edged and received most affectionately by the rose up and said that he could not, in conscience agree to deprive him for that cause

edged and received most affectionately by the whole Church. That Almighty God would prosper the ministry of this our reverend brother among the English, and attend it with great success, is our most earnest prayer, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

rose up and said that he could not, in conscience, agree to deprive him for that cause only; for (says he) it will be ill taken by all the godly and learned, both at home and abroad, that we should allow of the popish massing priests in our ministry, and disallow of ministers made in a Reformed Church; whereupon the commission was adjourned sine die. These proceedings of the archbishop against the dean were invidious, and lost him his esteem both in city and country. The calling his ordination in question was ex

"Given at Antwerp, May 14, 1578, and signed "JOANNES TAFFINUS, V.D.M., "LOGELERIUS VILERIUS, V.D.M., "JOANNES HOCHELEUS, V.D.M." Pilkington, late bishop of Durham, was succeeded by Dr. Barnes, bishop of Carlisle, a prel-pressly contrary to the statute 13 Eliz., by which, ate of severer principles than his predecessor; says Mr. Strype, the ordination of foreign Rewho, having in vain attempted to reduce the formed Churches was declared valid; and those clergy of his diocess to an absolute conformity, that had no other orders were made of like cacomplained to his metropolitan of the lax gov-pacity with others, to enjoy any place of minisernment of his predecessor, and of the numbers try within England. of Nonconformists whom he could not reduce to

the established orders of the Church. Upon this, Sandys, the new archbishop of York, resolved to visit his whole province, and to begin with Durham, where Dean Whittingham was the principal man under the bishop; he was a divine of great learning, and of long standing in the Church, but not ordained according to the form of the English service-book. The accusation against him was branched out into thirty-five articles and forty-nine interrogatories, the chief whereof was his Geneva ordination. The dean, instead of answering the charge, stood by the rights of the Church of Durham, and denied the archbishop's power of visitation, upon which his grace was pleased to excommunicate him; but Whitting ham appealed to the queen, who directed a commission to the archbishop, to the lord-president of the council in the north, and to the Dean of York, to hear and determine the validity of his ordination, and to inquire into the other misdemeanors contained in the articles. The president of the north was a favourer of the Puritans, and Dr. Hutton, dean of York, was of Whittingham's principles, and boldly averred "that the dean was ordained in a better sort than even the archbishop himself;" so that the commission came to nothing. But Sandys, vexed at the disappointment, and at the calling in question his right of visitation, obtained another commission directed to himself, the Bishop of Durham, the lord-president, the chancellor of the diocess, and some others whom he could depend upon, to visit the Church of Durham. The chief design was to deprive Whittingham as a layman; when the dean appeared before the commissioners, he produced a certificate under the hands of eight persons, for the manner of his ordination, in these words: It pleased God, by the suffrages of the whole congregation [at Geneva], orderly to choose Mr. W. Whittingham unto the office of preaching the Word of God and ministering the sacraments; and he was admitted minister, and so published, with such other ceremonies as here are used and accustomed." It was objected, that here was no mention of a bishop or superintendent, nor of any external solemnities, nor so much as of imposition of hands. The dean replied, there was mention in general of the ceremonies of that church, and he was able to prove his vocation to be the same that all the ministers of

Geneva had; upon which the lord-president

✦ Strype's Annals, vol. ii., p. 481. ↑ Ibid., p. 523. VOL. I.-T.

But the death of Mr. Whittingham, which happened about six months after, put an end to

this and all his other troubles. He was born in

the city of Chester, 1524, and educated in Brazennose College, Oxon; he was afterward translated to Christ Church, when it was founded by King Henry VIII., being reckoned one of the best scholars in the university; in the year 1550 he travelled into France, Germany, and Italy, and returned about the latter end of King Edward VI. In the reign of Queen Mary he was with the exiles at Frankfort, and upon the division there, went with part of the congregation to Geneva, and became their minister. He had a great share in translating the Geneva Bible, and the Psalms in metre, as appears by the first letter of his name [W] over many of them. Upon his return home he was preferred to the deanery of Durham, 1563, by the interest of the Earl of Leicester, where he spent the remainder of his life. He did good service, says the Oxford historian,* against the popish rebels in the north, and in repelling the Archbishop of York from visiting the Church of Durham; but he was at best but a lukewarm Conformist, an enemy to the habits, and a promoter of the Geneva doctrine and discipline. However, he was a truly pious and religious man, an excellent preacher, and an ornament to religion. He died while the cause of his deprivation, for not being ordained according to the rites of the English Church, was depending, June 10, 1579, in the sixty-fifth year of his age.t

We have mentioned the Bishop of Norwich's severity in his primary visitation; his lordship went on still in the same method, not without some marks of unfair designs ;‡ for the incumbent of Sprowton being suspected to be of the Family of Love, his lordship deprived him, and immediately begged the living for his son-inlaw, Mr. Maplesdon, who was already archdeacon of Suffolk. He showed no mercy to his suspended clergy, though they offered to subscribe as far as the laws of the realm required. At length they petitioned their metropolitan, Grindal, who, though in disgrace, licensed them to preach throughout the whole diocess of Norwich, durante bene placito, provided they did not preach against the established orders of the

* Ath. Ox., vol. i., p. 154.

+ Some of his versions are still used in the Church. The 119th Psalm is one of them.-Wood's Athenæ, Those which are from his pen have W. W. annexed. vol. i., p. 62, 36, 153.-C.

