CONVOCATION.
After the Royal Commission—a commission which spoke of rites and ceremonies as “indifferent and alterable”—authorizing the Convocation to proceed to business had been read, and after the delivery of a Royal message full of gracious expressions, conveyed by the Earl of Nottingham, the Bishops prepared an address. In this address they thanked His Majesty for the zeal he had shown “for the Protestant religion in general, and the Church of England in particular.”[163] To these words a strong objection was taken by the Lower House. First, they claimed a right to present an address of their own, which being disallowed, they claimed a right to offer amendments. They wished the address to be confined to what concerned the Church of England, and no mention to be made of the Protestant religion in general. An amendment being carried to that effect, there followed a conference between the two Houses—Burnet representing the Upper, Jane the Lower. The Lower House desired the words “Established Church” to be employed, which led to a dispute between the Bishop and the Prolocutor. The Bishop argued, that the Church of England as established was only distinguished from other Churches by its hierarchy and revenues, and that if Popery were restored there would still be an Established Church of England. The Prolocutor replied, that the Church was distinguished by its Articles, Liturgy, and Homilies.
1689.
The discussion between these two Divines resembled that between the two knights who could not agree about the device on a shield, because the first looked at it on one side and the second on the other. The fact is, that the disputants were thinking of different things. Burnet was thinking only of the circumstance of an Establishment—of that which is a mere incident to any Church connected with the State; so considering the question, no doubt he was right. Jane, on the other hand, was thinking of the Church itself, and not the establishment of it. Consequently he was wrong in saying what he did of the Church as established, though he would have been right had Burnet used the disputed words in the sense in which Jane was employing them. The logomachy terminated in a compromise; and the two Houses concurred in thanking William for the zeal he had expressed concerning the honour, peace, advantage, and establishment of the English Church, whereby they doubted not the interest of the Protestant religion, which in all other Protestant Churches was dear to them, would be the better secured.
CONVOCATION.
The King, in reply, assured the Bishops, that they might depend on his former promises, and he gave a new assurance that he would improve all occasions and opportunities for serving the Church of England. There also occurred in this Convocation, debates about proxies, complaints respecting the custody of Convocation records, and charges brought against the publication of books on the Athanasian Creed, contrary to the Canons. We are informed that a reverend person made a useless speech on behalf of the Bishops under suspension, wishing that something could be done to qualify them for sitting in Convocation without endangering the constitution of the Assembly; and Burnet tells us that the majority in Convocation refused to consider any compromise with the Dissenters, one argument being that it was derogatory to the Church to make overtures to them until they expressed a desire for reconciliation, and either offered proposals themselves, or showed a willingness to consider proposals made by others.[164]
Committee meetings were held in Dr. Busby’s chamber, and in Dr. Tenison’s library there was an inspection of old books belonging to Convocation, but nothing important was effected in any way. Convocation adjourned on the 16th of December through successive prorogations, and remained inoperative for ten years.
CHAPTER V.
The periods prescribed by the Act which altered the Oaths of Allegiance—first for the suspension, and next for the ejectment of those who refused to swear—were the 1st of August, 1689, and the 1st of February, 1690.
In the early part of the year events occurred which increased the importance of exacting the prescribed oaths.