Upon the dissolution of the first Protectorate Parliament, the supreme
management of affairs once more relapsed into the hands of Cromwell
and his Council. They constituted an ultimate tribunal, before which
all ecclesiastical, as well as all secular matters had to be brought,
if any doubt arose respecting the decisions of inferior authorities.
Notices of questions referred to them, or of matters in which they
saw it proper to interfere, are found in such of the Minute Books as
are still extant. But, excepting these occasional and revisionary
interpositions, the Commissioners for approving godly preachers, and
the Commissioners for ejecting scandalous ones, undertook the entire
superintendence and discipline of the Clergy.
[Sidenote: _Commissioners at Whitehall._]
The former sat at Whitehall. There country ministers, summoned from
various parts, were obliged to attend; and, in numerous cases,
where the benefice was distant and the living poor, the hardship of
travelling all the way up to the metropolis became very great. As
might be expected, men forced to pass through the ordeal complained
of arbitrariness and oppression. There were frequent grumblings about
"super-metropolitan" and "hyper-archiepiscopal" tyranny, and of
despotism worse than the Bishops'--even "overtopping Laud." Clergymen,
out of all sympathy with their judges, entered the Court full of
prejudices; and by their known character were likely to excite a
corresponding prejudice on the part of those who decided their destiny.
They walked into the room full of suspicion; they met at the Board
with abundant annoyance; and then came out irritated at the judgment
pronounced upon their case. Often-times they complained of delay,
and said they had "to wait the leisure of the underlings, clerks, or
registrars"--a complaint which probably was not without foundation, for
much business was thrown into a few hands, to be transacted far away
from the residence of the parties most interested.
Tales respecting the alleged ignorance and malignity of the Triers
met with extensive currency; and, coloured as they might be by the
parties themselves who complained of their wrongs, they were more
deeply coloured still by the prejudice or the carelessness of those
who afterwards repeated these stories to their neighbours. Hence,
after passing from one Episcopalian to another, they assumed the
darkest hues and the most monstrous proportions. Some of them, which
have been reduced to writing, exhibit the examiners in a ridiculous
light--pressing points connected with Election, Perseverance, the Work
of Grace, and the marks of the New Birth, after a fashion the most
absurd which can be imagined. One clergyman, for instance, declared
that he was asked whether Regeneration were a substance or an accident,
and in what predicament it ought to be placed? Mystical questions
were put touching the life of grace, to which mystical answers were
returned, about the breath and the heat and the sense of the soul.
It was said, that enquiries of this nature were continued until
sacred themes were dishonoured by the merest trifling. But, it must
be remembered, these are only _ex parte_ statements made by accused
persons and their friends; and such reports, even where there was no
intention to deceive, can never be trusted.[100]
[Sidenote: 1655.]
To ascertain whether the teachers of religion were truly religious,
and acquainted with the truths of Christianity, was the task assigned
to these extraordinary Commissioners; and apart from the political
relations of the tribunal over which they presided, such a proceeding
must be pronounced right and wise. Whether the Triers adopted the best
method to arrive at what they wished to know is another question.
