The Assembly of Divines was appointed by secular authority: in this respect, however, it only resembled other ecclesiastical conventions. Œcumenical synods, as they are ostentatiously called, have in point of fact been "Imperial gatherings."[340] That they owed their existence to the civil power was a necessity arising from the union between Church and State; and the necessity is recognized in the twenty-first Article of the Church of England, where it is said that "General councils may not be gathered together, but by the commandment and will of princes." Convocations of clergy according to this Article, and according to the fundamental principles of the English constitution, are entirely dependent upon the Crown. Parliament, therefore, by constituting the Westminster Assembly, so as to make it rest on a political basis, did not invade the ecclesiastical rights of the Establishment, it only usurped the ecclesiastical power of the Crown. And it may be worth observing that the same authority, in selecting the place and time of meeting, in making provision for those whom it called together, and in paying their expenses,[341] did but adopt the policy of Constantine at the Council of Nicæa. But the Parliament went still further in the appointment and control of the Westminster Assembly than emperors and kings had ever done in reference to Œcumenical councils and national convocations.[342] It first nominated the individuals who were to be members, and then it took the direction of affairs entirely into its own hands, without relaxing its hold for a moment: the carefully-worded warrant allowing no liberty beyond this—that the Divines should consult and advise on matters and things proposed to them by both or either of the Houses, and give their advice and counsel as often as required; and in all cases of difficulty refer to the authority which had called them together. A clause is inserted forbidding the assumption of any ecclesiastical jurisdiction, or any power whatever, except that which the ordinance carefully defined. And also—in this respect, exceeding the regal control over Convocation—Parliament chose the Prolocutor of the Assembly, and filled up vacancies when they occurred. Nor should it be forgotten that the State exercised in reference to ecclesiastical matters all the functions which we have described, not because there remained no Episcopal clergy to elect members of Convocation, nor because there existed no Presbyteries to delegate members to a General Assembly, but simply because a perfect horror of ecclesiastical despotism had taken possession of the minds of those who had now become the civil rulers of the realm.
Meeting of the Assembly.
On the day appointed (Saturday, July 1, 1643), many of the Assembly, together with a large congregation of other persons, gathered within the walls of the grand national abbey of Westminster, "both Houses of Parliament being present."[343] The Prolocutor, Dr. Twiss—of whom it was said that the school, not the pulpit, was his proper element—preached from John xiv. 18, "I will not leave you comfortless, I will come to you;" from which text he exhorted his hearers faithfully to discharge their high calling to the glory of God and the honour of His Church; and, whilst lamenting that the royal assent was wanting to give them comfort and encouragement, the preacher hoped through the efficacy of their prayers that the sanction of his Majesty might in due time be obtained, and that a happy union might be accomplished between King and Parliament. After the conclusion of the discourse, the Divines and other members ascended the broad flight of steps leading to Henry the Seventh's chapel, where, upon the roll being called over, sixty-nine persons answered to their names.
1643, July.
Meeting of the Assembly.
The vaulted roof springing from the clustered pillars in the walls—like branches of lofty trees interlaced together, forming a rich canopy of leaves, while the bossed pendants resemble stalactites—though appearing to most persons now, even those who feel strong Puritan sympathies, a monument of exquisite taste and consummate skill—would be regarded by those who on this occasion assembled beneath its shadow, as mainly, if not exclusively, a symbol of that "petrifaction of Christianity" which to their great grief had over-arched mediæval Christendom. Dressed in black cloaks, and wearing bands, and skull caps, as they walked over pavements heretofore trodden by prelates and priests in mitres and copes, they would be reminded of what they deemed superstitious and idolatrous worship; and as they now met in assembly where Convocations had before been wont to gather,[344] they would think of obnoxious canons, and of Archbishop Laud, with feelings of pain—if not of bitterness—such as the charms of Gothic architecture had no power to subdue. Their principles, and the principles of the Church before the Reformation, were in mutual opposition. And, as we watch the Divines entering within those gates—well described by one who himself came from the land of the Pilgrim Fathers, as "richly and delicately wrought, and turning heavily upon their hinges, as if proudly reluctant to admit the feet of common mortals into this most gorgeous of sepulchers"[345]—we may fancy that the gates, if they had sympathy with those who caused them to be hung there, would open that morning more reluctantly than they had ever done before. Altogether, the scene and the purpose for which the Assembly met marked a new era, not only in the history of the Abbey but in the annals of the Church and the nation.
