History of Civilization in England, Vol. 1 of 3

663

A likeness, by Cooper. See Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, edit. Bliss, vol. iii. p. 1208.

664

Sorbiere's Voyage to England, p. 39; Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. iii. p. 1208. On the popularity of the works of Hobbes in the reign of Charles II. compare Pepys' Diary, vol. iv. p. 164, with Lives of the Norths, vol. iii. p. 339.

665

Bishop Burnet says of him, at his appointment: ‘As he was never a great divine, so he was now superannuated.’ Own Time, vol. i. p. 303.

666

Of which his own friend, Bishop Parker, gives a specimen. See Parker's History of his own Time, pp. 31–33. Compare Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. iv. p. 429; Wilson's Mem. of De Foe, vol. i. p. 46.

667

In 1669, Pepys was at one of these entertainments, which took place not only at the house, but in the presence of the archbishop. See the scandalous details in Pepys' Diary, vol. iv. pp. 321, 322; or in Wilson's De Foe, vol. i. pp. 44, 45.

668

Burnet, who knew Sancroft, calls him ‘a poor-spirited and fearful man’ (Own Time, vol. iii. p. 354); and mentions (vol. iii. p. 138) an instance of his superstition, which will be easily believed by whoever has read his ridiculous sermons, which D'Oyly has wickedly published. See Appendix to D'Oyly's Sancroft, pp. 339–420. Dr. Lake says that everybody was amazed when it was known that Sancroft was to be archbishop. Lake's Diary, 30th Dec. 1677, p. 18, in vol. i. of the Camden Miscellany, 1847, 4to. His character, so far as he had one, is fairly drawn by Dr. Birch: ‘slow, timorous, and narrow-spirited, but at the same time a good, honest, and well-meaning man.’ Birch's Life of Tillotson, p. 151. See also respecting him, Macaulay's Hist. of England, vol. ii. p. 616, vol. iii. p. 77, vol. iv. pp. 40–42.

669

Frewen was so obscure a man, that there is no life of him either in Chalmers's Biographical Dictionary, or in Rose's more recent, but inferior work. The little that is known of Stearn, or Sterne, is unfavourable. Compare Burnet, vol. ii. p. 427, with Baxter's Life of Himself, folio, 1696, part ii. p. 338. And of Dolben I have been unable to collect anything of interest, except that he had a good library. See the traditionary account in Jones's Memoirs of Bishop Horne, p. 66.

670

His wife was Joanna Bridges, a bastard of Charles I. Compare Notes and Queries, vol. vii. p. 305, with Heber's Life of Jeremy Taylor, in Taylor's Works, vol. i. p. xxxiv. Bishop Heber, p. xxxv. adds, ‘But, notwithstanding the splendour of such an alliance, there is no reason to believe that it added materially to Taylor's income.’

671

Coleridge (Lit. Remains, vol. iii. p. 208) says, that this neglect of Jeremy Taylor by Charles ‘is a problem of which perhaps his virtues present the most probable solution.’

672

Superior, certainly, in comprehensiveness, and in the range of his studies; so that it is aptly said by a respectable authority, that he was at once ‘the great precursor of Sir Isaac Newton, and the pride of the English pulpit.’ Wordsworth's Ecclesiast. Biog. vol. iv. p. 344. See also, respecting Barrow, Montucla, Hist. des Mathémat. vol. ii. pp. 88, 89, 359, 360, 504, 505, vol. iii. pp. 436–438.

673

‘His father having suffered greatly in his estate by his attachment to the royal cause.’ Chalmers's Biog. Dict. vol. iv. p. 39.

674

Barrow, displeased at not receiving preferment after the Restoration, wrote the lines:

‘Te magis optavit rediturum Carole nemo;

Et sensit nemo te rediisse minus.’

Hamilton's Life of Barrow, in Barrow's Works, Edinb. 1845, vol. i. p. xxiii.

675

Everything Mr. Macaulay has said on the contempt into which the clergy fell in the reign of Charles II. is perfectly accurate; and from evidence which I have collected, I know that this very able writer, of whose immense research few people are competent judges, has rather understated the case than overstated it. On several subjects I should venture to differ from Mr. Macaulay; but I cannot refrain from expressing my admiration of his unwearied diligence, of the consummate skill with which he has arranged his materials, and of the noble love of liberty which animates his entire work. These are qualities which will long survive the aspersions of his puny detractors, – men who, in point of knowledge and ability, are unworthy to loosen the shoe-latchet of him they foolishly attack.