Strype's Ann., vol. ii., p. 284. ý MS., p. 286.

Church, nor move contentions about ceremonies; | ministers, whereof there be no small number. but still they were deprived of their livings.

There are in this city a great number of churches, The Reverend Mr. Lawrence, an admired but the one half of them at the least are utterpreacher, and incumbent of a parish in Suffolk, ly unfurnished of preaching ministers, and are was suspended by the same bishop for not com- pestered with candlesticks not of gold, but of plying with the rites and ceremonies of the clay, unworthy to have the Lord's light set in Church. Mr. Calthorp, a gentleman of quality them, with watchmen that have no eyes, and in the county, applied to the lord-treasurer in clouds that have no water; in the other half, his behalf; and the treasurer wrote to the bish- partly by means of non-residents, which are op requesting him to take off his sequestration; very many, partly through the poverty of many but his lordship replied, that what he had done meanly qualified, there is scarcely the tenth man was by virtue of the queen's letter to him, re- that makes conscience to wait upon his charge, quiring him to allow of no ministers but such whereby the Lord's Sabbath is ofttimes wholly as were perfectly conformable. Mr. Calthorp | neglected, and for the most part miserably replied, and urged the great want the Church mangled; ignorance increaseth, and wickedness had of such good men as Mr. Lawrence, for comes upon us like an armed man. As sheep, whose fitness for this work he would undertake therefore, going astray, we humbly, on our knees, the chief gentlemen of credit in the county beseech this honourable assembly, in the bowels should certify; but his sequestration was still and blood of Jesus Christ, to become humble continued. The like severities were used in suiters to her majesty, that we may have guides; most other diocesses. as hungry men bound to abide by our empty rackstaves, we do beg of you to be means that the bread of life may be brought home to us; that the sower may come into the fallow ground; that the pipes of water may be brought into our assemblies; that there may be food and refreshing for us, our poor wives, and forlorn children: so shall the Lord have his due honour; you shall discharge good duty to her majesty; many languishing souls shall be comforted; atheism and heresy banished; her majesty have more faithful subjects, and you more hearty prayers for your prosperity in this life, and full happiness in the life to come, through Jesus Christ our alone Saviour. Amen."*

The Bishop of Londont came not behind the chief of his brethren the bishops, in his persecuting zeal against the Puritans; he gave out orders for apparitors and other officers to go from church to church, in time of Divine service, to observe the conformity of the minister, and to make report to her majesty's commissioners. As this prelate had no compassion in his nature, he had little or no regard to the laws of his country, or the cries of the people after the Word of God.‡

Great was the scarcity of preachers about England at this time; in the large and populous town of Northampton there was not one, nor had been for a considerable time, though the people applied to the bishop of the diocess by most humble supplication for the bread of life. In the county of Cornwall there were one hundred and forty clergymen, not one of which was capable of preaching a sermon, and most of them were pluralists and non-residents. Even the city of London was in a lamentable case, as appears by their petition to the Parliament which met this winter, in which are these words: "May it please you, therefore, for the tender mercies of God, to understand the woful estate of many thousands of souls dwelling in deep darkness, and in the shadow of death, in this famous and populous city of London; a place, in respect to others, accounted as the morning star, or, rather, as the sun in its brightness, because of the Gospel, supposed to shine gloriously and abundantly in the same; but being near looked into, will be found sorely eclipsed and darkened through the dim cloud of unlearned

Strype's Ann., p. 285.

This Bishop Warburton censures as "an untair charge which runs through the History. The exacting conformity of the ministry of any church by the governors of that church is no persecution." This is a strange sentiment to come from the pen of a Protestant prelate. There was no persecution, then, in the reign of Queen Mary. It was no perse cution when the Jewish sanhedrim agreed "that, if any man did confess that Jesus was the Christ, he should be put out of the synagogue." It was no persecution when the Parliament imposed the Scots Covenant. En.

He declared that he would surely and severely punish those who would not comply with the Act of Uniformity, or "I will lie," said he, "in the dust for it."-Strype.-ED.

In the supplication of the people of Cornwall, it is said, "We are above the number of fourscore and ten thousand souls, which, for the want of the Word of God, are in extreme misery and ready to perish, and this neither for want of maintenance nor place; for besides the impropriations in our shire, we allow yearly above £9200, and have one hundred and sixty churches, the greatest part of which are supplied by men who are guilty of the grossest sins; some fornicators, some adulterers, some felons, bearing the marks in their hands for the said offence; some drunkards, gamesters on the Sabbath-day, &c. We have many nonresidents who preach but once a quarter, so that, between meal and meal, the silly sheep may starve. We have some ministers who labour painfully and faithfully in the Lord's husbandry; but these men are not suffered to attend their callings, because the mouths of papists, infidels, and filthy livers are open against them, and the ears of those who are called lords over them, are sooner open to their accusations, though it be but for ceremonies, than to the others' answers. Nor is it safe for us to go and hear them; for, though our own fountains are dried up, yet, if we seek for the waters of life elsewhere, we are cited into the spiritual courts, reviled, and threatened with excommunication. Therefore, from far we come, beseeching this honourable house to dispossess these dumb dogs and ravenous wolves, and appoint us faithful ministers, who may peaceably preach the Word of God, and not be disquieted by every apparitor, registrar, official, commissioner, chancellor, &c., upon every light occasion—"