Unfortunately, the minutes of their meetings have perished, and no
records of their proceedings exist endorsed by themselves. Could they
be heard in their own defence, what now appears to their disadvantage
might, in many cases, be considerably mitigated, if not entirely
removed. Constituted as the Commission was, the justice of the
conclusions reached depended entirely on the wisdom and goodness of
those who pronounced them. We should certainly not congratulate men
of intelligent piety, of delicate feeling, and of a wide charity, who
happened to fall into the hands of a Cheynell or a Peters; and there
were others also who might be mentioned not likely to prove impartial
judges. We should conclude, further, that ignorant, wild, and
enthusiastic spirits would be very likely to pass muster before certain
of the members. Still, the requirement of nine of their number in any
vote of rejection operated as a check upon injustice; and the character
of such men as Dr. Owen, Dr. Goodwin, and others, afforded a guarantee
that nothing dishonourable would be met with at their hands. The fact,
too, should be mentioned that the Commissioners, though opposed to
Episcopacy, allowed certain clergymen to retain their incumbencies,
notwithstanding their Episcopalian opinions.[101]
[Sidenote: _Ejection of Scandalous Ministers._]
Besides the commission of Triers, there was the commission for ejecting
scandalous, ignorant, and insufficient Ministers. Perhaps few cases
occurred in which the accusation of ignorance and insufficiency was
simply made. Commonly, a rather long array of charges was presented,
on the principle, it would appear, of catching the criminal on a
second count of the indictment if the first should fail. The same
person was accused of profaning the Sabbath, of frequenting alehouses,
of using the Prayer Book, of playing at cards, of living an unholy
life, and of being disaffected to the Government. We cannot help
believing--much as we may honour the character of the Puritans--that
in some cases they, like their adversaries, yielded to the besetting
sin of priding themselves upon their orthodoxy and their virtue; and
that they took it for granted that the men who differed from them
in creed, and whom therefore they considered intellectually wrong,
must also differ from them in life, and could not be reckoned morally
right. Two kinds of injustice would arise from placing such dissimilar
charges in the same category. Those put out of office for immorality
would be sure to say they were ejected because of their loyalty to the
Church--a circumstance which would reflect upon the character of the
Commissioners; and those who were really ejected for using the Prayer
Book, when scandals alleged against them remained unproved, would
almost inevitably incur the disgrace of being reputed as vicious--a
circumstance which involved unrighteousness towards the accused.
[Sidenote: _Ejection of Scandalous Ministers._]
In small country towns, whilst these ecclesiastical assizes were
being held, there would be no little excitement in the streets, and
many a knot would gossip round the doors of the little inn where the
tribunal sat. From what is preserved of such proceedings, however
doubtful may be the minute details, we conclude that there was plenty
of cross-swearing, and that the character of witnesses on one side
was treated by the parties on the other much after the worst fashion
of Old Bailey practice. Men of low reputation were special pleaders
in their own case, and when charged with intemperance they cunningly
mooted the question, what really was meant by drinking in excess; and
then proceeded to bring forward boon companions, who proved that in no
conviviality had the reverend gentleman ever been seen intoxicated!
Very unwisely in the course of a trial for what was truly scandalous,
discontented parishioners were allowed to come forward, and declare
that they had never profited under the ministry of the accused--a fact
which might by no means be the minister's fault. Charges of gross vice
might sometimes break down, although there remained quite enough to
satisfy the Commissioners of the utter unfitness of the individual in
question to be continued any longer as a minister of religion; but in
such cases ample room was left, owing to the medley of indictments, for
imputing injustice to the members of these judicial boards, however
equitable might be the final award. It should be added that there was
also some tempering of justice, or of injustice, with a shew of mercy.
To the widow and children of the ejected was assigned the fifth of the
income of the living.[102] Also sufficient time was allowed for those
whose preferment was sequestered to move out of the parsonage; but then
all this was followed by the cruel severity of forbidding such persons
from becoming schoolmasters in the place of their ejectment. The
vacancies made by expulsions were to be filled up by lawful patrons,
unless those patrons became disqualified by acts of delinquency, in
which case the presentation lapsed to the Lord Protector.
[Sidenote: 1655.]
The treatment of Dr. Edward Pocock has been frequently mentioned by
historians. He held the living of Childrey, in Berkshire, twelve miles
from the city of Oxford, and was greatly troubled by disaffected
parishioners. Articles were presented to the Commissioners, charging
him with using the Prayer Book, and with similar offences. The trial
came on before the Commissioners, first at Abingdon, and then at
Wantage; and for some months this learned man was abominably worried by
ignorant enemies. Chiefly through the interference of his friend, Dr.
