It would be impossible to write of the Church of England in Anne's reign without mentioning Dr. Sacheverell, whose two famous sermons brought about his impeachment and sentence of three years' suspension. In them he condemned Dissenters and those Churchmen who sympathised with them, lashing, with his oratory, the high ones of the land—and Godolphin especially, as was believed, under the name of 'Volpone.' Then rose the war-cry of 'High Church and Sacheverell!' which even the Queen could not avoid: 'God bless the Queen. We hope your Majesty is for High Church and Sacheverell;' and presumably she was, for the very month his suspension expired she presented him with the valuable living of St. Andrew's, Holborn. High Churchism then meant intolerance, and Sacheverell was the puppet pulled by wires held by others.
There is a curious contemporary skit which is worth reproducing, for two reasons—first, as showing the style of literature then used in party warfare; and second, because it gives an approximate illustration of the Hockley-in-the-Hole combatants mounted on the stage. In fact, the whole thing is a travesty on the bombastic challenges of those doughty heroes.
'The Modern Champions[559]
or
A Tryal of Skill to be Fought at her Majesty's Bear Garden, on Monday next, between a Jeroboam Tory and a Jerusalem Whig, with their two Seconds.
When Gospel Trumpeter surrounded
By long Ear'd Rout, to Battle Sounded
And Pulpit, Drum Ecclesiastick
Was beat with Fist instead of a Stick
Then did Sir Knight——
Prophetically sung by the learned Hudibras.
'I, Jehu Hotspur, known by the name of the High Church Champion, Defender of the Cause, against all Schismatical and Rebellious Saints whatever; Do Invite you Balthasar Turncoat, (of the Race of the Seditious; Betrayers of their Country, and Rebels to their Lawful Sovereign; Prolocutor and Contester for the Shameful and detested Cause of Moderation; a Lukewarm Christian, and a False Brother of the Ch——h; Dissenting from, and Prevaricating with, the Original Ordinances thereof) to meet and Fight me at the seven several sorts of weapons following, viz.:
| Sword & Cloak | Jehu Hotspur | |
| Schism & Hypocrisy | ||
| Tolleration | ||
| Rebellion | ||
| Moderation | ||
| Regicide and | ||
| Anarchy |
So putting Trust in the Justice of my Quarrel, expect to find you at the Time and Place appointed, as you will answer the Contrary at your Peril.
