Dissent in England :
Henson, Hensley, 1863-1947
EE PSE LG a EPO LS LEME IN BS Waa SE eee Ea | ~~ 4, — ne — 4 <_ =< ~ Sd pany \e 7] py A} S i 7 a , J é Mook | » ‘ D . ; f f i¢ ape ‘7 ae ahh aa ye’ i fol)” a : ae hin et jo SF ; ’ Ya, A “a ‘Eps ". - - ssent in England —_ Wee Kagdle.. ee ag Se Qicthor-r beat tes hee ov (he eee ele ptr Cabiny Dissent mn Cngland TWO LECTURES BY H. HENSLEY HENSON, B.D. FELLOW OF ALL SOULS COLLEGE, OXFORD CANON OF WESTMINSTER I.—THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH Il.—THE HAMPTON COURT CONFERENCE, 1604 RIVINGTONS 34, KING STREET, COVENT GARDEN LONDON 1900 https://archive.org/details/dissentinenglan To the Congregation whith has worshipped in the Chapel of St. Mary's Hospital, Ilford, during the five years of my Lncumbency. My Dear FRIEnNDs, My acceptance of a Canonry at Westminster Abbey necessarily involves the severance of the ties which have united us during the last five years. I desire to thank you all for your patience and loyalty. The difficult circumstances under which I first came to Ilford made a great demand on both those qualities, and in leaving Ilford, it is a pleasant duty to set on record the affectionate confidence which reigns between us. vi PREFATORY NOTE. The two lectures which are here printed represent, as you know, a small fragment of an undertaking which I had projected and announced. Perhaps at some future time I shall be able some- where to resume and carry through the plan which must now for awhile be laid aside. I have printed what I said without alteration, because I desire both to present you with a faithful souvenir, and to bind over myself a strong obligation. With all good wishes for your happiness in the future, and sincere thanks for your kindness in the past, I am, Yours most faithfully, H. HENSLEY HENSGR, DISSENT IN ENGLAND I—THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. Delivered in the Chapel of St. Mary’s Hospital, Ilford, on October 7, 1900. IN asking you to undertake the consideration of Dissent in this country, I am in some sense making a new departure. The study of Church History is happily general, and I do not doubt that information on ecclesiastical affairs is now widely spread among us, I cannot honestly say that I am altogether satisfied with the popular Church Histories which we possess, for almost all are coloured by prepossessions which, however natural and B 2 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. excusable, are not legitimate in the domain of history. But unquestionably there is no lack of excellent manuals of ecclesiastical history, such as the “Introduction to the History of the Church of England,” by my lamented friend, the late Mr. Henry Wake- man, and the more recently published volume of my friend Mr. Hutton. If the “History of the English Church,” edited by the Dean of Winchester and the Rev. William Hunt, main- tains the high standard of excellence reached in the opening volume, the English Church- man will be well provided with sound know- ledge as to the history of his branch of the Christian Society. I need not mention the numerous and excellent publications of the Church Historical Society. While, then, there is a general disposition to study Church History, I notice that there is, so far, very THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 3 little disposition to study the history of re- ligion as a whole. Dissent in England has played so great a part in the life of the nation, that not even the most reluctant his- torian can altogether omit it from his record ; but scarcely any serious effort is made to set out the history of Dissent with the same care and justice as are bestowed on the history of the Church. There are, of course, Dis- senting Histories of more or less merit, such as the “History of the Free Churches of England,” by Messrs. Skeats and Miall, and there is a considerable literature treating of the history of particular denominations; but, broadly, it is true that Dissenters are not well provided with information about themselves, that most of their books are sadly marked by anti-ecclesiastical prejudices, and that on their side, perhaps even more than on the side of 4 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. their traditional opponents, much mischief is worked through lack of knowledge. In justice, however, I must make one exception to this general statement. The late Dr. Stoughton’s “History of Religion in England” is an ad- mirable work, in design, in execution, and, above all, in spirit. It does not cover the whole ground, for it only starts with the open- ing of the Long Parliament, and draws rein at the end of the eighteenth century ; but it is the best general account of Dissenting History that I know. It is not hard to see the causes which have tended to discourage. the study of history among Dissenters. Their religious retrospect is a comparatively short one. The oldest Dissenting denominations cannot trace their existence beyond the religious Revolution of the sixteenth century ; and, for the most part, THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 5 it is to the period of the Commonwealth that the student of Dissenting History will find himself led for the origins of Dissent. The history of the nation for a thousand years has no religious interest for the Dissenter as such, whereas, of course, the Churchman finds that the farther he goes back in the history of