“I have not adopted the political principles of indefeasible
and hereditary right into my religion, and make these an
essential part of it; and that none can become members of the
Church to which I belong, that are not enemies to the present
government. I do hereby declare that the same is utterly false.
I adopt no political principles into my religion but what are
expressed in our own Common Prayer Book, entitled, “A Compleat
Collection of Devotions.”
Much recrimination followed. It was broadly stated in _Whitworth’s
Magazine_, and absolutely denied in the _Chester Courant_, that, whilst
the Rebels were at Manchester, Dr. Deacon “had the very distinguished
honour paid him of being escorted by a file of musqueteers to the
Pretender’s lodgings;” and one of Whitworth’s poetasters favoured the
public with the following:—
“The de’il has set these heads to view,
And put them upon poles;
Poor de’il, ’twas all that he could do,
When God had ta’en their souls.”
Further quotations would be useless and wearisome. Many of the poetical
scraps strongly resemble the poetry of Dr. Byrom, an undoubted Jacobite
and a friend of Clayton. His three poems,—“A Dialogue, occasioned by the
March of the Highlanders into Lancashire, in the Year 1745”; “A Dialogue
about compelling a Person to take the Oaths to the Government”; and “A
Genuine Dialogue, between a Gentlewoman at Derby and her Maid, in the
beginning of December, 1745,” are ample proofs of his sympathy with the
non-jurors, and of his ardent attachment to the Stuarts; and, though
it might be rash to assert with positiveness that he was actually the
author of the Jacobite versicles in the _Chester Courant_, it is not
unwarrantable to affirm that they bear a striking similitude to his
well-known lines:—
“God bless the King, and bless the Faith’s Defender!
God bless—no harm in blessing—the Pretender!
But who Pretender is, and who is King,
Why, bless us all, that’s quite another thing.”
Of Clayton’s participation in this Jacobinical controversy there can
be little doubt. In fact, he is said to have assisted in procuring
a printing press for Joseph Harrop, who had been one of Whitworth’s
apprentices. Harrop began the publication of a paper, in opposition to
that of his late master, and to that paper Clayton was an important
contributor.[44] Clayton’s Jacobite leanings were notorious. In
_Whitworth’s Magazine_, for November 20, 1746, he was publicly rebuked,
because one of his senior scholars had recently affronted a lady at the
close of public service in the church by shouting, “Down with the Rump;”
an affront, however, which was “very pardonable in the scholar, since
that was a health at the master’s table.”
Clayton’s praying for the Pretender, in the public streets of Salford,
has been already mentioned. It is also said, by one who knew him
personally,[45] that he visited Prince Charles at the Palace Inn, paid
him profound respect, and was regarded as a sort of royal chaplain.
Wheeler, in his “History of Manchester,” asserts that when the government
sent to Manchester to search for those who had shown disloyalty to
the House of Brunswick, Clayton absconded. Be that as it may, he was
placed under suspension by his bishop, and was subjected to the painful
penalty of a long-continued silence in the church.[46] On resuming
his ministerial duties, after his inhibition was ended, he displayed
considerable keenness, and, perhaps, some degree of irreverence in the
selection of his text. The Bishop of Chester, having commanded him to
preach before him, the bold Jacobite, who had so long been silent, but
was now again allowed to speak, somewhat startled both the bishop and the
congregation by reading as his text, “I became dumb, and opened not my
mouth, for Thou didst it.”[47]
There can be no question of the purity of Clayton’s motives, but his
openly avowed adherence to the cause of the Pretender involved him in
serious troubles. To say nothing of his ministerial suspension, he was,
for years afterwards, the target of his townsmen’s malice. Some hated
him, but others loved him; and the two united turned his life into a
turmoil. Hence the following, taken from a work entitled, “Jacobite and
Non-Juring Principles freely examined,” and published, in Manchester,
against Dr. Deacon, by J. Owen, in 1748. Speaking of Clayton, Owen asks:—
“If you are the loyal people you represent yourselves to be,
whence happens it that there has been such a flush of joy,
discovered by your friends, for a _little, seditious priest_,
by virtue of the Act of Indemnity, escaping that justice which
was upon the _wing_ to pursue him? Whence was it that the bells
rang on the occasion for days together? Was it not by way of
grateful _Te Deum_, for the great and undeserved deliverance?