676

Hallam's Const. Hist. vol. ii. pp. 142, 143, 153–156; from which it appears that this movement began about 1681. The clergy, as a body, are naturally favourable to this doctrine; and the following passage, published only twelve years ago, will give the reader an idea of the views that some of them entertain. The Rev. Mr. Sewell (Christian Politics, Lond. 1844, p. 157) says, that the reigning prince is ‘a being armed with supreme physical power by the hand and permission of Providence; as such, the lord of our property, the master of our lives, the fountain of honour, the dispenser of law, before whom each subject must surrender his will and conform his actions… Who, when he errs, errs as a man, and not as a king, and is responsible, not to man, but to God.’ And at p. 111, the same writer informs us that the church, ‘with one uniform, unhesitating voice, has proclaimed the duty of “passive obedience.”’ See also on this slavish tenet, as upheld by the church, Wordsworth's Ecclesiast. Biog. vol. iv. p. 668; Life of Ken, by a Layman, vol. ii. p. 523; Lathbury's Hist. of Convocation, p. 228; Lathbury's Nonjurors, pp. 50, 135, 197; and a letter from Nelson, author of the Fasts and Festivals, in Nichols's Lit. Anec. vol. iv. p. 216. With good reason, therefore, did Fox tell the House of Commons, that ‘by being a good churchman, a person might become a bad citizen.’ Parl. Hist. vol. xxix. p. 1377.

677

The Archbishop of Canterbury, in 1678, was engaged in an attempt to convert James; and in a letter to the Bishop of Winchester, he notices the ‘happy consequences’ which would result from his success. See this characteristic letter in Clarendon Corresp. vol. ii. pp. 465, 466. See also the motives of the bishops, candidly but broadly stated, in Mr. Wilson's valuable work, Life of De Foe, vol. i. p. 74.

678

In a high-church pamphlet, published in 1682, against the Bill of Exclusion, the cause of James is advocated; but the inconvenience he would suffer by remaining a Catholic is strongly insisted upon. See the wily remarks in Somers Tracts, vol. viii. pp. 258, 259.

679

Wordsworth's Ecclesiast. Biog. vol. iv. p. 665. On their eagerness against the bill, see Harris's Lives of the Stuarts, vol. v. p. 181; Burnet's Own Time, vol. ii. p. 246; Somers Tracts, vol. x. pp. 216, 253; Campbell's Chancellors, vol. iii. p. 353; Carwithen's Hist. of the Church of England, vol. ii. p. 431.

680

At the accession of James II. ‘the pulpits throughout England resounded with thanksgivings; and a numerous set of addresses flattered his Majesty, in the strongest expressions, with assurances of unshaken loyalty and obedience, without limitation or reserve.’ Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. p. 2. See also Calamy's Life, vol. i. p. 118.

681

On the 18th March, 1687, the king announced to the Privy Council that he had determined ‘to grant, by his own authority, entire liberty of conscience to all his subjects. On the 4th April appeared the memorable Declaration of Indulgence.’ Macaulay's Hist. of England, vol. ii. p. 211; and see Life of James II., edited by Clarke, vol. ii, p. 112. There is a summary of the Declaration in Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. pp. 30, 31. As to the second Declaration, see Macaulay, vol. ii. pp. 344, 345; Clarendon Correspond. vol. ii. p. 170.

682

It was in the autumn of 1685, that the clergy and the government persecuted the dissenters with the greatest virulence. See Macaulay's Hist. vol. i. pp. 667, 668. Compare Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. pp. 4–12, with a letter from Lord Clarendon, dated 21st December 1685, in Clarendon Correspond. vol. i. p. 192. It is said (Burnet's Own Time, vol. iii. pp. 175, 176), that on many occasions the church party made use of the ecclesiastical courts to extort money from the Nonconformists; and for confirmation of this, see Mackintosh's Revolution of 1688, pp. 173, 640.