England the larger is the prominence in which the Church appears on the page of history. Historic studies reduce the Reformation to an episode in the record of the Church of Eng- land ; it is the necessary starting-point for the history of Dissent. Moreover, since the Refor- mation, the main stream of national religion has run in the channel of the Church; our religious literature, in spite of some splendid exceptions which we shall presently have to consider, has been the product of Churchmen ; the record of Dissent is a humble record of 6 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. obscure men, living outside the public interests — of their time, driven in upon themselves by the hardships of their lot, ill provided with learning, narrowly restricted in their oppor- tunities, not so interesting to the student of the past as their ecclesiastical contemporaries. Let no one think that all this reflects any discredit on the Dissenters. Discredit, if there be any, belongs to the established authorities of Church and State, which strove, by a long- continued policy of repression, to hinder the growth, restrict the opportunities, and hamper the education of the Dissenters. I only men- tion these circumstances of Dissenting History in order to explain the comparative neglect which it has received, even at the hands of Dissenters themselves. These very circum- stances immensely enhance the religious sig- nificance of Dissent as we see it to-day. The THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. i present greatness of the Christianity which had its origins in that obscure and unattrac- tive record of English Dissent throws back on that record a new importance. The humble beginnings of religious movements are no safe guides to their intrinsic greatness : the modern Dissenter need not blush for his spiritual ancestry so long as he can point to the credentials of spiritual activity; neverthe- less, I apprehend that, both for himself and for others, it is no small misfortune that his family history is so little regarded. At the close of the century we are much disposed to cast the horoscope of the nation and of the Church. Political prophecy, we know, is on the whole an employment less serviceable than interesting; but there are some broad features of the religious outlook which cannot be wisely ignored, and prophecy 8 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. under the circumstances seems a task less dubious than inevitable. The most casual observer must see that the logic of facts is against the conventional assumptions an re- ligious partisans. It may suit the necessities of our Church newspapers to ignore the exist- ence of Dissent, and to speak of a Catholicism in which Dissent has no place; but such an attitude and such a fashion of speech will be intolerable to the thoughtful Christian, who notes that half the Christianity of England, and three-fourths of the Christianity of the English race in America and Australia is either Dissenting or of the Dissenting type. We hear much enthusiastic talk about the reunion of Christendom; but what reasonable Christian can contemplate a Christendom from which Dissenting Christians are excluded? We hear wonderful things about the progress THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 9 of Anglicanism, I thank God from my heart for that progress; but I say that no less pro- gress is made by that Dissenting Christianity which is the noblest offshoot of Anglicanism. Is it not folly, and worse, to indulge in day- dreams of denominational victory, which can only be conceived in ignorance and cherished in delusion? If I could have my way, I would insist on every Ordination candidate showing a fair knowledge of Dissenting His- tory. I would say to him, “When you become the vicar or rector of a parish, you will find one-third or one-half, perhaps even more, of the parishioners organized into religious com- munities of their own, strongly and perma- nently organized, sometimes possessed of endowments, often possessed of large and substantial chapels, in which resident ministers, trained and appointed to their ministry, are fo DISSENT IN ENGLAND. regularly engaged in an evangelistic and pas- toral work. You ought to know something about those religious communities—what their principles are, and what their history has been; why it is they have come to stand apart from the ancient parochial system which you represent.” I have, of course, no right to advise the Dissenting denominations, but I would respectfully submit that, if their minis- ters were in like manner required to have some sound knowledge of English Church History, the advantage to religion would be considerable ; for such mutual knowledge could not fail to induce a profound discon- tent with the existing situation. On both sides the salutary spirit of self-criticism would be developed, and that appalling self-content- ment, which now on all hands stops the way of improvement, would be rendered impossible. THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. It History would teach both Churchmen and Dissenters a large patience with the eccen- tricities of enthusiasm, a great suspicion of sectarian zeal, a dread of every approach to religious coercion, a deep respect for the Christian conscience, a very slight regard for denominational shibboleths. Where so much fault and folly is seen on both sides, the atti- tude of spiritual