Owen, he was at length delivered out of their clutches.[103]
[Sidenote: _Proceedings against Royalist Episcopalians._]
The antipathy of Oliver the Puritan to the Common Prayer Book, as a
rag of Popery, is apparent from the terms of the ordinance against
scandalous Ministers, and from the whole tenor of his life. But Oliver
the Protector had other and still stronger grounds of dislike to the
Episcopal Clergy, which led him to bind such suspicions around the
use of the liturgy as made it to his mind symbolical of treason and
rebellion. The Episcopalian Royalists would not be quiet. No sooner
had turbulent Anabaptists been put under lock and key, than people who
wished to see both Church and King restored were discovered all over
his Highness's dominions busy with their plots. Cavalier horsemen were
galloping to a rendezvous in Sherwood Forest. Carts full of arms and
ammunition were grinding along the ruts of Yorkshire roads. Divers of
the old gentry were scheming to seize the city of York for Charles
Stuart. Four thousand men were expected to meet on Marston Moor, to
try and reverse the decision of arms given there in 1644. Reports were
circulated of designs upon Newcastle, upon Shrewsbury, and upon
Winchester. Much more than talk occurred at Salisbury, where Royalist
insurgents, on Sunday night in the spring assize week, actually seized
the judges and the high sheriff, and endeavoured to proclaim King
Charles at the Market Cross.[104] Plots abounded amongst Royalists;
and people at home, eagerly turning their hopes into facts, wrote to
friends on the Continent, telling them that Salisbury, and Plymouth,
and Portsmouth, and Yarmouth, had all been surprised and taken. Rumour
abroad proceeded so far as to affirm that England had declared for the
King, and that the gates of the city of London had been shut against
the Protector; and that Charles was waiting in the North till it should
be safe for him publicly to appear.[105] This plot, after blazing up
in the county town of Wilts, went out through a timely and decisive
extinguishment of the first flames, and nothing remained of it but a
few dead ashes. Yet it exasperated his Highness against the Royalists;
and--entertaining the idea that ejected clergymen were still plotting
his overthrow, that they entered families to foment treason, that,
under pretence of teaching religion, they promoted disaffection, that
meeting for common prayer meant meeting to upset the Commonwealth--he
issued a most unrighteous declaration in the month of October,
1655. Grounds for suspecting the revolutionary character of certain
gatherings did exist, and a regard for the safety of government and
the order of society required that particular individuals should be
watched; but the conduct of some was no more reason for punishing all
who used the Prayer Book, than Venner's insurrection, at a later date,
was a reason for prohibiting all Nonconformist worship. The policy of
Cromwell, in forbidding clergymen to become schoolmasters, however
great might be his subsequent leniency, closely resembles the policy
of the government after the Restoration. The decree declared that no
delinquents after the 1st of January, 1655-6, should keep as chaplain
or schoolmaster any sequestered minister, or permit their children to
be taught by him. Nor should an ejected clergyman keep a school, or
preach publicly or privately, or baptize, or administer the Lord's
Supper, or celebrate marriages, or use the Prayer Book.
This declaration was intended to strike terror into the Royalist party;
and so it did. And it would appear that with this effect the Protector
was satisfied. The last clause in the document plainly shewed that he
did not mean to carry it out in the case of persons who were disposed
to remain quiet; and in point of fact, we know that, after this
declaration had been published, the worship of Episcopalians continued,
in some instances, to be winked at. The document ended in these words:
"Nevertheless, his Highness doth declare that, towards such of the said
persons as have, since their ejection or sequestration, given, or shall
hereafter give, a real testimony of their godliness and good affection
to the present government, so much tenderness shall be used as may
consist with the safety and good of the nation."[106]
[Sidenote: _Major-Generals._]
Between the first and second Protectorate Parliaments, Cromwell
ruled England by Major-Generals. The country was divided into ten
districts, each superintended by one of these military satraps. In
short, the whole realm was placed under martial law; as we should say
in modern phrase, the _Habeas Corpus Act_ was suspended. Such a step,
perhaps, had become a political necessity. Of course, the proceeding
laid Cromwell open to the awkward charge of absolutism, tyranny, and
espionage; and all he could urge in reply was the logic of a cruel
necessity, "If not good, yet best." The carrying out of such a policy
made England look for awhile too much like France and Austria in
our own times, and it sanctioned the practice of employing spies--a
practice which prevailed after the Restoration.
[Sidenote: 1655.]
