary pastors.[732]

[Sidenote: 1662-1667.]

Many men, episcopally ordained, acted as chaplains. They conducted family worship, morning and evening; in some cases read and expounded, and prayed before dinner.[733] The satirist, already quoted, asks, "Shall we trust them in some good gentlemen's houses, there to perform holy things? With all my heart, so that they may not be called down from their studies to say grace to every health; that they may have a little better wages than the cook or butler; as also, that there be a groom in the house, besides the chaplain: (for sometimes into the ten pounds a year they crowd the looking after a couple of geldings); and that he may not be sent from table picking his teeth, and sighing, with his hat under his arm, whilst the knight and my lady eat up the tarts and chickens. It might be also convenient if he were suffered to speak now and then in the parlour, besides at grace and prayer-time; and that my cousin Abigail and he sit not too near one another at meals."[734] The spirit of the writer is apparent; it is not such as to inspire our sympathy, or secure our confidence; but if some of the clergy at the time had not been very ignominiously treated, surely no one would have hazarded the caricature.

[Sidenote: CLERGY.]

The ignorance of the clergy was a topic for abundant abuse. Those, it is said, who could spout a few Greek and Latin words for the benefit of the squire, pitched their discourses so as to accommodate themselves to the fine clothes, and abundance of ribbons, in the highest seats of the Church, instead of seeking to instruct those who had to mind the plough and mend the hedge. Cities and Corporations furnished "ten or twelve-pound-men," whose parts and education were no more than sufficient for reading the Lessons, after twice conning them over. "An unlearned rout of contemptible people" rushed into holy orders, just to read the prayers, although they understood "very little more than a hollow pipe made of tin or wainscot."[735] Bad taste in the composition of sermons is also attributed to the clergy, for which they are unmercifully ridiculed. Many of the examples, however, are taken from the preaching of the most fanatical amongst the Puritans.

[Sidenote: 1662-1667.]

Men cannot buy books without money; and of the scantiness of clerical libraries at that time there can be no question. Much more trustworthy, and deserving of attention than some of the particulars just supplied, is the anecdote of Tenison,--that he had, in his parish of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, "thirty or forty young men in orders, either governors to young gentlemen, or chaplains to noblemen," who, being reproved by him "for frequenting taverns or coffee-houses, told him they would study or employ their time better if they had books." Hence originated the foundation of the Tenison Library.[736]

[Sidenote: CLERGY.]

Between the poor rural clergy, with equally indigent chaplains and curates on the one hand, and the richly-beneficed and dignified members of the order on the other, a broad distinction must be drawn in point of attainments and eloquence, if not in point of original ability. In London, in the Universities, and in the high places of the Church, there were men, especially towards the close of the period under our review, who for scholastic learning, and ministerial capacity, were illustrious ornaments of their sacred profession. Many pages of this history bear witness to that fact. Still, the contempt in which the clergy were too generally held is admitted by those who, at the time, sought to make the best of the subject. Writers who vilified the Church were answered by writers who vindicated it. Paper wars, fierce and prolonged, were waged in a spirit which leaves little to choose between the combatants. Those who appeared as defenders of the accused, denied the unqualified application of the charges which they could not deny altogether. They triumphantly cited the admissions extorted from adversaries, that the clergy of the land had considerably improved, and that it was a "sign of nothing but perfect madness, ignorance, and stupidity, not to acknowledge that the present Church of England affords as considerable scholars, and as solid and eloquent preachers, as are anywhere to be found in the whole Christian world."[737] They contended that the illiteracy and bad taste complained of were by no means so common as their assailants alleged; and that, as to the latter accusation, it fell chiefly upon the Puritan remnant. They complained, as bitterly as those on the other side, of the poverty of clergymen, and their inability to purchase books; and then they urged, as reasons for the contempt in which they were held, not only straitened circumstances and a humble condition, but the calumnies of their enemies; the origin of these calumnies being distributed amongst Libertines, Jesuits, and Nonconformists,[738] and the want of discipline in the Church being also loudly lamented.[739]