arrogance will be proper to neither; where so much personal devotion and sanctity is apparent in both camps, the notion of limiting the Christian name to one or other will seem absurd. In the light of history we can cancel ancient quarrels, and understand obstinate differences, and make allowance for prejudices, and revise standpoints, and release the present on the yoke of the past, and bring the past in to teach the present. As some slight contribution to this desirable 12 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. end, I have invited you here to go with me through a course of lectures on the History of Dissent. I hope I shall be honoured by the presence of many Dissenters. They are very welcome here. I can promise them that I shall not wittingly or willingly offend them; but I cannot promise them that every- thing I have to say will be agreeable. History is an impartial witness, and its testimony does not often match the interest of partisans. At least, they may be sure that Churchmen will have as good cause to complain as themselves. To both I can but promise to set out the facts honestly, and to interpret them fairly. The subject has interested me for many years. As long ago as 1885 Messrs. Methuen announced a volume on “ Dissent © in England” from my pen as in prepara- tion; but many obstacles, which I could THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 13 not then foresee, have hindered the work; and now, after fifteen years, I am able to give a more continuous attention to it, and I hope that, in the course of next year, if I live so long, it will make its appearance. You will not resent this personal information, which I advance as my apology for addressing you on the subject of Dissent at all. It re- mains that I should explain to you the method of my lectures, and make so much headway as the brief time at my disposal this afternoon will permit. I shall begin, then, by setting before you the religious con- dition of the country on the accession of Queen Elizabeth. That will occupy us to- day. On November 4 I hope to deal with the Hampton Court Conference in 1604, when the conflicting elements of English religion are clearly shown. On December 2 I shall 14 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. speak of the Westminster Assembly, and the attempt to domesticate Presbyterianism in England. On January 6 I shall deal with the period of the Commonwealth, with special reference to the rise of the Anabaptists and Independents. On February 3 I shall devote myself to the Quakers. On March 3 my subject will be the Savoy Conference; and on April 14 I shall give you an account of the Persecution under the Caroline Code. In May I shall speak of the movement which resulted in the Toleration Act; and in June I shall consider the history of the Dissenters during the last century.. By that time, I make no doubt, you will be ready for your holidays. Let me premise that I shall take for eranted that all my hearers have a good general knowledge of the history of the Refor- mation, both on the Continent and in England, THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 15 Such knowledge is the indispensable prelimi- nary to a serious study of English Dissent, but I cannot undertake here the task of pro- viding it. In the brief time at our disposal I must confine myself to the subject before us, and assume that you already know all that is otherwise necessary. The accession of Elizabeth on the death of her half-sister Mary, in November, 1558, is, perhaps, the best point at which to begin the history of Dissent. There had been congre- gations of dissenters from the national worship at an earlier period, but it was only then that ‘the conditions out of which Dissent ultimately grew came into being. When Edward VL, as early as 1550, permitted John a Lasco to form a congregation of German refugees in the Augustinians’ Church, the design was not to facilitate, but to hinder, separatism, 16 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. “Tt was appointed,” writes the young king in his journal, “that the Germans should have the Austin Friars for their church, to have their service in, for avoiding all sects of Ana- baptists and such like.” The Government of Edward VI. had a lively dread of sectaries. Heresy was punished as severely as in the succeeding reign, only it was more liberally defined. We can understand how intolerant was the atmosphere of the time from this grim entry in the boy-king’s journal: “A certain Arrian of the strangers, a Dutchman, being excommunicated by the congregation of his countrymen, was, after long disputation, condemned to .the fire.” Bishop Latimer makes several allusions to Anabaptists in the sermons he preached before Edward VI. They were evidently regarded with fear as anarchical fanatics, who would overturn THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 17 all constituted authority in Church and realm. “T should have told you here,” says Latimer, in 1549, “of a certain sect of heretics that speak against this order and doctrine; they will have no magistrates nor judges on the earth. Here I have to tell you what I heard of late, by the relation of a credible person and a worshipful man, of a town in this realm of England, that hath above five hundred heretics of this erroneous opinion in it, as he said.” ? We must remember that the memory of that terrible social rising, the Peasants’ War, was