The quiet little town of Beer Regis, in Dorsetshire, retains its ancient church, with its square tower and pinnacles, dedicated to St. John the Baptist. The living, in conjunction with that of Charmouth, formed the golden prebend of Salisbury Cathedral. How much of the income of the stall belonged to the Incumbent under the Commonwealth I do not know, but the Incumbency must have been of a description strongly to tempt Philip Lamb, who then held it, to comply with the Act of Uniformity, had he been a worldly-minded man.[373] But his farewell teaching proves him to have been above the reach of such temptations. Like other discourses at the same time, his was full of spiritual instruction and earnest appeal; the following allusion being made to the event of the day:—"For now I must tell you, that perhaps you may not see my face, or hear my voice anymore in this place; yet not out of any peevish humour, or disaffection to the present authority of the kingdom (I call God and man to witness this day), it being my own practice and counsel to you all, to fear God and honour the King;—but rather a real dissatisfaction in some particulars imposed, to which (notwithstanding all endeavours to that purpose) my conscience cannot yet be espoused."[374]
The week between the 17th and 24th of August proved an eventful one. Charles had been married in the previous May to Catherine of Braganza; a match which—though formally approved by the Privy Council and by Parliament, because of her dowry, and of the possession of Tangier, on the coast of Africa, and of Bombay, in the East Indies, and of a free trade with Portugal and its colonies—was, because of the religion of the bride, hateful to the English people, in proportion as they hated Popery. The day before her reception, the King issued a Proclamation, addressed to the Lord Mayor and Sheriffs of London. He laid "hold of this occasion of public joy, on the first coming of the Queen to the Royal Palace of Westminster, to order the release of Quakers and others, in gaol, in London and Middlesex, for being present at unlawful assemblies, who yet profess all obedience and allegiance; provided they are not indicted for refusing the Oath of Allegiance, nor have been ringleaders nor preachers at their assemblies, hoping thereby to reduce them to a better conformity."[375]
1662.
The Quakers, George Fox and Richard Hubberthorn, had just before addressed the King as "Friend," and sent His Majesty a list of "three thousand one hundred and seventy-three persons" who had suffered for conscience' sake. "There have been also imprisoned in thy name," add these plain-spoken memorialists, "three thousand sixty and eight." "Now this we would have of thee, to set them at liberty that lie in prison, in the names of the Commonwealth, and of the two Protectors, and them that lie in thy own name, for speaking the truth."[376] How far this appeal influenced Charles in his act of grace now performed I cannot say; nor does it appear how clemency towards a despised sect tended to gratify the country at large; which on such an occasion he might naturally wish to do. Perhaps, being fond of exercising a dispensing power, this proceeding might afford some gratification to himself; and as to the selection of objects, he had a liking for Quakers, on account of what he regarded their harmlessness and oddity. He had no fear of their arming themselves against his throne; and to quiz their dress and their speech, seemed to his frivolous taste, a piece of real fun.
On Saturday, the 23rd of August, Catherine reached Whitehall; and the citizens of London, ever prompt in their loyalty on such occasions, gave "a large demonstration of their duty and affection to the King's and Queen's Majesty on the River Thames." The Mercers, the Drapers, the Merchant Taylors, and the Goldsmiths, appeared in stately barges, their pageantry and that of the Lord Mayor outpeering the rest of the brilliant regatta. Music floated from bands on deck, and thundering peals roared from pieces of ordnance on shore. Their Majesties came in an antique-shaped, open vessel, covered with a cupola-like canopy of cloth of gold, supported by Corinthian pillars, wreathed with festoons and garlands of flowers,—the pageant exceeding—as John Evelyn remarked, who was sailing near—all the Venetian Bucentoras, in which, on Ascension Day, the Doge was wont to wed, with a golden ring, the fair Adriatic. The spectacle on the water-highway presented a contrast to the experiences in many parsonages throughout broad England; and it is remarkable, that just then certain persons were engaged in solemnities more in accordance with Nonconformist depression.
THE BARTHOLOMEW EJECTMENT.
Edward Calamy that very Saturday preached a sermon at St. Austin's Church, in London, for Father Ash (the old man who shed tears of joy over Charles' early promises), from the words "The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart; and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come,"—words befitting the interment of a Puritan patriarch on Bartholomew's eve. Discoursing on his text, the preacher reminded his audience how Methuselah died, a year before the flood; Austin died a little before Hippo was taken; and Luther died just as the wars in Germany were about to begin. He might have added, that Blaise Pascal, who died the preceding Tuesday, August 19th, had been removed just as the agony of the crisis came, in the history of the Port Royalists.[377]
By a further coincidence, the same day on which Ash was buried in London, Edward Bowles, the distinguished Nonconformist, breathed his last in the City of York. He had just been elected Vicar of Leeds—but his Nonconformity would have disqualified him from entering on the benefice, had not his Master called him to a better preferment and a nobler ministry.
1662.
When St. Bartholomew's Day arrived, the Nonconformist clergy who had not before taken leave of their flocks, uttered their farewells. Thomas Lye, Rector of Allhallows, London—whose catechetical lectures had made him very popular with the youthful members of Puritan families—preached twice from the words—"Therefore my brethren, dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and crown, so stand fast in the Lord, my dearly beloved." Lye mentioned in his morning address, that he had been ejected on the 24th of August, 1651, because he would not swear against the King. Now, on the 24th of August, 1662, he was ejected for a very different reason. But he did not repine. "By way of exhortation," said the preacher, "I remember good Jacob when he was come into Egypt, ready to die, calls his children together, and before he dies, he blesseth his children.—O beloved, I have a few blessings for you, and, for God's sake, take them as if they dropt from my lips when dying.—Whatever others think, I am utterly against all irregular ways; I have (I bless the Lord) never had a hand in any change of Government in all my life; I am for prayers, tears, quietness, submission, and meekness, and let God do His work, and that will be best done when He doth it."[378]