1643, July.
Westfield, Bishop of Bristol, and some few other Episcopalians out of the number summoned, were present at this first meeting; and, as Fuller says, they "seemed the only Nonconformists amongst them for their conformity, whose gowns and canonical habits differed from all the rest."[346] The majority of the Episcopal Divines, however, declined to attend, because the Assembly had been prohibited by royal proclamation; and because, not being chosen by the clergy, it had no proper representative character. They objected to it also on account of its containing a mixture of the laity; whilst all its members, whether divines or laymen, were of the Puritan stamp, and were, according to the terms of the ordinance which gave it existence, virtually pledged to the demolition of the hierarchy. The reply which was afterwards given by the Parliament to the objection that the Assembly had not been ecclesiastically elected, instead of mending the matter in the eyes of a High Churchman, would only make it appear all the worse; for the Parliament plainly declared the Assembly to be no national synod or representative body at all, but only a committee of advice;—adding that the civil power had a right to choose its own counsel, and ought not to be dependent for that upon the nomination of clergymen.[347] For the reasons just indicated, the few Episcopalians who at first appeared in the Assembly speedily dropped off. Brownrigg, Bishop of Exeter, sent a letter on the 12th of July, excusing absence in consequence of "the tie of the Vice-Chancellorship in the University that lay upon him:" probably there were other ties which hindered his Lordship's attendance, but what they were he did not care to specify.
Parliamentary Directions.
On Thursday, July the 6th, the Divines and lay assessors assembled again, when they received further directions from Parliament of a very precise description. The directions were, that two assessors or vice-chairmen should be associated with the Prolocutor to supply his place in case of absence; that scribes or secretaries should keep a record of the proceedings; and that these officers should be Henry Roborough and Adoniram Byfield, Divines not members of the Assembly; that every member, on his entrance, should make a solemn protestation not to maintain any thing but what he believed to be truth; that no question should be resolved on the day it was propounded; that whatever any one undertook to prove to be necessary, he should make good from Scripture; that no one should continue to speak after the Prolocutor had silenced him, unless the Assembly desired him to proceed; that the members should have liberty to record their dissent from the conclusions adopted by the majority; and that all things agreed upon and prepared for the Parliament should be openly read and allowed.[348] The bye-laws which were to regulate their proceedings were thus so minutely prescribed, that very little indeed was left for the Divines to perform in the way of preliminary arrangement. All which they actually did in this respect was to nominate Mr. White[349] and Dr. Burgess as assessors, and to resolve that the sittings should be opened with prayer; that afterwards the names of members should be called over; that the hour of meeting in the morning should be ten o'clock, the afternoon being reserved for committees; and that three of the Divines should officiate weekly as chaplains—one to the House of Lords, another to the House of Commons, and a third to the Committee of both kingdoms. Still further, to illustrate how, with this modicum of liberty in relation to the management of its own business, the Westminster Assembly found itself under the authority of its neighbouring masters, especially those in St. Stephen's Chapel—we may observe that on the 27th of July an order from both Houses was read, requiring a letter to be written to the United Provinces in behalf of Ireland. On the 28th of July an ordinance from the Commons followed, for appointing a committee to examine plundered ministers, with a view to their admission into sequestrated livings; and on the 14th of August there came a command to send divers metropolitan divines up and down the country, to stir up the zeal of the people in the cause of patriotism, and to vindicate the justice of Parliament in taking up arms for the defence of its liberties.[350]