still recent, that it was universally re- garded as the proper consequence of the Ana- baptist propaganda, that the enemies of the Reformation were never weary of accusing the Reformers of anarchic tendencies. England 1 Vide Sermons, vol. i. p. 151 (Parker Society). Cc 18 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. was then, as it has often been since, the natural refuge of the persecuted, and there was reason for the anxiety which moved the Government of Edward VI. to keep a strong hand over the foreign immigrants. John a Lasco’s superintendency extended over an Italian Church, and also over a French Church, both in London. There was a congre- gation of French Walloons at Glastonbury, under a separate superintendent, Valerandus Pollanus; and mention is also made of a Spanish congregation. On Queen Mary’s ac- cession all fofcieners were commanded to depart from the realm, and this legalized foreign Dis- sent came to a sudden end; but I have thought it worth while to recall the fact that so early as the reign of Edward VI. there were in the tolerated foreign congregations the earliest ' Strype’s “ Memorials of Cranmer,” pp. 343, 346, 352. THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 19 examples of that Dissent from the national religion which was destined to become so large and important a factor in our national history. During the stern government of Queen Mary, congregations of Protestants assembled in London and elsewhere, and worshipped God according to the second Prayer-book of Edward VI The London congregation is placed at the head of the Nonconforming Churches in Wilson’s “History and Antiquities of ’ Bishop Jewell, writing to Peter Martyr in 1560, says _ that sectaries multiplied in spite of the Government during Mary’s reign. ‘“‘We found at the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth a large and inauspicious crop of Arians, Anabaptists, and other pests, which I know not how, but as mushrooms spring up in the night and in darkness, so these sprung up in that darkness and un- happy night of the Marian times. These, I am informed, and hope it is the fact, have retreated before the light of purer doctrine, like owls at the sight of the sun, and are now nowhere to be found ; or, at least, if anywhere, they are no longer troublesome to our churches.”—“ Works,” p- 1241, Parker Society. 20 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. Dissenting Churches,” where we learn that the “meetings were held alternately near Aldgate, and Blackfriars, in Thames Street, and in ships upon the river ;” that sometimes the members “assembled in the villages about London, and especially at Islington, that they might the more easily elude the Bishop’s officers and spies.” The names of the ministers of this Dissenting congregation have been preserved : among them are those of Edmund Scambler and Thomas Bentham, both of whom after- wards became Elizabethan Bishops, the one of Peterborough and afterwards of Norwich, the other of Lichfield and Coventry. It could not have strengthened the hands of these prelates, when at a later stage they were required to take in hand the suppression of Puritanism, that they themselves had been sturdy Dis- senters when the established system was not THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 21 to their taste. In any case, we have here a precedent of separatism which could not have been without effect, when the Puritans found themselves confronted with the difficult task of determining their attitude towards the Eliza- bethan Church. Most of the leading Reformers among the clergy fled to the Continent on the accession of Mary,’ and there they presented an unedifying spectacle of division. The history of the exiles during Mary’s reign is the key to the ecclesiastical difficulties of Elizabeth2 Let 1 Archbishop Cranmer advised flight, though he would not fly himself. Strype prints a very beautiful letter on the subject, addressed by the Archbishop to one Mrs. Wilkinson, in which the objections to flight are com- batted. Strype further states that the number of exiles was 800 and upwards (wide “ Memorials of Archbishop Cranmer,” p. 449). 2“The uncharitableness of the Lutherans on this occasion was very remarkable: they hated the exiles because they were Sacramentarians, and when any English. came among them for shelter, they expelled 22 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. me sketch briefly what happened. The re- fugees from England, when they found pro- tection at Frankfort, Strasburg, Geneva, Ziirich, Basel, and other Protestant centres, were brought into close and continuous rela- tionship with the Reformed Churches of Swit- zerland and Germany.! The influence of John Calvin (born 1509, died 1564) was then supreme. From the little city of Geneva—the whole population of which, perhaps, did not exceed 20,000 souls—this remarkable Frenchman exer- cised a dominion over Protestant Europe which them their cities, so that they found little hospitality in Saxony and other places of Germany where Lutheranism was professed. Philip Melancthon interceded with the Senate on their behalf, but the clergy were so jealous for their consubstantiation, that they irritated the magis- trates everywhere against them.”—Neal, “ History of the Puritans,” i. 76. 