In connection with these illustrations I may observe that Articles of Visitation in those days throw light on clerical costume, if a word or two may be added on so trifling a matter. Amongst other things the 78th Canon is recognized as obligatory, and churchwardens are solemnly asked, "Doth your parson, vicar, or curate usually wear such apparel as is prescribed by the canon, that is to say, a gown with a standing collar, and wide sleeves strait at the hands, and a square cap; or doth he go at any time abroad in his doublet and hose without coat or cassock, or doth he use to wear any light coloured stockings? doth he wear any coife, and wrought night-caps, or only plain night-caps of silk, satin, or velvet? and in his journeying, doth he usually wear a cloak with sleeves, commonly called the priest's cloak without guards, welts, long buttons or cuts?"[740]

That which has been said relates to the circumstances, the education, the preaching, and the habits of clergymen. What estimate is to be formed of their religious and moral character? It is a common vice to pass sweeping censures on a whole party. Most people fall into it when speaking of opponents, and protest against it when speaking of friends. Wishing to avoid that fault I would first say, undoubtedly many clergymen might be found at that time who were most exemplary in their lives, and two distinguished instances of the High Anglican type may be cited in proof. Ken was successively Incumbent of Little Easton, Brightstone, and East Woodhay. The purity of his life, the devoutness of his temper, the eloquence of his preaching, and his assiduous discharge of ministerial duties, are amongst the cherished memories of the English Church. With him his neighbour, Isaac Milles, the simple-hearted Rector of Highclere, is worthy of being associated. For nine-and-thirty years, on an income of £100 per annum, this worthy minister of Christ laboured for the welfare of his rural flock. Filled with the charity which thinketh no evil, "he would often rise up and leave the company rather than hear even a bad man reproached behind his back." So hospitable was he, "that he used to be much displeased, if any poor person was sent from his house without tasting a cup of his ale;" and "he turned a perfect beggar in order to get from others something to supply their wants." He walked "every day in the week to read the service in the parish church," and was "a constant visitant by the bedside of the sick and dying."[741]

[Sidenote: CLERGY.]

But there is another side to the picture--pamphleteers accused the clergy not only of ignorance, and of fanaticism, but also of immorality. This charge is but faintly touched in the particular controversy just reported; but a writer, at an earlier period, who fiercely assails the ministers of the Establishment, declares how the Church resents the scandalous profaneness of many of her sons; and reproaches the reverend in function, who were shameful in life, those who were disorderly in holy orders, and who, bound to walk circumspectly, reel notwithstanding, having their conversation in the ale-house as well as in heaven. He proceeds in the name of the Church to complain of unconscionable simony, and of encroaching pluralities; saying, "Lately you were thought incapable of one living, now three, four, or five cannot suffice you;" and the whole is wound up by charges of non-residence, whereupon the writer inveighs, in most violent terms, against the employment of curates.[742]

[Sidenote: CLERGY.]

Such testimony must be taken only for what it is worth. But it seems incredible that, without a substratum of facts, any one would make these bold assertions. Other writers of the period speak of the clergy in terms which give a mean opinion of their religious character. Philip Henry states of many who conformed, that, since they did so, from unblamable, orderly, pious men, they became exceedingly dissolute and profane.[743] Burnet alludes to the luxury and sloth of dignitaries "who generally took more care of themselves than of the Church."[744] Pepys records, that there "was much discourse about the bad state of the Church," and how the clergy were "come to be men of no worth in the world."[745] The King himself laid at their door the blame of the spread of Nonconformity; for "they thought of nothing but to get good benefices, and to keep a good table."[746] It was deemed necessary in Articles of Visitation to inquire whether the clergy resorted to taverns, or gave themselves to drinking, or riot, or played at unlawful games.[747] The rush of parish ministers out of London during the plague testifies to a want of devotedness and self-sacrifice; and the awful dissoluteness of public manners, looked at in connection with all circumstances, indicates not merely the failure of a faithful ministry in some cases, but the consequence of a careless and inefficient one in many more. Poverty and dependence, or even want of learning, will not account for all the clerical humiliation in the time of Charles II. A half-starved curé with love for his parishioners, and a ragged friar of true sanctity, had a far different social standing on the Continent, from many Protestant curates and chaplains at that time in England.