As religious affairs had become inextricably woven with secular ones,
these Major-Generals looked after the Church as well as after the
world. The principle of such an interference rested upon the fact of
the union between Church and State. Teachers of religion supported by
the State must be watched by the State. Teachers of religion not so
supported, but interfering with the business of the State, must be
checked by the State. So men reasoned. Yet, although these officers
were so many military bishops, they did not aim at establishing
any kind of religious uniformity. They left Presbyterianism and
Congregationalism to work their own way amongst the English people;
yet, under pretence of curbing political disaffection and preventing
social disorder, they did what has been often done under colour of the
same pretext--they persecuted many perfectly harmless persons. Their
reports, conveyed to head quarters, place in a strong light some phases
of the religious condition of the country.
Many references are made in general terms to the zeal and diligence
which were exhibited in the ejectment of scandalous ministers and
schoolmasters. Major-General Whalley informed Secretary Thurloe that
this kind of business was going on well in the county of Lincoln; but
Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire had deferred entering upon the duty
until he could render them assistance, and he assured the Secretary
that his Highness might in that matter calculate upon the efficient
services of the learned Recorder of the two county towns.[107]
[Sidenote: _Major-Generals._]
Such persons as sympathized with the Papists were ferreted out with a
very keen scent. Major-General Haynes informed the President of the
Council, that he had sent to the garrison at Yarmouth a man named
Cleveland, simply because he had lodged in a family where Papists
resorted; and wore a genteel garb, although professing to have only
fifty pounds a year income, and could give no good account of himself;
and, besides, was possessed of such abilities as enabled him to do
a great deal of mischief.[108] Major-General Boteler also wrote to
say that, as he was passing through Rockingham Forest, he overtook a
gentleman, whom he found to be a Roman Catholic priest, wandering up
and down the country without any settled home; upon which he took him
into custody, seized his Agnus Dei and his beads, his medal of the
Virgin, his crucifix, and his books; and this functionary wished to
know what was to be done with such a dangerous person.[109]
The same officer was equally keen in the detection of disaffected
Episcopalians, and therefore apprehended one Sherman, an Episcopalian
minister, who, though of a sober life, held destructive principles,
which he preached before the Corporation of Norwich.[110] Thus to
preach was so much the worse, as that corporation contained very
disaffected persons. Another individual, formerly zealous for the
Parliament, had fallen in with Sherman, and was thought to be a still
more active agent in strengthening malignity and producing disaffection.
[Sidenote: 1655.]
The Anabaptists also figure in these despatches. Vavasour Powell
continued to be strongly suspected; but he made a favourable impression
upon Major-General Berry, a staunch Independent. This Fifth Monarchy
preacher declared that he and his friends were far from designing
to make any disturbance: they only wished, he said, to state their
complaints to the Lord Protector. "It would be too large," adds the
writer, "to relate the discourse we had about it. Only one terrible
thunderbolt he seemed to affright me withal: he told me that my
imprisoning of him would give occasion to the enemy to rejoice, and
cause the godly to pour forth prayers and tears before the Lord against
us. To that I answered, that I did account it a dreadful thing to
stand in the way of the tears and prayers of God's people, when they
were duly directed against me; but if I were found doing my duty in
the way of Providence, and many more than those thousands he spoke of
should pour forth their prayers and tears against me, I was confident,
and could with comfort lift up my head, and trust that the shield of
Providence and faith should repel those as well as other darts, and
they should not hurt me." Considerable sympathy in religious feeling
existed between these two persons. Berry hoped that they might be
of spiritual service to each other. He allowed Powell to preach at
Worcester, which he did, "honestly and soberly, in four churches, and
had many hearers."[111]
It further appears, from the correspondence of Major-General Goffe,
that the minister of the principal congregation in the town of Lewes
had adopted Feake's principles, "and bewailed the imprisonment of the
Saints." The Anabaptists of Sussex were busy getting up a petition
against the Court of Chancery, the tithe system, and the detention of
prisoners without trial; but not one of the congregation just mentioned
would sign the paper, because, being addressed to the Protector, it
recognized his authority.[112]
Major-General Whalley, already mentioned--whose duties extended over
the counties of Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Warwick, and Leicester--was
much encouraged at witnessing the loyalty of ministers to the
Protectorate in those parts; but, like his fellow-commanders in other
districts, he dwells much upon the immorality of the population,
which, owing to the neglect of the magistrates, was more than he could
suppress. He says: "It hath been a general complaint to me in Lincoln
and Coventry especially, that wicked magistrates, by reason of their
number, overpower the godly magistrates." "I shall give them in charge
to put down as many alehouses as shall be judged unnecessary; and
present me with a list at my next coming of what they have put down,
and what remain, and shall, with Major Beake, and some others that I
judge godly, consider further of them."[113]
[Sidenote: _Scotland._]
Other letters of this period, preserved in Thurloe's collection,
present some striking phases of ecclesiastical affairs and religious
life in Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.