1 Vide Strype’s “Memorials of Cranmer,” vol. ii. p. 449; Neal, “ History of the Puritans,” vol. i, p. 76. THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 23 profoundly affected the course of history. In 1536, when he was but twenty-seven years old, he published his famous work, the “ Insti- tutio Religionis Christiane,” which became the theological manual of aggressive Protestant- ism. Calvin had not merely restated Chris- tianity in the terms of a rigorous logic: he had also created an alternative system of eccle- siastical government. Instead of the ancient Catholic order, with its apostolically ordained bishops, and its divinely constituted degrees of the ministry, he proposed the presbyterian system, which drew its strength from the free consent of the Church, and administered a severe and minute moral discipline. Thus he met the most urgent need of the moment. He gave to Protestantism the weapon it needed. He opposed the Divine right of the Papacy and episcopate with the Divine right of the 24 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. presbytery. He was the saviour of Protestantism not less truly than Ignatius Loyola was the saviour of the Papacy. Both men were the children of a desperate crisis, raised up to avert an imminent disaster. Calvin had established his authority in Geneva only after a protracted conflict with the citizens. His consistory of six ministers and twelve lay elders was “a thoroughly organized inquisition tribunal, which - regulated in all details the moral, religious, domestic, and social life of the citizens, called them to account on every suspicion of a fault, had the incorrigible banished by the civil authorities, and the more dangerous of them put to death.” ? The execution of Servetus? for heresy in 1 Kurtz, “ Church History,” vol. ii. p. 304. 2 The execution was generally approved by the Re- formers ; see Bullinger to Calvin: “ What is your most honourable Senate of Geneva going to do with that THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 25 1553 will always weigh heavily on Calvin’s reputation; but it does not seem to me so significant as the normal severity of his govern- ment. In a period of but four years (1542- 1546) there were, in Geneva, with a population, as I have said, about half that of Ilford, no less than fifty-seven death-sentences carried out with Calvin’s approval, and seventy-six sentences of banishment. This was the system which met the English exiles as, with em- bittered hearts, they arrived from England. It matched their minds wonderfully. It made no terms with the old Catholic Church, It fought Rome with its own weapons; it waged war to the knife with the Papacy. As tidings blasphemous wretch Servetus? If they are wise, and do their duty, they will put him to death, that all the world may perceive that Geneva desires the glory of Christ to be maintained inviolate” (“ Original Letters,” p. 742, Parker Society), 26 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. reached them from over-sea of the perecteen of their friends, we can understand how they would have been disposed to cling the closer to Calvin’s severe discipline, which represented the extremest possible contrast to Catholicism. They crowded to Geneva, and were enrolled among the most ardent supporters of the con- sistorial government. The republic admitted them to its citizenship, and they requited the kindness by a genuine affection. In 1555. when Calvin’s predominance was endangered, their votes in the elections established him firmly in his supremacy, which he retained until his death in 1564. Nor did his influence end with his life. He bequeathed to his suc- cessor and disciple, Theodore Beza, the interna- tional position which he had won for himself. The English refugees represented, of course, the most advanced Reformers of the English THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 27 Church; they had just succeeded in carrying through a revision of the Edwardian Prayer- book; and, at the time when the young king’s early death brought all their plans to sudden overthrow, they were using the second Prayer-book of Edward VI. That Prayer-book reflected the influence of the learned foreigners, Peter Martyr and Martin Bucer, whom Cranmer had established in the English universities. It adopted a dis- tinctly Zwinglian formula in the Communion Office, and still further simplified the cere- monies; but it was still, from the stand- point of the Calvinist Churches, a very un- satisfactory volume. How unsatisfactory it was the English Protestants had not realized until they found themselves actually face to face with the admired simplicity of Geneva. It was not surprising that many of them at 28 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. once discarded the Prayer-book, and adopted with eagerness the form of worship they found established among their co-religionists and protectors. There were, however, others who were otherwise minded. They had in some cases held high place in the Church of Eng- land ; they were officially responsible for the Prayer-book ; they could hardly with decency repudiate it as superstitious. The martyrdoms in England, especially those of the five bishops, Cranmer, Ridley, Latimer, Hooper, and Ferar, created a profound sensation, and distinctly strengthened the hoid of the Prayer-book on the affection of the exiles. It seemed a re- flection on the martyrs, almost an insult to their memories, that their work should be so easily and even contemptuously laid aside. Moreover, considerations of prudence