[22] See New Canons, iii. to xii., made in 1604.
[23] Whitelocke, when Recorder of Abingdon, was accused and cited before the Council Table because "he did comply with and countenance the Nonconformists there, and refused to punish those who did not bow at the name of Jesus, and to the altar, and refused to receive the sacrament kneeling at the high altar, &c."—Whitelocke's Memorials, 23.
[24] Hale's Precedents in Criminal Causes, xxxix., xliii.; compare Hallam's Const. Hist., i. 180. The extracts from Court Books in Hale are my authority for what follows. I may add here that, soon after the accession of Elizabeth, the bishops complained of interference with their office in discipline, and correction of evil manners, by inhibitions obtained from the courts of the Archbishop of Canterbury.—Strype's Parker, i. 161.
[25] A clear account of compurgation, transferred from old ecclesiastical courts to the Court of High Commission, is given by Mr. Bruce in his Preface to the Cal. Dom. 1635-6, xxxi. A man was restored "to his good name" by swearing to his own innocence when objectors did not appear, and his neighbours, the compurgators, swore that he was to be believed.
[26] It is very remarkable that this Act, the only one which fixes the authority for deciding what heresy is, vests that spiritual power in the secular government, only with clerical "assent."—Stat. 1 Eliz., c. 1, s. 36.
[27] 1562, July 20. A commission was issued for ecclesiastical causes in the diocese of Chester.
1576, April 23. A commission was given to Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, and other bishops, for exercising ecclesiastical jurisdiction throughout the nation.—State Papers, cviii., No. 7.
The "proceedings of the Archbishop of York" in 1580 are preserved in the State Paper Office, cxli., No. 28. At a private meeting on the 2nd of August, 1580, held in Richmond, "the Court is informed that Robert Wythes, of Copgrave, gentleman, made fast his doors against the messenger; that a little damsel was set to attend at the door, who made answer he was not at home, and refused to receive the process, so the messenger waxed it to the door." Vol. cxli., No. 3.
[28] Neal, i. 410, gives a copy of the commission from a MS. I have sought in vain for the original. Mr. Bruce informs me it is not preserved among the State Papers.
Neal, i. 414, explains "all other means and ways they could devise" as including the rack. Brodie (British Empire, i. 197) disputes this, saying, "Besides that, the rack never was attempted; the other clauses distinctly show that it never was contemplated." On carefully examining the commission printed in Neal, it will be found that the qualifying expressions "lawful," &c., are connected with the infliction of penalty, not the business of enquiry. The penalties were to be according to law, but that restriction would not necessarily apply to the mode of examination. I do not see that Brodie's argument is conclusive; still I do not think that the rack was used. The absence, however, of the word "lawful" in connection with "ways and means" in the first clause is remarkable.