“There is also published a most devilish Atheistical satire against the Clergy in general, but more especially against poor Nonjurors. I think no age hath seen the like of it,—it’s called a Satire against the Priests.”[200]
Nonjurors lived on both sides the Irish Channel. Soon after the battle which decided the fate of James, though it did not crush the hopes and schemes of his supporters, William had his attention called to the refusal of the Bishop of Ossory to pray for him in public worship. “His Majesty’s command,” said the Secretary of State to the delinquent, “is, that your Lordship be suspended till further order. I know not the terms, being here in a camp, that are used in things of this nature; but I acquaint your Lordship of His Majesty’s present resentment, and can say no more till I hear from your Lordship herein.”[201] Nonjurors on this side of the Channel, however, gave much more trouble than they did on the other.
SCHEMES FOR RESTORATION.
A scheme for the restoration of James came to light at the end of 1690. The leader of the conspiracy was Richard Graham, Viscount Preston, Secretary of State in the preceding reign, whose patent of nobility had been drawn up at St. Germains, and who retained his seals of office in spite of the Revolution. Secret conferences were held amongst the English Jacobites, and as the result, Lord Preston, with a Mr. Ashton and another companion, were despatched with treasonable papers to the ex-King; but ere they had passed Tilbury Fort, in a smack which was to convey them to the shores of France, they were seized and brought back to London. Preston and Ashton were tried, convicted, and condemned at the Old Bailey. Ashton was executed; Preston was pardoned. As they lay under sentence of death, the sympathies of the Nonjurors eagerly gathered round them, and the following letter from two well-known members of the party, to Sancroft—who still lingered in his Archiepiscopal Palace on the banks of the Thames—shows how earnestly they sought to enlist his offices:—
1691.
“We who waited on your Grace on Sunday last, in the evening, being sensible that we were defective in the delivery of our message, occasioned, in great measure, out of profound respect to your Grace, have, upon a fuller recollection of the importance of that affair, presumed to lay our thoughts more plainly before your Grace, humbly conceiving, with all due submission to your Grace’s judgment, that if your Grace shall think it proper to give your personal assistance to the gentlemen under sentence of death, it would not only be a very great comfort and satisfaction to the dying gentlemen, but likewise a considerable support and encouragement to all surviving honest men.
“My Lord, the concern is very extraordinary, otherwise we had not presumed to give your Grace this trouble, and therefore, we humbly beg your Grace would please to excuse this freedom.[202]
“Jeremy Collier,
“Shadrach Cooke.”
Turner, Bishop of Ely, was charged with complicity in Preston’s treasonable business, and two suspicious letters were produced, said to be in the Prelate’s handwriting; but I cannot find evidence of their authorship, or any proof in their contents justifying a charge of treason. As Turner immediately hid himself, and then absconded, it looks, notwithstanding, as if he felt a pang of conscious guilt; but concealment in his case seems to have been a difficult matter, for he had such a remarkable nose, that Sancroft, with a play of humour,—which occasionally illumined his misfortunes,—spoke of his friend as resembling Paul’s ship of Alexandria, which carried a well-known sign upon its prow, or beak. Hence, though London was a great wood, it would be hard for one with such a face, however disguised by a patriarchal beard, or by a huge peruke, to escape detection.[203] It is not a little remarkable that, though the deposed Primate prayed for his friend’s safety, he expressed no conviction of his friend’s innocence. The Nonjurors, as we have seen, had been treated with consideration and kindness. Though forfeiting their Sees in February, 1690, after which successors were nominated, the Prelates of the party were allowed to retain their palaces; and even as late as April, 1691, attempts were made by friends of the Government to compromise matters with them, in spite of the increased odium cast on their order by Turner’s conduct: it was proposed that, at least, they should disavow all share in the alleged conspiracy, but Sancroft would do nothing of the kind, easy and reasonable as such a concession seemed.