were not, perhaps, without effect on some minds. Queen THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH, 29 ~ —— — Mary’s health was known to be bad, her government was known to be unpopular. The next sovereign would certainly inaugurate another change of policy, most probably a re- turn to the Reformation. It was imprudent to compromise themselves in advance by de- nouncing what had but yesterday been the lawful system of the Church of England, and to-morrow might be so again. Some of the exiles compromised themselves most seriously by their extravagant abuse of Queen Mary, denouncing her not merely as an oppressive sovereign, but as disqualified for government by her sex. The latter contention was extremely difficult to explain to Queen Elizabeth’s satis- enon: when that “monstre in nature,... a woman clad in the habit of man—yea, a woman against nature reigning above man,” 1 Vide Maitland’s “ Essays on the Reformation.” 30 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. a as John Knox pleasantly said, was herself a sovereign, Thus the English refugees “fell into two camps in their land of exile. Part held to- gether as the members of the Church of England, worshipped according to the Prayer- book, and defended the English system ; part sought admission into the local Churches, which were generally Calvinist in doctrine and discipline, owned the leadership of Calvin and Bullinger, repudiated the Prayer-book, and denounced the English system as scarcely less objectionable than the Roman. At Frankfort these two parties came to open conflict. The first refugees belonged to the Puritan section. On their arrival, in June, 1554, they sought admission into the French Chirch, and sub- scribed the French Confession of Faith.! 1 This was the “Consensus Tigurinus,” a formula THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 31 “After consultation among themselves, they concluded, by universal consent of all present, not to answer aloud after the minister, nor to use the Litany and surplice: but thatthe public service should begin with a general confession of sins; then the people to sing a psalm in metre in a plain tune, after which the minister to pray for the assistance of God’s Holy Spirit, and so proceed to the sermon: after sermon a general prayer for all estates, and particu- larly for England, at the end of which was joined the Lord’s Prayer and the rehearsal of the articles of belief; then the people were to sing another psalm, and the minister to dismiss them with a blessing. They took pos- session of their church July 29, 1554, and having chosen a minister and deacons to serve for the present, they sent to their brethren that were dispersed, to invite them to come to Frankfort, where they might hear God’s Word truly preached, the sacraments rightly ministered, and Scripture discipline used, agreed upon by Calvin and Bullinger, in i549, with ~respect to the Lord’s Supper. 32 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. which in their own country could not be obtained.” } Soon, however, the colony at Frankfort heard that divers prominent ecclesiastics had arrived at Strasburg, Ziirich, and Basel, led thither by the convenience of the libraries and printing- presses of those cities. To these, therefore, they sent, asking them to send divines to take charge of the English congre- gation, and adding that they had brought their religious system nearer to the policy and order of Scripture than the English Prayer- book. The Strasburg divines demurred to this; whereupon the Frankfort refugees sent to Geneva for Knox, to Strasburg for Haddon, and to Ziirich for Lever. These three—all strong Puritans—they elected for their ministers. They found, however, considerable opposition 1 Neal’s “ History of the Puritans,” vol. i, p. 77. THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 33 among the other exiles to their proceeding. The refugees at Ziirich declined to join them unless the Prayer-book was used; but the Frankfort folks would not give way. The refugees at Strasburg sent a strong deputa- tion to plead for conformity, but with no better result. The matter was referred to Calvin, and he decided against the Prayer- book. In March, 1555, however, the con- troversy was rekindled by the arrival of a vigorous Anglican, Dr. Richard Cox, who at once started an active, and in the end suc- cessful, agitation for the use of the Prayer- book. He got rid of Knox by pointing out to the Frankfort magistrates some risky passages in his books, in which he compared the Emperor to Nero. More refugees arriving, Cox found himself in a majority, and gained permission from the magistrates to use the Prayer-book. D 34 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. Then the victorious party addressed a letter to Calvin, justifying their conduct. It may be worth while to quote some portion of this letter. They excuse themselves for not con- sulting him before everything was concluded, and express their doubt whether their oppo- nents have truthfully stated the facts. They disclaim any bigoted adherence to the English system. “For when the magistrates lately gave us permission to adopt the rites of our native country, we freely relinquished all those cere- monies which were regarded by our brethren as offensive and inconvenient. Fur we gave up private baptisms, confirmation of children, saints’ days, kneeling at the Holy Communion, the linen surplices