Scotland was still agitated by disputes between the Resolutionists--who
had admitted malignants to command and to office, upon their submission
to mock discipline--and the Remonstrators, who adhered to their
decision of separating from all who were not faithful to the Covenant.
Lord Broghill ruled in Scotland as Cromwell's Lieutenant, and laboured
hard to bring contending factions into a state of obedience. The
absence in the North of any attempt to establish religious uniformity
is remarkable. Doctrinal and ecclesiastical peculiarities were largely
tolerated, so long as people would live quietly under the Protector's
rule. But it was otherwise when they were found guilty of political
opposition. His Lordship informs Secretary Thurloe (September the
15th, 1655) of the Remonstrators' Covenant--"wherein they say they
do not meddle with any thing of a civil concernment, but only to
strengthen themselves in matters of faith and doctrine, in these times
of defection and backsliding."[114] But his information, he adds,
was not very clear--and he had resolved, if he found the movement of
ill tendency, he would put a stop to it. Lord Broghill had long and
tedious conferences with the Edinburgh ministers, when he expressed
his determination to countenance those most who most deserved it
by peaceable submission.[115] At the same time he endeavoured to
reconcile the contending factions, and to get the Remonstrators, whom
he continued to call "the honester men," to fall in with an ordinance
of the Protector "for admitting only of deserving men into the
ministry." "Get good and holy men into your pulpits, without looking
so closely into their minor peculiarities of opinion and usage," was
the advice which Cromwell gave to people on both sides the Tweed; but
on both sides the Tweed there were men who disliked all advice of that
charitable nature. Conference followed conference, and at last Broghill
informs Thurloe (November the 27th), "the meeting of our ministers
for a reconciliation is grown hopeless."[116] It may be added, that
from another of his letters (April the 15th, 1656) we learn the stern
bearing of the Governor in Scotland towards Roman Catholics, for he
speaks of a proclamation "which makes it death for any priest to be
found in this nation after the next lord's Day; which possibly may have
blown away most birds of that feather."[117]
[Sidenote: _Wales._]
Wales occasioned much trouble. Its spiritual destitution in 1649
had occasioned "An Act for the better propagation and preaching
of the Gospel" in the principality, and for redress of certain
grievances.[118] To remedy the consequences of long neglect and
clerical immorality, Commissioners were appointed to eject scandalous
ministers and schoolmasters, and to induct in their room such as were
considered godly men. Perhaps this measure has provoked more criticism
than any other of the kind. Impeachments have been laboriously drawn
up on the one side, and as laboriously answered on the other. We shall
not enter on that discussion. Our purpose is simply to indicate what
information, as to the religious condition of Wales, is afforded by
the correspondence of the Major-Generals. One thing is certain, that,
whatever may have been beneficially effected by the Commissioners,
Wales remained in a state of melancholy destitution when Major-General
Berry thus wrote to Secretary Thurloe, from Wrexham, (December the
21st, 1655)--"Here are very few good ministers or schoolmasters." "The
ejected and sequestered ministers and schoolmasters are become like
the branch of an unfruitful vine; man cannot make a pin of it to hang
a garment on, and they are in a sad condition. One very good school at
Ruthin will be dispersed by his Highness's proclamation, and I hear
there are many vacancies that want ministers in Anglesea. Methinks
Doctor Owen might find some way to supply this defect."[119]
[Sidenote: 1655.]