Whence was it that this,—shall I call him _Reverend_ Teacher of
_Babes_,—has such numbers of his young _fry_, as I am informed
he has, clad in the livery of rebellion? Is it not to convince
the world that there is no heresy in Scotch plaid, when wore
only as a badge of Romish superstition? It must be so, unless
you can believe,—and believe it who can!—that plaid, politics,
and popery are this gentleman’s aversion.”
Clayton’s school has just been mentioned,—a school, perhaps, commenced
in consequence of his clerical suspension.[48] His residence was in
Greengate, Salford, and the present well-known Methodist Chapel, in
Gravel Lane, stands on what was once his garden. Here he ably conducted
his classical academy, not a few of his pupils becoming graduates at the
Oxford University. Here he kept a favourite monkey which came to a cruel
and untimely end; for his pupils, either in wanton mischief or temporary
spite, seized poor Pug, and fastened him to a stake in the vicinity of
a hive of bees; and then so exasperated the apiarian insects, that the
excited and miserable monkey was literally stung to death. At Kersall
Cell, the seat of the Byrom family at Manchester, there is a large
original oil-painting representing the interior of Clayton’s School in
Salford, and a full-length portrait of Clayton himself, dressed in a blue
velvet gown, and surrounded by his scholars.
Little more remains to be said of this sincere and earnest high
church clergyman. He was stiff in his churchmanship, but was greatly
respected. His Jacobite inclinations might be foolish, but they were
not wicked, and were not peculiar to himself. Many of the most learned
and pious and useful men then existing entertained the same sentiments
and feelings. They were doubtless mistaken; but they were honest, and
merited forbearance more than punishment. It is said that, in after
years, Mr. Clayton’s opinions were greatly modified; and that, in fact,
he became a Hanoverian. Perhaps there is no absolute proof of such a
politico-religious change; but a caricature (now extremely scarce) was
published, in which he was represented as standing on a pedestal, with
two faces looking in opposite directions; on his breast was inscribed,
“The art of trimming;” in his left hand was a scroll with “God bless King
James III.” upon it; and in his right another, bearing the inscription
of “Charles III.” The remainder of the picture consisted of a view of
Manchester Old Church, the initials of Prince Charles, sundry portraits,
a box and dice, a schoolmaster’s birchen rod, a broken punch-bowl, a dog
snatching at a shadow, and finally two fighting cats. At the foot of the
engraving was written:—
“Lye on! while my revenge shall be
To speak the very truth of thee.”
For twenty years, Clayton was chaplain of the Collegiate Church of
Manchester; and, in 1760, was elected a fellow thereof, in the place
of Mr. Crouchley, deceased.[49] Nine years afterwards, in 1769, he
preached the sermon at the consecration of St. John’s Church, Manchester,
founded by Edward Byrom, Esq., the son of his warmly attached friend,
Dr. Byrom. He died September 25, 1773. His funeral sermon was preached
by his intimate friend, the Rev. Thomas Aynscough, M.A., from the words,
“We took sweet counsel together, and walked unto the house of God in
company.” His old pupils erected a monument to his memory, in the
Collegiate Church, bearing the following inscription:—
“Sacred to the Memory of the Rev. John Clayton, M.A.,
Successively Chaplain and Fellow of this Church,
Who died September 25th, 1773, Aged 64 Years.
This Monument is erected by his Scholars,
A grateful Token of their Affection and Esteem.
He had endeared himself to them
by his manly Cheerfulness, and strict Integrity,
diffusive Charity, heroic Forgiveness,
and Serenity of Temper under Disappointments;
his judicious Fidelity to guard against
the Dangers of Vice, and Follies of Ignorance,
by forming the Man, the Scholar, and the Christian,
in every Mind submitted to his Cultivation;
his ardent Zeal for true Religion;
warm Attachment to the Church of England;
and unwearied Discharge of all the Labours
of a conscientious Parish Priest;
by the uncommon Lustre of his declining Years,
wherein he bore the sharpest Agonies
of a painful and humiliating Disease,
with the Fortitude of Faith, the Resignation of Hope,
and the strong Consolation of a well-spent Life.”
This is high praise, but not unmerited,—given not by strangers, who
never saw him, but by those who knew him best. Old Manchester Methodists
used to describe him as being about five feet eight inches in stature,
somewhat portly, dignified in gait, wearing an enormous wig, always
deeply serious, a rigid disciplinarian among his scholars and choristers,
a pattern of canonical regularity in the performance of his ministerial
duties, and very venerable in appearance at the close of life.
