CHAP. CHAPTER XXIV. Ecclesiastical Administration of Laud.-Book of Sports.Prosecution and Punishment of Prynne, Burton, and Bastwick. Opposition of Williams, Bishop of Lincoln, to the Injunctions of Laud. His Suspension and Imprisonment.Attempts of Laud to aggrandise the Church.-Liturgy attempted to be introduced into Scotland.-Consequent Tumults.-Solemn League and Covenant.-Charles raises an Army to subdue the Covenanters.-Pacification of Berwick. -Scottish Parliament sanctions the Abolition of Episcopacy. -Charles resolves on a second Expedition against the Scots. -A Parliament called and dissolved after sitting three Weeks. Convocation prolongs its Sittings.-Canons of 1640.-Subsidy granted by the Clergy for the Scottish War. --Disastrous issue of the second Expedition.-Charles is obliged to call the Long Parliament. Of that period which comprises the ecclesiastical administration of Laud, the chief part of the narrative must relate to its difficulties, its troubles, and its errors yet to relieve the painful recital, let it be preceded by the reflection that, during this period, the church of England enjoyed a temporary tranquillity, and a partial repose. Let it not be forgotten, that the system of discipline established by Laud received the approbation and support of some of her brightest ornaments, who lived and died in the firm belief that her communion was the purest, because it approached nearest to primitive Christianity. Let it be told that Laud, in that part of discipline which related to government, maintained the principles of Ban croft, and in that which related to ceremonies, he formed himself on the model of Andrews. The commendations of his contemporaries on his "great wisdom," and his zeal in the promotion of Christianity, are abundant and heartfelt, and these contemporaries were as far removed from the church of Rome, as from the discipline of Geneva; yet they were as scrupulously attached to the peculiar discipline of the English church as Laud himself. The apophthegms of sir Henry Wootton †, and the dissertations of Joseph Mede, are direct evidences that it is possible to find and preserve a middle course between these extremes. In the life of Ferrar may be found ascetic regularity without monastic rule or vow; in the life of Herbert may be found pastoral vigilance without spiritual domination. All these ornaments of their Christian profession were trained in the Laudian school; all were ready to acknowledge his beneficial labours in supporting the discipline of the church of England. The first principle which Laud maintained in spite of calumny and misrepresentation was, that the church of Rome is a true church. Yet in this he only agreed with many divines not so hostile to puritanism as himself. Hall, not less than Laud, could see the advantage which a denial of this prin * Sir H. Wootton's last will. To the trite question, "Where was your religion before Luther?" Sir Henry's answer was, 66 My religion was to be found then, where yours is not to be found now, in the written word of God." Life by Isaac Walton. There is another maxim which ought to be quoted: "Take heed of thinking the farther you go from the church of Rome, the nearer you are to God." Ibid. A. D. Charles I. XXIV. CHAP. ciple must give to the Romanists, and he could distinguish between the corruptions and the visibility of the church of Rome. Laud might go farther, and might devoutly wish a union between the two churches; but it was not for the victorious antagonist of Fisher to wish this union, by conceding a single protestant doctrine. Another principle maintained by Laud was, that the church of England had a distinct character from all foreign protestant churches; that being neither Lutheran nor Calvinistic, she was hated by the Calvinists, and not loved by the Lutherans. He denied that theirs was the religion of the English church; and while they had his charity and his prayers, he refused to them the right hand of fellowship. By those who acquit Laud of any sinister views of assimilating the English church to that of Rome; and by those who agree with him in maintaining a distinct character in the church of England from other protestant churches; it must be lamented that his assertion of these two principles was frequently offensive in the manner, and imprudent in the degree. His antipathy to puritanism often led him into errors, which his enemies sincerely believed to originate in an affection for popery. An illustrative fact occurred soon after his elevation to the primacy. The morality of the Lord's day, or as it was improperly termed the Sabbath, had been a subject of controversy in the preceding reign, and, after a temporary cessation, was now renewed with increased violence. In the reign of James the puritans exalted the sanctity of the Sabbath to the rank of any moral duty*; and in proportion as the A. D. Sabbath was raised, the other festivals and fasts, appointed by the church, were depressed. The Charles I. puritans gradually introduced a neglect of Lent, of the Ember days, and all acts of humiliation were reduced to occasional fasts. The Jesuits and Papists persuaded the people that the reformed religion was incompatible with Christian liberty, and that it was no better than Judaism. To preserve the people from popery and fana- 1618. ticism, James published a "book of sports," accom- May 24. panied by a declaration that, after service, the people should be permitted to enjoy those lawful recreations which were therein specified. This declaration was ordered to be read in the parish churches; but Abbot actually prohibited it from being read at Croydon, and it was at length suffered to sleep in silence. By the advice of Laud, Charles was induced to republish his father's declaration, at a time the most unseasonable, when the Romish religion received an improper countenance from the government. The puritans were roused to indignation by this declaration, and the sober part of the nation was filled with sorrow. It was rendered more obnoxious by a peremptory injunction, that it should be read in all parish churches. Some ministers, after reading it, immediately read to * Some were so fanatical as to utter the following paradoxes: "It is as great a sin to do any servile work on the Lord's day, as to kill a man." "To make a feast, or a wedding dinner on a Sunday, is as sinful as for a father to kill his child." "To ring more than one bell on a Sunday, is as great a sin as to commit murder." Heylin's History of Presbytery. b. 10. 66 1635. XXIV. CHAP. their congregations the fourth commandment, adding, "this is the law of God, that is the law of man." Some incumbents consigned the unwelcome office to their curates, while others refused compliance on any terms. The moderation of Laud in his own diocese was remarkable, since he suspended only three clergymen for refusing to read the declaration, and these offenders had been guilty of other irregularities; but his lenity was imputed by his adversaries, not to charity, but to policy. The court, at the head of which was a strong Romish party, encouraged these recreations by its example; and in its observance of the Lord's day, England assimilated herself to the practice of Roman catholic countries. Laud himself, as much from a wish to counteract the sullenness and austerity of the puritans, as from any love of the amusement, frequently made the game of bowls his Sunday recreation in the garden at Lambeth. The levity and voluptuousness of the court, and the encouragement given by some of the prelates to its licentiousness, induced Prynne to write his Histriomastix. Its author was a student of the law, and a member of Lincoln's-inn, a man of morose countenance, of mortified habits, and of severe application to study. His reading was extensive, and his writings were proportionably voluminous*; but his style was heavy, and the arrangement of his matter confused. His works, therefore, were read by few, though they wanted * His works amounted to forty volumes, in folio and quarto. The Histriomastix is a thick quarto, containing one thousand and six pages. Wood's Athen. Oxoniens, and Granger's Biog. Hist. |