In the February following, the same writer states that one great evil
which he found, and which he knew not how to remedy, was the want of
able preachers; so that if some effectual course were not speedily
taken, some of the people would become heathens. Brecon--the town
where he was staying at the time--had no preacher near it, and the
people were sinking into a state of careless contentment without any
religion whatever. To this fact of continued spiritual destitution
must be added another.[120] Wales lay torn in pieces by the political
differences of religious people. The Fifth Monarchists, amongst whom
Vavasour Powell played so conspicuous a part, were loud in their
complaints of "wickedness in high places." They drew up a paper,
signed by above 300 names, which was found in the pocket of one
Chapman, imprisoned in the Tower of London. The Lieutenant forwarded
the document to Secretary Thurloe, who has printed it in his huge
collection.[121] It is a curious production, containing, first, an
appeal to Cromwell to peruse and weigh it, and not harden his neck
against the truth; and then a second part, called "a word for God,"
which forms the burden of the testimony introduced. After referring
to particular duties in former days--such as witnessing against the
Prayer Book, the cross in baptism, and the like--the authors proceeded
to deliver their souls. _First_, they said that this nation resembled
Israel after its deliverance from Egypt. _Secondly_, that the good
old cause was laid aside and lost. _Thirdly_, that the Government
had been unwarrantably changed. _Fourthly_, that as the fruit of
this forbidden tree, many of the choice servants of God (rebellious
Fifth Monarchy-men) were imprisoned without knowing their accusers.
_Fifthly_, that heavy taxation continued. _Sixthly_, that under the
Protectorate horrible impieties, injustice, and oppression continued
to abound "from the head to the tail," witness (they remarked) the
receiving of honours, profits, customs, benefits, tenths, and first
fruits formerly paid to the Crown: _Seventhly_, that the expedition
to Hispaniola had incurred the loss of much blood and treasure--and,
_lastly_, that the existing Government was not of God's approbation.
Here, beyond all question, a flag of revolt is seen in preparation, and
no wonder Cromwell did what he could to prevent its being unfurled.
Another paper appeared on the opposite side signed by double the
number, including most if not all the Independents of Wales.
[Sidenote: _Ireland._]
The sparks of disaffection thus struck out, flew far and wide, and
soon lighted on combustible materials in the sister island. We learn
from Thurloe that the inflammatory manifesto just described, on
reaching the Irish people, found a favourable reception. "It was
greatly hugged by some." On the 14th of December, 1655, Edward Wale
of Waterford, writing to Dr. Harrison, told him that he heard strange
things of the Anabaptists, to the grief of Lord Henry Cromwell. He
marvelled what these people would have. His Lordship's demeanour had
been such everywhere since his coming, that the godly in general
spoke well of him. But the Anabaptists were not pleased. Their pride
and uncharitableness would ere long bring them low. He hoped that
their schisms, the madness of the Quakers, and the cruelties and
insolence of the Roman beast, together with differences and confusions
everywhere, would make every one ply the petition more and more,
"Thy kingdom come." Henry Cromwell himself dwelt even passionately
upon this subject. He asked Thurloe--Could his Highness believe that
the Anabaptists, and especially those in Ireland, were his faithful
friends, and that when others deserted, they would stand by him? Let
sober people be asked, and they would tell, that when others were for
owning his Highness, these men did openly deny him, and not only so,
but reproached and reviled those who acted differently.[122]
[Sidenote: 1655.]
