1659.
He expressly avows his approval of prayers for the dead, of the invocation of the Spirit on the elements of the Eucharist, and of the practice of penance; whilst he contends for Episcopacy in the Anglican sense, and wishes to see Presbyters restored to their ancient position of a council to be consulted by the bishop. Thorndike's notion was, in prospect of its restoration, to reform his own Church, by bringing it back to what he considered primitive usage. Those who most condemn some of the views which he advocated will be constrained, on reading his life and works, to acknowledge the guileless simplicity of his character, as apparent in this very publication at such a crisis. He says himself—"That I should publish the result of my thoughts to the world may seem to fall under the historian's censure. 'Frustra autem niti, neque aliud se fatigando, nisi odium quærere, extremæ dementiæ est.'" He adds, "If I be like a man with an arrow in his thigh, or like a woman ready to bring forth,—that is, as Ecclesiasticus saith, like a fool that cannot hold what is in his heart—I am in this, I hope, no fool of Solomon's, but with St. Paul, 'a fool for Christ's sake.'"[39]
INTERREGNUM—EPISCOPALIANS.
This straightforward course annoyed those who were seeking to restore the Church in a different way. "Pray tell me what melancholy hath possessed poor Mr. Thorndike? And what do our friends think of his book? And is it possible that he would publish it, without ever imparting it, or communicating with them?" Such questions were asked by Sir Edward Hyde, who wondered that Thorndike should publish his "doubts to the world in a time when he might reasonably believe the worst use would be made, and the greatest scandal proceed from them."[40] Hyde's own method of proceeding at this juncture appears in his correspondence with Dr. Barwick. He did not trouble himself, like Thorndike, with theological questions, or attempt any reformation of the Church which he wished to restore; but he threw himself heartily into efforts for the preservation of the Episcopal order. For the Bishops were dying out, only a few survived; in a short time all would be dead, and then how would the ministerial succession be perpetuated? By repairing to Rome, or by admitting the validity of Presbyterian ordination? As Hyde pondered these queries he rebuked the friends of the Church for their apathy—"The King hath done all that is in his power to do, and if my Lords the Bishops will not do the rest, what can become of the Church? The conspiracies to destroy it are very evident; and, if there can be no combination to preserve it, it must expire. I do assure you, the names of all the Bishops who are alive and their several ages are as well known at Rome as in England; and both the Papist and the Presbyterian value themselves very much upon computing in how few years the Church of England must expire."[41] While the Prelates generally came in for his censure, Wren, Bishop of Ely, and Duppa, Bishop of Salisbury, were exceptionally noticed as active and earnest—the most lukewarm being Brownrigg, Bishop of Exeter, and Skinner, Bishop of Oxford.[42] It was easier, however, for Hyde, on the Continent, to write zealously on this subject than for the Bishops in England, under inimical rulers, and with the fear of penalties before them, to do anything effective for the consecration of successors. Difficulties were felt, both in the wandering Court of Charles and in the troubled homes of ejected Episcopalians. There were no Deans and Chapters to receive the congé d'élire, and to act upon it. Canonical and constitutional law interposed obstacles in the way of consecration. Bramhall thought, that as the King had an absolute power of nomination for Ireland, the best way would be for surviving Bishops to consecrate persons Royally nominated to Irish sees, and then translate them to England. The Bishop of Ely objected to this as practically approving what he considered a defect in the Church of the sister island; and he would rather, he said, see Ireland conformed to England, than England to Ireland. His own plan, in which Dr. Cosin concurred, was much the same as one which Barwick proposed—i.e., that the King should grant a Commission to the Bishops of each province, to elect and consecrate fit persons for vacant sees, and ratify and confirm the process afterwards.[43] To this Hyde agreed, and wrote for the form of such a Commission as the Bishops might judge proper. No further steps appear to have been taken in that direction.
1659.
Hyde counselled as much privacy as possible in measures for the preservation of the Episcopal order; and in all affairs relating to the Church he recommended the utmost prudence and moderation: at a later period, when Monk was preparing for Charles' return, Hyde complained of the "unskilful passion and distemper" of some Divines. The King, he added, was really troubled, and "extremely apprehensive of inconvenience and mischief to the Church and himself." Still later, he advised that endeavours should be made to win over those who had reputation, and desired to merit well of the Church—and that there should be no compliance "with the pride and passion of those who propose extravagant things."[44]
As correspondence passed between Hyde and Barwick many Episcopalians in England gave themselves to fasting and prayer. Evelyn writes in his diary on the 21st of October: "A private fast was kept by the Church of England Protestants in town, to beg of God the removal of His judgments, with devout prayers for His mercy to our calamitous Church." Other entries appear, of the same kind. The ruling politicians in England, out of all sympathy with the exiles, were, nevertheless, promoting their interests by divisions at home.[45]
INTERREGNUM—EPISCOPALIANS.
Money-matters, out of which broods of quarrels are always being hatched, caused what remained of the Long Parliament to be very unpopular; and the upshot is seen in the dissolution by General Lambert, on the 13th of October, of that attenuated but vivacious body, whose continued, or renewed existence, through an age of revolutions, presents such a singular phenomenon.