Calamy's The bishops' answer to the Presbyterians' proposals. 873. present debate was gone through, and the controversy brought to an issue." The king treated them with regard, told them he was much pleased with their declaring for a liturgy, and yielding to the essentials of episcopacy; and promised them, that where the old incumbents were dead, the benefices should be confirmed to those in possession. Not long after, the bishops returned an answer to the Presbyterians' paper of proposals. "As to their preliminary requests, they conceive the laws of the realm have made a sufficient provision, and that no farther security can be given. As for liberty of conscience, they are willing to comply, provided a passage may not be opened for private conventicles; for should such an indulgence be granted, the consequences might prove very unserviceable to the State. That they approve the fixing a godly minister in each parish, but do not understand what is meant by 'residing on his cure," nor how far those words may be stretched: nor what farther provision can be made upon that head. As for confirmation, and the barring scandalous persons from the communion, they thought the Church had taken sufficient care of that matter. And touching the observation of the Lord's-day, they reply, the laws of the kingdom were stricter than those of any foreign reformed communion whatsoever. As to Church government, they insist upon continuing the former hierarchy without any alteration; and that the Presbyterians' objections against a single person's administration in the Church were equally applicable to the State. The extent of the dioceses they conceive well enough fitted to the bishops' inspection and management; and that the share of ecclesiastical jurisdiction put into the hands of chancellors, &c., was regular in the main. Archbishop Usher's plan for retrenching the bishops' authority, they declare inconsistent with two other discourses of that prelate; and that his four propositions, at the best, were but some private thoughts thrown together. They pronounce the offices in the Common Prayer altogether unexceptionable, and conceive the book cannot be too strictly enjoined; especially when ministers are not denied the exercise of their gifts in praying before and after sermon; which liberty, for extemporary or private compositions, stands only upon a late custom, without any foundation from law or canons; and that the common use of this practice comes only from connivance, II. However, they are contented to yield the liturgy may be CHARLES reviewed, in case his majesty thinks fit. As for the ceremonies, they are unwilling to part with any of them: being clearly of opinion, that the satisfaction of some private persons ought not to overrule the public peace and uniformity of the Church; and that if any abatements were made, it would only feed a distemper, and encourage unquiet people to farther demands." Calamy's Baxter. the Restora And here it may not be improper to observe, that nine of the bishops survived the rebellion, and recovered their sees at the Restoration; viz., William Juxon, bishop of London, The bishops translated this year to Canterbury; William Pierce, bishop of who live to Bath and Wells; Robert Skinner, bishop of Oxford, trans- tion. lated afterwards to Worcester; John Warner, bishop of Rochester; William Roberts, bishop of Bangor; Matthew Wren, bishop of Ely; Bryan Duppa, bishop of Salisbury, from whence, after the Restoration, he was removed to Winchester; Henry King, bishop of Chichester; Accepted Frewen, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and this year promoted to the archbishopric of York. Besides these, there were six bishops consecrated on the first Sunday in Advent, viz., John, lord bishop of Durham; William, lord bishop of Cosens. St. David's; Benjamin, lord bishop of Peterborough; Hugh, Laney. lord bishop of Llandaff; Richard, lord bishop of Carlisle; Stern. Bryan, lord bishop of Chester; and John, lord bishop of Gauden. Exeter when Juxon was translated to Canterbury, Gilbert Sheldon was made bishop of London. The other bishoprics See Archwere quickly filled with well qualified persons. To return soon after the bishops had sent the answer above mentioned, the Presbyterian ministers were told the king would put all he thought proper to grant them into a declaration that they should see this instrument before it was published, and have the liberty to report what they happened to dislike. A copy of this declaration was accordingly sent them by the lord chancellor Hyde. Some little time before it was issued out, this lord gave notice of it in a speech to the parliament. Here he acquaints the houses, "he was commanded to mention two things recommended to them by his majesty in his declaration from Breda, the one for composing those unhappy differences and distempers in religion, which had too much disturbed the peace of the kingdom. Walton. bishop Sancroft's Life and Ser mons. Lord-chancellor Hyde's speech upon the subject of religion. JUXON, This," saith he, "is a sad argument indeed, it is a consideraAbp. Cant. tion that must make every religious heart bleed to see religion, which should be the strongest obligation and cement of affection and brotherly kindness and compassion, made now by the perverse wranglings of passionate and froward men, the ground of all animosity, hatred, malice, and revenge; and this unruly and unmanly passion, I fear, too frequently transports those who are in the right, as well as those who are in the wrong, and leaves the latter more excusable than the former. When men who find their manners and dispositions very conformable in all the necessary obligations of human nature, avoid one another's conversation, and grow first unsociable, and then uncharitable to each other, because one cannot think as the other doth. 66 My lords and gentlemen, this disquisition hath cost the king many a sigh, many a sad hour, when he hath considered the almost irreparable reproach the Protestant religion hath undergone from the divisions and distractions which have been so notorious in this kingdom. What pains