Though a scholar and a man of considerable mental power, he seems to have
published nothing, except the Sermon already mentioned, his Jacobinical
strictures in the _Chester Courant_, and a sixpenny pamphlet, with the
following title, “Friendly Advice to the Poor; Written and Published, at
the Request of the late and present Officers of the Town of Manchester,
by John Clayton, M.A. Manchester: Printed by Joseph Harrop, opposite the
Clock End of the Exchange; for Messrs. Newton’s, Booksellers, 1755.” 47
pp.
Clayton was a faithful and fearless friend. He had no notion of using
lollipops when bitters were required. His “advice” was “friendly”; but
the opposite of fulsome. In his municipal publication, he delivers
himself in no measured terms. He writes:—
“If in any passage of the following Address, the Poor may
seem to be treated with rigour, let it not be censured as
proceeding from sourness and severity of temper; but be
considered as a proof, that the author is in earnest, and
desirous of recommending this Tract to the serious unprejudiced
consideration of his readers. He has upon all proper occasions
shown himself ready to plead the cause of the poor and needy;
and, therefore, hopes he may be considered as still walking
charitably, though he does, with all plainness of speech and
befitting Christian liberty, rebuke that spirit of laziness,
luxury, and mismanagement, which is gone out into the world,
and which particularly reigns amongst the poor of this town,
and to which, in a great measure, all their miseries are owing.”
After this exordium, follows his castigation. He reminds his readers of
the numerous charitable institutions of the town, for “lodging, clothing,
and feeding the poor; for breeding up their children in useful Christian
knowledge, and putting them out to proper trades; for helping young
people at their first setting out in the world; for maintaining and
relieving the sick and maimed; and, lastly, for succouring and supporting
the impotent and aged.” He tells them, that, the town abounds
“With such variety of manufactures, as, one would think,
might furnish every one, that is able and willing to work,
with employment and sustenance. Nay, there are many branches
of business that require so little skill or labour, as that
neither children nor old people need to be totally excluded
from their share of them; so that a numerous family,—that
common occasion of distress,—far from being a burden here,
seems rather to be a blessing to its master; for most of the
members of it, if properly managed, are able to get their
livelihood; and, by the overplus of their gains, may contribute
to maintain the impotent part of the household.”
“Many of the poor, however, refuse or neglect to help
themselves, and thereby disable their betters from effectually
helping them. They have an abject mind, which entails their
miseries upon them; a mean, sordid spirit, which prevents all
attempts of bettering their condition. They are so familiarized
to filth and rags, as renders them in a manner natural; and
have so little sense of decency, as hardly to allow a wish for
it a place in their hearts.”
Clayton acknowledges, that, there are many exceptions of “edifying
examples of industry, frugality, and good economy;” but he maintains,
that, generally speaking, his description is painfully correct. The
town swarmed with “loiterers”; and “common custom had established so
many holidays, that few of the manufacturing work-folks were closely
and regularly employed above two thirds of their time;” the result
being “that every little accident, that prevented a single week’s work,
reduced them absolutely to the state of paupers.” Besides this, “it
frequently happened, that, the week’s labour of an industrious family,
were swallowed up in a day’s debauch of the extravagant master.” Vice
is contagious, and the pestilent example of masters filled the streets
of Manchester “with idle, ragged children; who were not only losing
their time, but learning habits of gaming; which constantly produced
lying, quarrelling, profane swearing and cursing; and frequently, led to
pilfering and stealing, and every degree of wickedness and enormity.”
Added to this, while “the husband wasted his time and squandered his
substance at the alehouse, the wife was as often wasteful at the
tea-table, as the other was prodigal over his cups; for, strange as it
might appear, it was a truth that even this wretched piece of luxury,
this shameful devourer of time and money, had found its way into the
houses of the poor; and it was no unusual thing to find a miserable
family, with hardly rags to cover their nakedness, in a wretched garret,
or more loathsome cellar, fooling away a precious hour, and spending more
money over this confessedly hurtful food,” (beverage) “than would have
furnished a good meal or two of wholesome diet.” In fact, “ale, gin, and
tea mainly swallowed up that slender income, which might have been turned
to much better account, had it been laid out with the baker and the
butcher.”
Clayton adds mismanagement to his charges of idleness and luxury. There
was a want of “good housewifry,” of “frugal cookery,” and of domestic
cleanliness.