But far worse, and much more troublesome to the Major-Generals, the
Lord Protector, and all good Protestants, were the papistical lawyers
and priests--therefore the first were summarily disposed of, and the
second closely watched, with a view to more serious punishment. Worsley
informed Thurloe of security being taken that all attorneys who were
Papists, and had been in arms against the Parliament or the present
Government, should act no more in their legal capacity.[123] A report,
entitled a "Brief Account of what is observed concerning the Irish,"
states that there had been a more than ordinary confluence of priests,
filling the minds of the discontented Irish with expectations of a
change;--that a general and private fast had been held--the same thing
having been observed before the late rebellion;--that private meetings
of the gentry were also more common than formerly; that Bishop O'Dwyer,
and a friar named Bonaventure, in Laghlyn, were appointed to receive
intelligence from abroad, and to disperse it, as orderly as possible,
according to the direction they received; that, besides, there were two
priests, who passed by turns from London to Dublin, and thence sent
papers to O'Dwyer and Bonaventure; that having received from them fresh
dispatches, they returned to England, and that Bonaventure was now gone
into Tipperary, with a letter written in cipher, brought by one of
these priests.[124]
Perhaps in these references to Thurloe we have drawn too largely on
the reader's patience, but in the tangled thicket of his immense
collection of letters, much fruit may be picked out from amidst thorns
and briars, by the historian who searches for illustrations of affairs
under Cromwell's Major-Generals. Not that anybody can expect to find
in their reports an accurate picture of what Catholics, Episcopalians,
Presbyterians, or Anabaptists really were; for it is evident these
old soldiers were full of prejudice, and must have been oft-times
misinformed; but the correspondence clearly reflects the sentiments of
those in power with reference to that portion of the English people
which gave them so much trouble. We are not able from these letters
to determine exactly what was the character of the accused, or what
was the treatment they deserved; but we are able to see how they were
judged and treated by this class of rulers, who combined in one and
the same person the soldier, the magistrate, and the ecclesiastical
overseer.
[Sidenote: _Sir Harry Vane._]
Vane, after Cromwell's usurpation of absolute dictatorship, returned to
Raby Castle, in the county of Durham--whose old grey towers, rich in
Neville memories, still lift up their heads, full of feudal grandeur
and picturesque beauty, among the trees of a lordly park, well stocked
with deer. There, in rooms far different from the present modernized
apartments, this philosophical statesman reflected upon what was going
on in England under the administration of Major-Generals, and in some
quiet chamber wrote his "Retired Man's Meditations." In the same
abode also--when in March, 1656, Cromwell commanded a general fast,
that the people might apply themselves to the Lord, to discover the
Achan who had so long obstructed the settlement of these distracted
kingdoms--Vane wrote his "Healing Question," in which he brings out
his doctrine of religious liberty more luminously perhaps than he had
ever done before. As it illustrates the progress of opinion in that
subject, and is a clearer statement of principles which in our day are
widely adopted, than can be found in any other book published during
the Protectorate, we cannot resist the temptation to transfer to these
pages the following extract:--
"Unto this freedom the nations of the world have right and title by the
purchase of Christ's blood, who by virtue of His death and resurrection
is become the sole Lord and Ruler in and over the conscience; for to
this end Christ died, rose and revived, that He might be Lord both of
the dead and of the living, and that every one might give an account of
himself, in all matters of God's worship, unto God and Christ alone, as
their own Master, unto whom they stand or fall in judgment, and are not
in these things to be oppressed or brought before the judgment-seats
of men. For why shouldest thou set at naught thy brother in matters of
his faith and conscience, and herein intrude into the proper office
of Christ, since we are all to stand at the judgment-seat of Christ,
whether governors or governed, and by His decision only are capable of
being declared with certainty to be in the right or in the wrong?
[Sidenote: _Sufferings of Vane._]
"By virtue, then, of this supreme law, sealed and confirmed in the
blood of Christ unto all men (whose souls He challenges a propriety
in, to bring under His inward rule in the service and worship of God),
it is that all magistrates are to fear and forbear intermeddling
with giving rule or imposing in those matters. They are to content
themselves with what is plain in their commission, as ordained of God
to be His ministers unto men for good, whilst they approve themselves
the doers of that which is good in the sight of men, and whereof
earthly and worldly judicatures are capable to make a clear and perfect
judgment; in which case the magistrate is to be for praise and
protection to them. In like manner he is to be a minister of terror
and revenge to those that do evil in matters of outward practice,
converse, and dealings in the things of this life between man and man,
for the cause whereof the judicatures of men are appointed and set up.