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FOOTNOTES:

[1] For the state of Puritanism during the Civil Wars and the Commonwealth I must refer the reader to my former Volumes. I take up the thread of the History where I dropped it, at the death of Oliver Cromwell.

[2] _Cromwellian Diary_, iii., _Int._ v. viii.

[3] Letter to Hyde, _Cosin's Works_, iv. 465.

[4] _Proclamation for the better Encouraging of Godly Ministers_, Nov. 25. In the notes of the speech of the Protector to the Officers of the Army (_Thurloe_, vii. 447), "Liberty of Conscience, as we are Christians," is one of the heads.

[5] _Thurloe_, vii. 4:4.

[6] _Ludlow_, ii. 618.

[7] _Cromwellian Diary_, iii. 1.

[8] _Ibid._, 10.

[9] _Cromwellian Diary_, iii. 13, Jan. 28.

[10] _Ibid._, 83, 138, Feb. 5.

[11] _Cromwellian Diary_, iii. 403, Feb. 21.

[12] _Guizot's Richard Cromwell, &c._ i. 103.

[13] _Cromwellian Diary_, iv. 328, April 2.

[14] _Ibid._, iii. 177, Feb. 9.

[15] _Ibid._, 448, Feb. 22; 494, Feb. 26.

[16] _Cromwellian Diary_, iii. 87, _et seq._, Feb. 7th and 9th.

[17] _Guizot's Richard Cromwell and the Restoration_, i. 91, March 16. No other historian has so patiently traced the steps by which the Stuarts were restored as this eminent Frenchman.

[18] _Clarendon's State Papers_, iii. 440, March 18.

[19] This petition to Richard followed the humble representation presented on the 6th of April.

[20] Prynne got in for a few hours, and had an angry altercation with Haselrig and Vane.

[21] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 1553.

[22] Of the popularity of Fleetwood amongst "Anabaptists and other sectaries," and of the importance attributed to him by lookers on, there are illustrations in the correspondence of the French ambassador,--_Guizot_, i. 246.

[23] _Howe's Life_, by _Rogers_, 94.

[24] _Rogers_, 91. _Noble's Protectorate House_, i. 172, 180, 176.

[25] Noticed in an article on Keble in _Macmillan's Magazine_ for March, 1869. Baxter speaks favourably of Richard Cromwell. His wife, who died in 1676, whilst he was abroad, is spoken of as a prudent, godly, practical Christian. It appears from one of her letters, that, after the Protectorate, she "wanted some scholar or godly man to reside at Hursley, to minister spiritual consolation under her present sorrows."--_Noble_, i. 343.

[26] Neal (iv. 209) relates this, and thinks the story probable; but Orme, in his _Life of Owen_, p. 213, disputes it. Respecting what Baxter says about Owen (_Life and Times_, i. 101) see an _Historical Account of my own Life_, by _Calamy_, i. 378.

[27] As I am not aware of these important entries having been published by any one else I introduce them here:--

June 7th--"This day," so runs the record, "the Church received a letter from the Church at Wallingford House, desiring advice from the Church what they apprehended was needful for the Commonwealth; the Church considering it, ordered the elders to write to them, thanking them for their love and care of them; and also desiring to give the right-hand of fellowship with them; but concerning civil business the Church, as a Church, desire not to meddle with."

July 10th--"Ordered by the Church upon the receipt of a letter from the Church at Wallingford House, that Wednesday, the 13th of July, should be set apart to humble our souls before the Lord, both in regard of the sins of the nation, and also for our own sins, as also to seek the Lord for direction and assistance for the carrying on the Lord's work in the nation."

[28] This confession will be noticed in the next volume in the account given of the development of Congregationalism.

[29] _MS. Yarmouth Independent Church Records_, Dec. 28, 1659. As to the opinions of Independents on these questions during the Commonwealth see the former volumes of this Ecclesiastical History.

[30] _Owen's Works_, xix. 385-393.

[31] _Hist. of the Rebellion_ (Oxford Edit., 1843), 855-6. The documents are without date. They are placed by Clarendon under the year 1658.

[32] _Ibid._, 857.