683

It appears from the accounts in the War Office, that James, even in the first year of his reign, had a standing army of nearly 20,000 men. Mackintosh's Revolution, pp. 3, 77, 688: ‘A disciplined army of about 20,000 men was, for the first time, established during peace in this island.’ As this naturally inspired great alarm, the king gave out that the number did not exceed 15,000. Life of James II., edited by Clarke, vol. ii. pp. 52, 57.

684

Compare Burnet, vol. iii. pp. 55–62, with Dalrymple's Memoirs, vol. i. part i. book ii. pp. 198–203. Ken, so far as I remember, was the only one who set his face against these atrocities. He was a very humane man, and did what he could to mitigate the sufferings of the prisoners in Monmouth's rebellion; but it is not mentioned that he attempted to stop the persecutions directed against the innocent Nonconformists, who were barbarously punished, not because they rebelled, but because they dissented. Life of Ken, by a Layman, vol. i. p. 298.

685

‘From the conduct of the clergy in this and the former reign, it is quite clear, that if the king had been a Protestant, of the profession of the Church of England, or even a quiet, submissive Catholic, without any zeal for his religion, – confining himself solely to matters of state, and having a proper respect for church property, – he might have plundered other Protestants at his pleasure, and have trampled upon the liberties of his country, without the danger of resistance.’ Wilson's Life of De Foe, vol. i. p. 136. Or, as Fox says, ‘Thus, as long as James contented himself with absolute power in civil matters, and did not make use of his authority against the church, everything went smooth and easy.’ Fox's Hist. of James II., p. 165.

686

Compare Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. p. 58, with Life of James II., edit. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 70; where it is well said, that the clergy of the Church of England ‘had preached prerogative and the sovereign power to the highest pitch, while it was favourable to them; but when they apprehended the least danger from it, they cried out as soon as the shoe pinched, though it was of their own putting on.’ See also pp. 113, 164. What their servility was to the crown, while they thought that the crown was with them, may be estimated from the statement of De Foe: ‘I have heard it publicly preached, that if the king commanded my head, and sent his messengers to fetch it, I was bound to submit, and stand while it was cut off.’ Wilson's Life of De Foe, vol. i. p. 118.

687

D'Oyly (Life of Sancroft, p. 164) says, ‘On the whole, it is supposed that not more than 200 out of the whole body of clergy, estimated at 10,000, complied with the king's requisition.’ ‘Only seven obeyed in the city of London, and not above 200 all England over.’ Burnet's Own Time, vol. iii. p. 218. On Sunday, 20th May 1688, Lord Clarendon writes: ‘I was at St. James's church; in the evening I had an account that the Declaration was read only in four churches in the city and liberties.’ Clarendon Corresp. vol. ii. pp. 172, 173. When this conduct became known, it was observed that the church ‘supported the crown only so long as she dictated to it; and became rebellious at the moment when she was forbidden to be intolerant.’ Mackintosh's Revolution of 1688, p. 255.

688

The first advances were made when the Declaration of the king in favour of ‘liberty of conscience’ was on the point of being issued, and immediately after the proceedings at Oxford had shown his determination to break down the monopoly of offices possessed by the church. ‘The clergy at the same time prayed and entreated the dissenters to appear on their side, and stand by the Establishment, making large promises of favour and brotherly affection if ever they came into power.’ Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. p. 29. See also, at pp. 58, 59, the conciliating letter from the Archbishop of Canterbury after the Declaration. ‘Such,’ says Neal, ‘such was the language of the church in distress!’ Compare Birch's Life of Tillotson, p. 153; Ellis's Correspond. vol. ii. p. 63; Ellis's Orig. Letters, 2nd series, vol. iv. p. 117; Mackintosh's Revolution, p. 286; Somers Tracts, vol. ix. p. 132; Macaulay's Hist. of England, vol. ii. pp. 218, 219.

689

See the indignant language of De Foe Wilson's Life of De Foe, vol. i. pp. 130, 131, 133, 134; and a Letter from a Dissenter to the Petitioning Bishops, in Somers Tracts, vol. ix. pp. 117, 118. The writer says: ‘Pray, my lords, let me ask you a question. Suppose the king, instead of his Declaration, had issued out a proclamation, commanding justices of the peace, constables, informers, and all other persons, to be more rigorous, if possible, against dissenters, and do their utmost to the perfect quelling and destroying them; and had ordered this to be read in your churches in the time of divine service, – would you have made any scruple of that?’