But to exceed these limits, as it is not safe nor warrantable for the
magistrate (in that He who is higher than the highest, regards, and
will shew Himself displeased at it), so neither is it good for the
people, who hereby are nourished up in a biting, devouring, wrathful
spirit one against another, and are found transgressors of that royal
law which forbids us to do that unto another, which we would not have
them do unto us, were we in their condition.
"This freedom, then, is of high concern to be had and enjoy, as well
for the magistrates sake as for the peoples common good; and it
consists, as hath been said, in the magistrates forbearing to put forth
the power of rule and coercion in things that God hath exempted out of
his commission. So that all care requisite for the peoples obtaining
this may be exercised with great ease, if it be taken in its proper
season; and that this restraint be laid upon the supreme power before
it be erected as a fundamental constitution among others, upon which
the free consent of the people is given, to have the persons brought
into the exercise of supreme authority over them, and on their behalf;
and if besides, as a further confirmation hereunto, it be acknowledged
the voluntary act of the ruling power, when once brought into a
capacity of acting legislatively, that herein they are bound up, and
judge it their duty so to be (both in reference to God, the institutor
of magistracy, and in reference to the whole body by whom they are
entrusted), this great blessing will hereby be so well provided for
that we shall have no cause to fear, as it may be ordered.
[Sidenote: 1655.]
"By this means a great part of the outward exercise of anti-Christian
tyranny and bondage will be plucked up by the very roots; which,
till some such course be held in it, will be always apt to renew and
sprout out afresh, under some new form or refined appearances, as by
late years' experience we have been taught. For since the fall of the
Bishops and persecuting Presbyteries, the same spirit is apt to rise in
the next sort of clergy, that can get the ear of the magistrate, and
pretend to the keeping and ruling of the conscience of the governors;
although this spirit and practice hath been all along decried by
the faithful adherents to this cause as a most sore oppression, and
insufferable yoke of bondage most unrighteously kept up over the
consciences of the people, and therefore judged by them most needful
to be taken out of the way; and in this matter the present governors
have been willing very eminently to give their testimony in their
public declarations, however in practice there is much of grievance yet
found among us, though more, in probability, from the officiousness of
subordinate ministers, than any clear purpose or design of the chief in
power."[125]
In such teaching the rights of conscience are planted on their proper
ground. No one, after reading Vane's words, can fail to see the truth
and justice of the lines addressed to him by John Milton:
"Besides, to know
Both spiritual power and civil, what each means,
What severs each, thou hast learn'd, which few have done;
The bounds of either sword to thee we owe:
Therefore on thy firm hand Religion leans
In peace, and reckons thee her eldest son."
[Sidenote: _Suffering Vane._]
But views of religious liberty, worthy the admiration of posterity,
were coupled in Vane's mind with an impracticable and un-English
republican theory, which stripped them of the authority with which
otherwise they might have been clothed. It was unfortunate for the
interests of freedom that, in an age when it struggled to establish its
sway, there were too often in alliance with its advocacy enthusiastic
opinions or fanatical practices, impairing it at the time, and
affording pretexts for opposing it in the next generation.
Vane acted with characteristic honesty and candour in sending privately
to Cromwell a copy of the "Healing Question," containing the sentences
we have quoted, before he proceeded to publish what he had written.
Perhaps it never reached the Protector's hands. Be that as it might,
notwithstanding the moderate tone of the pamphlet--sufficient, one
would have thought, to protect the author against any unpleasant
interference from the Government--some of the political passages which
the pamphlet contained greatly displeased the Protector; a displeasure
which was much increased by another violent publication, attributed
to Vane's pen, but not with sufficient reason. The republican
statesman was summoned before the Council. The Council required him
to give a bond for £5,000 that he would not disturb the peace of the
Commonwealth, in default whereof he should stand committed. He refused
to give the bond, and to the great discredit of both Cromwell and his
Council, they sent their honest brother patriot to prison.
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