[33] _Neal_ (iv. 195) alludes to this affair, and regards it as an artifice to get money "out of the poor King's purse." _Crosby_ (ii. 91) speaks of the Baptists as making "overtures to the King for his restoration," but does not relate any particulars. The modern historian of the Baptists, Dr. Evans, as far as I can find, says nothing upon the subject.

[34] _Lingard_, xi. 156.

[35] _Newcome's Autobiography_, i. 117.

[36] Dated November 1st, 1659. _Thurloe_, vii. 771.

[37] December 14th, 1659. _Ibid._, 795.

[38] December 16th, 1659. _Ibid._, 797.

[39] _Thorndike's Works_, vol. ii. part i., preface.

[40] May 4. _Barwick's Life_, 401; _Thorndike_, vi. 219.

[41] _Barwick's Life_, 449.

[42] _Barwick_, 201, 218, 412. Various difficulties felt at the time by the Bishops are mentioned in the letters printed in the appendix to _Barwick's Life_.

[43] _Barwick_, 413, 424.

[44] _Ibid._, 517, 519, 525.

[45] 1659, Nov. 9 & 18, Dec. 9. 1660, Feb. 3.

[46] _Ludlow_, ii. 674.

[47] See pamphlets: _The Leveller_; _The Rota; or, Model of a Free State_; and _Gallicantus seu præcursor Gallicinii Secundus_.

[48] _State Papers, Dom. Interreg._, No. 659.

[49] See prices in _Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations_, B. I. c. II.

[50] _Guizot_, ii. 62.

[51] Price says Christmas-day. _Hist. of the King's Restoration_, 72.

[52] Numerous illustrations of the state of feeling at the time might be culled from these and other pamphlets of the period. Some of them are printed in the _Harleian Miscellany_. Some are noticed and described in _Kennet's Register_. A large collection of them may be found in the British Museum.

[53] _Price's Mystery and Method of His Majesty's Happy Restoration_, 79, 80.

[54] _Neal_ (iv. 238-242) says that when Monk had joined the Presbyterians, and the Independents saw that they were betrayed, they offered to support their friends in Parliament, and to raise four new regiments for the purpose of resisting the General's designs. He further states that Owen and Nye consulted with Whitelocke and St. John, and engaged to procure £100,000 to support the Army, if the Army would again undertake the defence of religious liberty; but he gives no authority for what he relates.

[55] _Coverdale's Version._

[56] _Price_, 86, 87.

[57] Quoted in _Guizot_, ii. 122.

[58] _Pepys' Diary_, i. 22, Saturday, Feb. 11.

[59] _Memoirs of Col. Hutchinson_, 362.

[60] _Milton's Ready and Easy Way, &c. Works_, i. 589.

[61] _Parl. Hist._, iii. 1580.

[62] _Baxter's Life and Times_, i. 105; ii. 214.

[63] 1660, April 8. _Thurloe_, vii. 892. The rest of the letter is interesting, and shows how much personal feeling was mixed up in court intrigues.

[64] _Life and Times_, ii. 207, 215. It is curious that as the Presbyterians suspected the King, so the King suspected the Presbyterians. See letter by Kingstoun, April 8, just referred to.

[65] See _Valley of Baca_, a pamphlet published about that time.

[66] See a "Declaration," which is worth reading, printed in _Kennet's Register_, 121 (April 24), with a long list of noble signatures.

[67] All this Baxter describes with great simplicity in his _Life and Times_, ii. 216.

[68] See correspondence between Sharp and Douglas, in the months of March and April, _Kennet's Register_, 78-124.

[69] _Thurloe_, vii. 872, 873.

[70] April 8, _Thurloe_, vii. 889.

[71] April 6, _Ibid._, 887.

[72] _Price's Mystery and Method of His Majesty's Happy Restoration_, 136.

[73] See _Lives_ of him by _Gumble_ and by _Price_. Sir Anthony Ashley Cooper was a confidant of Monk, and Mrs. Lucy Hutchinson tells us that he assured her husband, even after Monk's designs became apparent, that there was no intention besides a Commonwealth, and that if the violence of the people should bring the King in, he would perish body and soul rather than see a hair of any man's head touched, or a penny of any man's estate forfeited through the quarrel. Hutchinson held Cooper "for a more execrable traytor than Monke himselfe."--_Memoirs_, 360.