of the ministers, crosses, and other things of the like character. And we gave them up, not as being impure and papis- tical, which certain of our brethren often charged them with being: but whereas they were in THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 35 their own nature indifferent, and either ordained or allowed by godly fathers for the edification of our people, we notwithstanding chose rather to lay them aside than to offend the minds or alienate the affections of the brethren. We retain, however, the remainder of the form of prayer and of the administration of the Sacra- ments, which is prescribed in our book, and this with the consent of almost the whole Church, the judgment of which, in matters of this sort, we did not think should be disregarded.” } Of the ten signatories of this letter to Calvin, no less than four became subsequently bishops —Cox, Sandys, Grindal, and Bale. Calvin’s interference leading to no result, the defeated Puritans left Frankfort, and betook themselves to more congenial places. Fox, the martyrologist, and a small party went to Basel. Knox, with the larger party, went to Geneva, where, with the consent of the authorities, he 1 Vide “ Original Letters,” vol. ii. p. 753. 36 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. organized the English refugees into a Presby- terian Church after the Calvinist model. I said that the history of the exiles was the key to the ecclesiastical difficulties of Elizabeth’s reign. The sketch of that history which I have set before you will go far to justify the dictum. You can see the seeds of dissension already sown between the men who, by the force of circumstances, would have a leading place in the Elizabethan Church. The quarrels of the exiles were destined to be renewed and fought out within England. The contest at Frankfort over the use of the Prayer-book was prophetic of similar contests on a greater scale in many English towns. The defeat of the Puritans, and their definite adoption of an alien system, would be rehearsed in the subsequent history of the English Church. Elizabeth’s misfortune was that she was forced to employ the most. THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 37 inveterate of partisans to administer a national system. The deferential relation in which they had stood towards the Continental Reformers, and, above all, to Calvin, necessarily affected their conduct at a later stage. It explains the otherwise inexplicable fact that not only the Puritans, but also the bishops, appealed to Bullinger, Peter Martyr, and Beza for support during the tiresome conflict over the vestments and ceremonies. It explains the otherwise inexplicable influence wielded by Calvin within this island—that overwhelming influence against which Hooker raised his protest. “Of what account the Master of Sentences was in the Church of Rome, the same and more amongst the preachers of reformed Churches Calvin had purchased; so that the perfectest divines were judged they which were skilfullest in Calvin’s writings. His books almost the very canon to judge both doctrine and discipline 38 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. by. French Churches, both under others abroad and at home in their own country, all cast according to that mould which Calvin had made. The Church of Scotland, in erecting the fabric of their Reformation, took the self-same pattern. Till at length the discipline, which was at the first so weak, that without the staff of their approbation, who were not subject unto it themselves, it had not brought others under subjection, began now to challenge universal obedience, and to enter into open conflict with those very Churches which in desperate ex- tremities had been relievers of it.”4 At the accession of Elizabeth, in November, 1558, the Roman Catholic system was fully established, and the Queen made no haste to abolish it. “She was crowned with the ceremonial of the unreformed Church; ‘she straitly prohibited all attacks, in the pulpit or elsewhere, on the existing réeime. Her attitude i, * Eccles: Bolt? Preface tac: THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 39 was eminently well-chosen to discourage Pro- testant zeal and to calm Catholic apprehensions. This dubious attitude was dictated by neces- sity ; for the weakness of the new Government was manifest. It is a common error to suppose that there was any general dislike of the medieval Church among the people. Except in London and the home counties (as we call them now), and East Anglia, the Reformation had but little hold on the nation. The bar- barities of the Marian persecution had created a revulsion of feeling which helped the Reformers, but their own misdeeds under Edward VI. had not been forgotten, and far into Elizabeth’s reign a great part of the population in the north and west remained attached to the old religion. It is true that the mass of the clergy accepted the changes, drastic though they were, effected by the Act of Uniformity ; but we have no lack 40 ‘DISSENT IN ENGLAND. of evidence to show that their acceptance was too often perfunctory and insincere. Foreign intervention in defence of the Roman Catholics was no unlikely contingency, and the Queen’s diplomacy would not push matters to ex- tremities. Moreover, we may not forget her singular personality. Elizabeth was, for her sex and station, a learned woman. Like her formidable father, she prided herself