Three weary weeks of debate ensued; religion, according to the stipulated arrangement, coming first under discussion.[526] The four grand ecclesiastical propositions which were placed in the forefront by the Parliamentary Commissioners were the following: first, that the Bill for abolishing Episcopacy, which had passed the two Houses, should now receive the Royal sanction; secondly, that the Ordinance for the Westminster Assembly should be confirmed; thirdly, that the Directory, and the scheme of Church government annexed to it, should be enacted for the reformation of religion and the accomplishment of uniformity; and fourthly, that his Majesty should take the solemn League and Covenant, and concur in enjoining it upon all his subjects. Touching these several particulars, there may be seen in Dugdale and Rushworth a mass of papers, very dull and dry to all appearance now, but which had in them abundant light and fire, when they were exchanged and read in that large "fair room" at Uxbridge.
1645, April.
Before the debates on religion closed, the King made a very plausible shew of concession, by professing his willingness to allow that all persons should have freedom in matters of ceremony, and that bishops should be bound to consult their presbyters, and constantly to reside within their dioceses. He promised, too, that poor livings should be improved, pluralities abolished, and ecclesiastical jurisdiction reformed.[527] Yet, while making these smooth and pleasant offers—calculated, if not to induce the Parliament to come to terms, at least to raise the Royal cause to a somewhat higher position in public esteem—his Majesty wrote to his secretary, Nicholas, in the following style: "I should think, if in your private discourses, I no wise mean in your public meetings with the London Commissioners, you would put them in mind that they were arrant rebels, and that their end must be damnation, ruin, and infamy, except they repented, and found some way to free themselves from the damnable way they are in (this treaty being the aptest), it might do good."[528] This double dealing shews that Charles, in his negotiations with Parliament, fancied he had to do with creatures of a kind fit only to be inveigled into traps and snares; and it also shews that, at least, he had so much of Romish morality as consists in not keeping faith with heretics. His antagonists felt persuaded of this fact, though they could not put their hands so easily on the proofs as subsequent revelations enable us to do. But what they did actually discover made them very suspicious of his Majesty's proceedings, and induced them to act towards him sometimes in a manner which appeared not only ungracious, but inexpedient; we, however, now seeing the whole series of events from beginning to end, are enabled to discern in some of the most repulsive acts of the liberal and popular party the keenest foresight and the broadest prudence.
Debates about Ordination.
To return from Uxbridge to Westminster.
The Presbyterians, working with the best intentions, striving to reform the people of England and to drive out error and evil, had much trouble with other matters besides the enforcement of the Directory. Churches wanted ministers, for scandalous clergymen had been dismissed and aged clergymen had become incapable. Some too had died, and some had removed to take charge of other parishes.[529] The Oxford University, wholly in the hands of Royalists, yielded no candidates for the ministry, and Bishops would not ordain persons to serve in the new Establishment. In consequence of these circumstances vacancies were irregularly filled up, and uneducated persons were wont to thrust themselves into the sacred office. Amidst this disorder the Presbyterians, sorrowful on the one hand because of such destitution, and displeased on the other with the irregularity in such a mode of supply, and at the same time mortified by the taunts of Royalists and Episcopalians, vigorously devoted themselves to the business of supplying churches and ordaining ministers. In the month of April, 1645, Parliament ordered that no one should preach who had not received ordination in the English or some other reformed Church, or who had not been approved by the authorities appointed for the purpose.[530]
1645, April.
It was specially enjoined that this rule should be put in force throughout the army, because in some regiments Presbyterian ministrations and worship were not held in high esteem; and the Lords, who cherished strong Presbyterian sympathies, also directed the Assembly to prepare a form according to which clergymen might be ordained without the offices of a diocesan bishop. Long and tiresome debates arose amongst the Divines in connexion with this latter subject;—Presbyterians, Independents, and Erastians differing from each other in the ideas which they entertained of what ordination meant. This controversy has been long since buried, and we shall not disinter it from amidst the dust of "old diaries" and "grand debates;" but the point raised by the Independents, who contended for the right of each congregation to choose its own ministers, has some vitality for people in these days. Of course the Presbyterians carried the question according to their well-known views, and after they had done so, Parliament, adopting the decision of the Divines, declared by an ordinance, that the solemn setting apart of presbyters to their holy office was an institute of the Lord Jesus Christ; that certain rules ought to be observed in the examination of candidates; that publicity should be given to the testimonial of the examiners; and that ordination should be performed by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery, accompanied by a public fast. It was expressly stated at the conclusion of the ordinance that it should stand in force for twelve months, and no longer—a provision which stamped the arrangements with something of a tentative character. Until presbyteries could be duly organized, the duty of ordination was vested in the Assembly; and no wonder that Baillie, in a letter written from London in February, 1646, laments the onerous and absorbing engagements which this new law entailed upon the Divines.[531]
As the question of Presbyterian discipline came under discussion, the debates in the Assembly increased in energy, learning, and acuteness, as well as in prolixity. No person who has read Dr. Lightfoot's notes of the proceedings can deny the erudition and controversial acumen of the disputants on both sides; and all who have glanced over Baillie's lively pages will admit that this battle for great principles was waged with sincerity and earnestness. A very important point of enquiry arose in the month of April, 1644, Whether "many particular congregations should be under one presbytery?" The Independents pressed to be heard on the negative side, and spent twenty long sittings in advocating their opinion. Goodwin was foremost in the debate, but the rest of the dissenting brethren took their turns. The champions well acquitted themselves, their enemies being judges. "Truly, if the cause were good," wrote Baillie, "the men have plenty of learning, wit, eloquence, and above all, boldness and stiffness to make it out; but when they had wearied themselves, and over-wearied us all, we found the most they had to say against the presbytery, was but curious idle niceties, yea, that all they could bring was no ways concluding. Every one of their arguments, when it had been pressed to the full, in one whole session, and sometimes in two or three, was voiced, and found to be light unanimously by all but themselves."[532] There can be little doubt of this. The reasoning of the Independents would of course be found wanting when weighed in the Presbyterian balance, and the majority of the Assembly would naturally consider their own votes an ample refutation of their adversaries' arguments. "They profess," says the same authority in another place, respecting the Independents, "to regard nothing at all what all the reformed or all the world say, if their sayings be not backed with convincing Scripture or reason. All human testimonies they declaim against as a popish argument." The simplicity of the writer is perfectly amusing as he thus insensibly glides into the position of papal advocates, and tacitly acknowledges the authority of general opinion in the Church; on the other hand, the firmness and consistency of these genuine Protestants is truly admirable, as they resolutely adhere to the only invincible method of argument by which the cause of the Reformation can be defended.
Presbyterians and Independents.