Aubrey, putting down his recollections of what he heard at the time from Royalist agents in London, says, "I remember, in the main, that they were satisfied he no more intended or designed the King's restoration, when he came into England, or first came to London, than his horse did." _Letters_ iii. 454. I have no doubt that, in February, Monk thought of restoring the King; but before that date I am inclined to believe he was waiting to see which way the wind blew. Whatever hypothesis may be adopted as to his intentions, it must be admitted that he acted the part of a thoroughly untruthful man. Guizot, in his life of Monk, represents him as a Royalist at heart throughout the whole of the business. Of course Monk, after he openly took the King's side, would wish to be so regarded.

[74] _Ludlow's Memoirs_, ii. 865.

[75] _Guizot_, ii. 411.

[76] See in Appendix notice of a letter in the State Paper Office referring to projected insurrections.

[77] See _Journals_ of both Houses, 1st of May. When examining, some years ago, the papers in the House of Lords, belonging to that period, I saw the original letter from Charles, but not the Declaration.

[78] _Clarendon's Hist_., 904.

[79] _Burnet's Hist. of his Own Time_, i. 88.

[80] _Kennet's Register_, 129. Sharp afterwards became Archbishop Sharp.

[81] _Worcester MS._

[82] _Public Intelligencer_, No. 20. _Newcome's Diary_, published by the Cheetham Society, and _Life of Philip Henry_, 59.

[83] Hale's reflections on the crisis may be seen in his _Memoirs_ by _Williams_, 63-65.

[84] _Pepys' Diary_ (May 15) i. 62.

[85] _Kennet's Register_, 146.

[86] In _The Secret History of the Reign of Charles II. and James II._, 1690--a book not very trustworthy--we have the original of the story, often repeated, respecting Mr. Case, "who, with the rest of the brethren coming where the King lay, and desiring to be admitted into the King's presence, were carried into the chamber next or very near to the King's closet, but told withal that the King was busy at his devotions, and that till he had done they must be contented to stay. Being thus left alone, by contrivance no doubt, and hearing a sound of groaning piety, such was the curiosity of Mr. Case, that he would needs go and lay his ear to the closet door. By heavens, how was the good old man ravished to hear the pious ejaculations that fell from the King's lips: 'Lord, since Thou art pleased to restore me to the throne of my ancestors, grant me a heart constant in the exercise and protection of thy true Protestant religion. Never may I seek the oppression of those who out of tenderness to their consciences, are not free to conform to outward and indifferent ceremonies.'"

[87] _Kennet's Register_ under date May 20th.

[88] _Barwick's Life_, 270, 520.

[89] _Buckingham's Works_, ii. 55. See _Harris's Lives_, v. 52, _et seq._, for evidence as to his being a Papist.

[90] See what Harris has collected on this subject, v. 13 _et seq._

[91] _Character of Charles II._, 56.

[92] "23rd. General Monk marched from London, with a gallant train of attendants to meet the King. It is said that several fanatics intermingled themselves with the troops, but were discovered, whereof three killed, and some hurt, and three taken, who do confess the design was to pistol the King. 24th. One to be put to the rack for discovery. It is said the King escaped a plot of some Frenchmen at the Hague to pistol the King in his coach, but discovered by one who was in presence once hearing them, and they suspecting him, shot him as dead, but recovering to speak, discovered their intentions. From all such or any other, God ever preserve and protect his pious Majesty!"--_Worcester MS._

[93] _Kennet_, 160-164.

[94] _Butler's Hist. Memorials of the Catholics_, iii. 23.

[95] From Godly ministers in Exeter and Devonshire.--_State Papers, Dom. Charles II._, 1660, vol. i. 28.

[96]

(Signed) Philip Nye
Joseph Caryl
Samuel Slater
Richard Kentish
George Griffiths
Matt. Mede
John Hodges
William Hook
Thomas Brookes
George Cokayn
Jo. Loder
Thomas Malony
Tho. Walley
William Greenehill
Matthew Barker
Edward Pearce
John Rowe
Robert Bragg
Jo. Baker
Seth Wood

--_State Papers, Dom. Charles II._, vol i. _No. 36_.