on her theological knowledge; and, like him, she combined a reasoned rejection of the Papacy with a strong dislike of Protestant indivi- dualism. The force of circumstances constituted Elizabeth the leader of the Protestant cause in Europe; but she, none the less, disliked the Puritans, and was not careful to conceal the fact. Her ecclesiastical government resolved itself into a warfare with Puritanism, in which THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 41 her own bishops were, so far as was possible, against her. In that warfare the Queen un- doubtedly had the bulk of the nation behind her, and, on the whole, history has approved her attitude; but, at the time, to the eager Reformers just returned from exile, enthusiastic admirers of the thorough-going Protestantism of Geneva, and full of the resolve to purge the Church of England without delay from all taint of superstition, we can easily understand that the Queen’s prudence was inexplicable and exasperating. The origin of English Dissent is not, as is too often asserted, the corruption and annie gh the English clergy: it lies deep in the conditions of the Reformation. It was inevitable that the conservative, national tendency, represented by the Queen, and ex- pressed in the ecclesiastical settlement, should come into open opposition with the innovating 42 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. individualist tendency represented by the returned Puritans. This general cause was allied with a particular cause arising from the deplorable state of the Church during the early years of the reign. In Geneva, as we have seen, the exiles had seen and admired a vigorous working system of moral discipline ; in England they found a state of moral chaos. The rapid and violent changes of the preceding generation had been very unfavourable to the national morality, and the clergy, beyond all others, had suffered. All our evidence points to the conclusion that the first consequence of the religious revolution was a frightful declension in the national morals, We cannot read the literature of the time, whether Protestant or Catholic, without noting this. The destruction of the monasteries had most seriously affected the arrangements for providing, educating, and THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 43 maintaining the clergy. It is certain that the Church was under-manned and badly served throughout Elizabeth’s reign. In order to provide for some continuous religious service in many parishes, the bishops were compelled to authorize the ministrations of unordained men as readers. You will best gather the nature of the necessity, and the type of the men thus set at work in many districts, from the following letter addressed by Archbishop Parker to Bishop Grindal of London, in August, 1560 :— ‘““Whereas, occasioned by the great want of ministers, we and you both, for tolerable supply thereof, have heretofore admitted unto the ministry sundry artificers and others, not traded and brought up in learning, and, as it happened in a multitude, some that were of base occu- pations: forasmuch as now by experience it is seen that such manner of men, partly by reason of their former profane arts, partly by their light behaviour otherwise and trade of life, are 44 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. very offensive unto the people, yea, and to the wise of this realm are thought to do great deal more hurt than good, the Gospel there sus- taining slander; these shall be to desire and require you hereafter to be very circumspect in admitting any to the ministry, and only to allow such as, having good testimony of their honest conversation, have been traded and exercized in learning, or at the least have spent their time with teaching of children, excluding all others which have been brought up and sustained themselves either by occupation or other kinds of life alienated from learning.” ? Rules were laid down for these readers: they were required to pledge themselves not to preach, administer the Holy Communion, or baptize, but to read the Common Prayer and keep the registers.” They were ordered to “use sobriety in apparel, and especially in the 1 “Correspondence of Archbishop Parker,” p. 120 (Parker Society). 2 Vide Strype, “Annals,” p. 306. THE SITUATION UNDER ELIZABETH. 45 Church,” to “read daily at the least one Chapter of the Old Testament and one other of the New, with good advisement, to the encrease of their knowledge,” and to hold themselves ready to leave the parish when required. It is, per- haps, worthy of our notice that the English people had thus been familiarized with the religious ministrations of laymen. When, at a later period, discontent with the established system took the form of active Dissent, the public conscience was not greatly shocked by the spectacle of unordained preachers; the Church was unconsciously paving the way of Dissent. Preaching was then the principal function of the ministry, for the Reformation had almost destroyed every other. The abolition of private Masses, and the almost total cessation of the practice of private confession, had taken from 46 DISSENT IN ENGLAND. the clergy their principal employment. There were no more pilgrimages ; most of the saints’ days ceased to be observed; the Sacrament was no longer reserved in the churches. Popular interest in religion largely ceased, and reverence seemed to have died out of the land. 