690

That this was the immediate cause, so far as the head of the church-party was concerned, is unblushingly avowed by the biographer and defender of the then Archbishop of Canterbury. ‘The order published from the king in council, May 4th, 1688, directing the archbishops and bishops to send to the clergy in their respective dioceses the Declaration for Liberty of Conscience, to be publicly read in all the churches of the kingdom, made it impossible for the Archbishop of Canterbury to abstain any longer from engaging in an open and declared opposition to the counsels under which the king was now unhappily acting.’ D'Oyly's Life of Sancroft, p. 151.

691

Some writers have attempted to defend the clergy, on the ground that they thought it illegal to publish a declaration of this kind. But such a defence is incompatible with their doctrine of passive obedience; and besides this, it was contradicted by precedents and decisions of their own. Jeremy Taylor, in his Ductor Dubitantium, their great work of authority, asserts that ‘the unlawful proclamations and edicts of a true prince may be published by the clergy in their several charges.’ Heber's Life of Taylor, p. cclxxxvi. Heber adds: ‘I wish I had not found this in Taylor; and I thank Heaven that the principle was not adopted by the English clergy in 1687.’ But why was it not adopted in 1687? Simply because in 1687 the king attacked the monopoly enjoyed by the clergy; and therefore the clergy forgot their principle, that they might smite their enemy. And what makes the motives of this change still more palpable is, that as late as 1681, the Archbishop of Canterbury caused the clergy to read a Declaration issued by Charles II.; and that in a revised copy of the Liturgy he had also added to the rubric to the same effect. See Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. p. 56. Compare Calamy's Own Life, vol. i. pp. 199, 200; Mackintosh's Revolution, pp. 242, 243; D'Oyly's Life of Sancroft, p. 152; King's Life of Locke, vol. i. p. 259; Life of James II., edit. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 156.

692

They are summed up in a popular pamphlet ascribed to Lord Somers, and printed in Somers Tracts, vol. x. pp. 263, 264. The diminished respect felt for the crown after 1688 is judiciously noticed in Mahon's Hist. of England, vol. i. p. 9.

693

The Toleration Act was passed in 1689. A copy of it is given by the historians of the dissenters, who call it their Magna Charta. See Bogue and Bennett's History of the Dissenters, vol. i. pp. 187–198. The historian of the Catholics equally allows that the reign of William III. is ‘the era from which their enjoyment of religious toleration may be dated.’ Butler's Memoirs of the Catholics, vol. iii. pp. 122, 139. This is said by Mr. Butler in regard, not to the Protestant dissenters, but to the Catholics; so that we have the admission of both parties as to the importance of this epoch. Even the shameful act forced upon William in 1700 was, as Mr. Hallam truly says, evaded in its worst provisions. Const. Hist. vol. ii. pp. 332, 333.

694

Campbell's Chancellors, vol. iv. pp. 102, 355, and his Chief-Justices, vol. ii. pp. 95, 116, 118, 136, 142, 143. See also Barrington's Observations on the Statutes, pp. 23, 102, 558; and even Alison's Hist. of Europe, vol. i. p. 236, vol. ix. p. 243; an unwary concession from such an enemy to popular liberty.

695

This was effected before the end of the seventeenth century. See Campbell's Chancellors, vol. iv. pp. 121, 122. Compare Lord Camden on Literary Property, in Parl. Hist. vol. xvii. p. 994; Hunt's History of Newspapers, vol. i. pp. 161, 162; Somers Tracts, vol. xiii. p. 555; and a more detailed account in Macaulay's Hist. of England, vol. iv. pp. 348 seq. 540 seq.; though Mr. Macaulay in ascribing, p. 353, so much to the influence of Blount, has not, I think, sufficiently dwelt on the operation of larger and more general causes.

696

Mr. Cooke (Hist. of Party, vol. ii. pp. 5, 148) notices this remarkable rise of the monied classes early in the eighteenth century; but he merely observes, that the consequence was to strengthen the Whig party. Though this is undoubtedly true, the ultimate results, as I shall hereafter point out, were far more important than any political or even economical consequences. It was not till 1694 that the Bank of England was established; and this great institution at first met with the warmest opposition from the admirers of old times, who thought it must be useless because their ancestors did without it. See the curious details in Sinclair's Hist. of the Revenue, vol. iii. pp. 6–9; and on the connexion between it and the Whigs, see Macaulay's Hist. of England, vol. iv. p. 502. There is a short account of its origin and progress in Smith's Wealth of Nations, book ii. chap. ii. p. 130.