he hath taken to compose them, after several discourses with pious and learned men of different persuasions, you will shortly perceive by a declaration, which he will publish upon that occasion; by which you will see his great indulgence to those who can have any pretension from conscience to differ from their brethren." The Presbyterian divines having perused the declaration, drew a petition to the king, and subjoined some remarks on the declaration. They delivered what they had done to the lord chancellor, who thought it most advisable to drop this address, and never called on them to present it to the king. However, he desired they would give in the particulars of what they thought proper should be altered; upon which they delivered him minutes upon these heads. And now a day was fixed for his majesty's perusing the declaration, as the lord chancellor had drawn it. Accordingly, the king came to the lord chancellor's with the dukes of Albemarle and Ormond, the earls of Manchester and Anglesey, the lord Hollis, and some others of the court; with these appeared Sheldon, bishop of London, Morley, bishop of Worcester, Hinchman, bishop of Salisbury, Cosens, bishop of Durham, Gauden, bishop of Exeter, Dr. Hacket, Dr. Berwick, Dr. Gunning, &c. On II. the other side, the Dissenters were represented by Reynolds, CHARLES Calamy, Ash, Wallis, Manton, Spurstow, Baxter, and some others. The business of this day was not to argue, but as the lord chancellor read the declaration, each party was to speak their exceptions, and, after all, the king was to overrule the debate, and settle the form. There were several objections raised touching prelacy, re-ordination, and other particulars. When the whole was read, the lord chancellor pulled out another paper, and acquainted them that the king had been petitioned by the Independents and Anabaptists, for indulging their respective persuasions. Upon this he read a supplemental clause in the declaration, to this effect: "that others also might be permitted to meet for religious worship, provided they give no disturbance to the public peace; and that they may not be molested by any justice of peace or other officer." This clause was suspected upon the score of the latitude in which it was expressed, and that there might be a design to bring the Papists within the compass of the toleration; for this reason, probably, it was neither approved by the episcopal or Presbyterian party. However, the point being nice, and the construction somewhat uncertain, there was nothing objected; only Baxter took the freedom to declare against the tolerating Papists and Socinians: to which his majesty replied, "the laws had sufficiently provided against danger from the Papists." And thus the matter was dropped. Before the meeting broke up, the king settled the sense of the declaration and if there happened any dispute touching the manner of expression, this point was to be referred to bishop Morley and bishop Hinchman, Reynolds, and Calamy. And in case they happened to disagree, the earl of Anglesey and the lord Hollis were to determine the difference. On the 25th of October, his majesty set forth his "Declaration to all his loving subjects of his kingdom of England and dominion of Wales concerning ecclesiastical affairs." I shall give the reader part of this instrument :: 874. Calamy's Baxter. declaration "In our letter," saith the king to the speaker of the house The king's of commons, from Breda, we declared how much we desired touching the advancement and propagation of the Protestant religion; ecclesiastical affairs. that neither the unkindness of those of the same faith towards A.D. 1660. us, nor the civilities and obligations from those of a contrary JUXON, profession, (of both which we have had abundant evidence,) Abp. Cant. could in the least degree startle us, or make us swerve from it, and that nothing can be proposed to manifest our zeal and affection for it, to which we will not readily consent. And we said then, that we did hope in due time ourself to propose somewhat for the propagation of it that will satisfy the world that we have always made it both our care and our study, and have observed enough what is most like to bring disadvantage to it. And the truth is, we do think ourself more competent to propose, and with God's assistance to determine, many things now in difference, from the time we have spent, and the experience we have had in most of the reformed Churches abroad, in France, in the Low Countries, and in Germany, where we have had frequent conferences with the most learned men, who have unanimously lamented the great reproach the Protestant religion undergoes from the distempers and too notorious schisms in matters of religion in England. And as the most learned amongst them have always, with great submission and reverence, acknowledged and magnified the established government of the Church of England, and the great countenance and shelter the Protestant religion received from it before these unhappy times; so many of them have with great ingenuity and sorrow confessed that they were too easily misled by misinformation and prejudice, into some disesteem of it, as if it had too much complied with the Church of Rome; whereas they now acknowledge it to be the best fence God hath yet raised against popery in the world and we are persuaded they do with great zeal wish it restored to its old dignity and veneration. : "When we were in Holland, we were attended by many grave and learned ministers from hence, who were looked upon as the most able and principal assertors of the Presbyterian opinions; with whom we had as much conference as the multitude of affairs which were then upon us would permit us to have, and, to our great satisfaction and comfort, found them persons full of affection to us, of zeal for the peace of the Church and State, and neither enemies (as they have been given out to be) to episcopacy or liturgy, but modestly to desire such alterations in either, as without shaking foundations, might best allay the present distempers, which the indisposition of the time and the tenderness of some men's |