1645, May.
The Directory.
The Directory, upon being dispatched to Scotland,[512] obtained there the sanction of the General Assembly; and on its return, after the book had been endorsed by the English Commons, it was presented to the House of Lords, who gave it their sanction. Presbyterian statesmen are sometimes charged with a rash abolition of old ecclesiastical laws, without the previous or immediate institution of others to occupy their room. It is alleged that these men short-sightedly pulled down the ancient buildings and left them in ruins, and that they were for some time not prepared to raise a new structure on the ancient site. This is an incorrect representation. Elizabeth's Act of Uniformity, it is very true, fell into desuetude from the opening of the Long Parliament; also many Puritans in the Establishment laid aside the Liturgy, and even reviled it. Notwithstanding, no specific law appears against it, until the Directory had been sanctioned by Parliament. The same ordinance which forbids the Liturgy enforces the Directory. In the first place that authority rehearses and repeals the statutes of uniformity, and at the same time declares that the Book of Common Prayer should not remain in any place of worship within the kingdom of England or the dominion of Wales. The same ordinance then goes on to declare that the Directory should be observed in all public religious exercises throughout the realm, and that fair register books of vellum for births, marriages, and burials should be kept by the minister and other officers of the Church. It is remarkable that no penalty whatever is mentioned for a breach of this ordinance. So far as the terms of it are concerned, it looks as if it might be broken with impunity; and it was so broken. In country parishes where Royalism was predominant, and such parishes were very numerous, parsons and churchwardens set at nought the enactment of the two Houses, and would not acknowledge as law that which had not received the Royal sanction. The Prayer Book was dear to them from associations with the past in their own lives and those of their fathers; and they were resolved still to read its litany and collects. Finding that simple advice and exhortation produced no effect in many quarters, Parliament adopted more stringent measures. It would appear that, as early as the month of May, 1645, penalties for contempt of the new enactment were under consideration,[513] but an explicit threatening for disobedience was not uttered until the month of August. Then came an ordinance[514] which—after providing for the supply of printed books of the Directory, and commanding that it should be read the Sunday after it was received—proceeded to declare that any person using the Book of Common Prayer in church or chapel should, for the first offence, pay the sum of five pounds, for the second offence the sum of ten pounds, and for the third offence suffer one year's imprisonment. Every minister was to pay forty shillings each time he offended. Those who preached or wrote against the Directory fell under additional liabilities to pay not less than five, and not more than fifty pounds. Thus a new Act of Uniformity succeeded the old one. The High Commission Court had been abolished, but its spirit had migrated into another body. Happily it is no easy thing to change a people's religion by Act of Parliament. Wherever the exercise of reason, and the study of Scripture are neglected, there remain sentiments, perhaps prejudices, which are too deeply sown to be raked out by any legal instrument, however sharp and close-set its teeth may be. Human conscience, whether rude and ill-informed, or disciplined and wise, always hates all tools of state husbandry employed for such ends. Accordingly, a good many people in England, when its rulers would force them into a new form of worship, deliberately and resolutely rebelled, some having to endure a considerable amount of suffering for conscience' sake.[515]
1645, August.
The Directory.
The Scotch soon began to lament the inefficacy of the new enactment. They complained that the Prayer Book was still used in some parts of England, where Parliament had undisputed authority; and, of course, in a kingdom which was cut up into two hostile camps, where Royalism remained in the ascendancy, the Liturgy would continue to be honoured, and the Directory would be disused. Errors, heresies, and schism were also deplored as still prevalent, by the brethren from the north, who watched with pious zeal all that was going forward on this side the Tweed, and were greatly distressed at the tardy progress of ecclesiastical reform, and at the little enthusiasm which was enkindled by the Covenant. In Ireland, the Directory met with an adverse fate. The bishops and clergy of Dublin in particular remained loyal to the Prayer Book. They pleaded their ordination vows, the oath of supremacy, the Act of Uniformity, the communion of the two Churches of England and Ireland in the bond of Common Prayer, the legality of its use, the freedom of the Church, and the attachment to the Liturgy cherished by the people. The Bishop of Killaloe, and several other dignitaries, signed a protest, and whatever opinions may be formed of their arguments, posterity will do honour to their conscientiousness. This was in 1647. Some persons continued, in spite of Parliamentary orders, to use the Prayer Book. The last instance of its being publicly read in Dublin occurred when the aged and venerable Archbishop Bulkeley delivered to his clergy a valedictory discourse in St. Patrick's Cathedral.[516]
1645 August
In connection with the Directory, notice should be taken of certain forms of devotion which were published for the use of seamen. A book of that period exists, without date, entitled "A Supply of Prayer for the Ships, that want Ministers to pray with them." The preface states that there were thousands of ships without any ministers, and that the crews, therefore, either neglected religion altogether or used the Book of Common Prayer. What is glanced at as a matter of necessity might perhaps in some cases be matter of preference. Alderman Garroway, in his speech at Guildhall, it will be remembered, spoke of sailors as being fond of the old liturgy; and such sailors must have remained in the fleet even after the Presbyterian Earl of Warwick had become Lord High Admiral. Though the navy, as far as rulers were concerned, might be called Presbyterian, numbers of the men would feel no attachments in that direction. At all events, to avoid inconvenience, it was thought fit to frame prayers for the navy, "agreeing with the Directory established by Parliament." By whom the work was done we do not know, but clearly the spirit of it is Presbyterian. "Heal our rents and divisions," and "preserve us from breach of our solemn Covenant," are expressions found amongst its petitions. Eschewing the Apocrypha, it prescribes psalms and chapters from the Old and New Testament. Forms of devotion are given, rather as specimens and guides than anything else. "The company being assembled, they may thus begin with prayer," are the cautious words employed by the sturdy opponents of ritualism.[517]