697

Frequently misunderstood, even by those who praise it. Thus, for instance, a living writer informs us that, ‘great as have been the obligations which England owes, in many different views, to the Revolution, it is beyond all question the greatest, that it brought in a sovereign instructed in the art of overcoming the ignorant impatience of taxation which is the invariable characteristic of free communities; and thus gave it a government capable of turning to the best account the activity and energy of its inhabitants, at the same time that it had the means given it of maintaining their independence.’ Alison's Hist. of Europe, vol. vii. p. 5. This, I should suppose, is the most eccentric eulogy ever passed on William III.

698

On their sudden repentance, and on the causes of it, see Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. p. 71.

699

Mackintosh's Revolution of 1688, pp. 81, 191. After the death of Archbishop Dolben, ‘the see was kept vacant for more than two years,’ and Cartwright hoped to obtain it. See Cartwright's Diary, by Hunter, 4to, 1843, p. 45. In the same way, we find from a letter to the Archbishop of Canterbury (Clarendon Corresp. vol. i. p. 409) that in May 1686 uneasiness was felt because the Irish bishoprics were not filled up. Compare Burnet, vol. iii. p. 103. Carwithen (Hist. of the Ch. of England, vol. ii. p. 492) says, that James had intended to raise the Jesuit Petre to the archbishopric.

700

Lamplugh was translated from the bishopric of Exeter to the archbishopric of York in November 1688. See the contemporary account in the Ellis Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 303, and Ellis's Original Letters, second series, vol. iv. p. 151. He was a most orthodox man; and not only hated the dissenters, but showed his zeal by persecuting them. Wilson's Life of De Foe, vol. i. pp. 94, 95. Compare an anecdote of him in Baxter's Life of Himself, folio, 1696, part iii. pp. 178, 179.

701

In a letter, dated London, 29th September 1688 (Ellis, Correspondence, vol. ii. p. 224, and Ellis's Orig. Letters, second series, vol. iv. p. 128), it is stated, that the Bishop of London's ‘suspension is taken off.’ See also Somers Tracts, vol. ix. p. 215. This is the more observable, because, according to Johnstone, there was an intention, in December 1687, of depriving him. Mackintosh's Revolution, pp. 211, 212.

702

This disposition on the part of the king again to favour the bishops and the church became a matter of common remark in September 1688. See Ellis Correspond. vol. ii. pp. 201, 202, 209, 219, 224, 225, 226, 227; Clarendon Correspond. vol. ii. pp. 188, 192. Sir John Reresby, who was then in London, writes, in October 1688, that James ‘begins again to court the Church of England.’ Reresby's Memoirs, p. 357. Indeed, the difficulties of James were now becoming so great, that he had hardly any choice.

703

Ellis Correspond. vol. ii. p. 211; Life of James II., edit. Clarke, vol. ii. p. 189.

704

In November 1687, it was said that he wished the dissenters to have ‘entire liberty for the full exercise of their religion,’ and to be freed ‘from the severity of the penal laws.’ Somers Tracts, vol. ix. p. 184. This is the earliest distinct notice I have seen of William's desire to deprive the church of the power of punishing nonconformists; but after he arrived in England his intentions became obvious. In January 1688–9 the friends of the church complained ‘that the countenance he gave the dissenters gave too much cause of jealousy to the Church of England.’ Clarendon Correspond. vol. ii. p. 238. Compare Neal's Hist. of the Puritans, vol. v. p. 81; Bogue and Bennett's Hist. of the Dissenters, vol. ii. p. 318; Birch's Life of Tillotson, pp. 156, 157; Somers Tracts, vol. x. p. 341, vol. xi. p. 108. Burnet, in his summary of the character of William, observes that, ‘his indifference as to the forms of church-government, and his being zealous for toleration, together with his cold behaviour towards the clergy, gave them generally very ill impressions of him.’ Own Time, vol. iv. p. 550. At p. 192 the bishop says, ‘He took no notice of the clergy, and seemed to have little concern in the matters of the church or of religion.’