PREPARATIONS FOR REVOLUTION.
Whilst such were the proceedings of the temporal head of the Church, what was the course pursued by the Primate? Sancroft despatched admonitions to the clergy of his province, exhorting them to the zealous discharge of their duties, and concluding his appeal by recommending them to show a friendly spirit towards Nonconformists, by visiting them and receiving them kindly at their own homes, with a view to persuade them “to a full compliance with our Church.” They were to insist upon two points: that the Bishops were irreconcilable enemies to Rome, and that jealousies to the contrary were altogether groundless. Finally, clergymen were invited to pray for the union of all Reformed Churches, both at home and abroad, against their common foe, and that all who confessed the name of our dear Lord, might meet in one communion and live in godly love.[19] Next—and more surprising, when we think of the Archbishop’s High Church views—he is said to have engaged in a scheme of comprehension, the design being, so far as it can be gathered from a speech made long afterwards by Dr. Wake, to amend and improve the discipline of the Church; to review and enlarge the Liturgy, by correcting some things, by adding others; and, it is stated, that he proposed, if advised by authority, to have the matter considered first in Convocation, then in Parliament.[20] This would have been to walk in steps taken by Low Churchmen some years before, and to anticipate the endeavours of the same class of Churchmen some months afterwards. When efforts had been made in that direction by Tillotson and others, the Archbishop had not showed the least disposition to help them; and on the whole it appears to me that so cautious and conservative a man as Sancroft could never have intended to go the length which the reports just noticed might indicate to ecclesiastical reformers. Indeed, Wake, when he repeated the story, took care to add that the intended changes related “to things of more ordinary composition,” whilst the doctrine, government, and worship of the Church were to remain entire. Probably the alterations contemplated by Sancroft were very slight indeed, and certainly they were conceded only in consequence of the excitement of the times.
1688.
Before the end of September, the King, being unable any longer to resist, altered his policy; he and the Archbishop came together, the former beginning at last to be frightened; the latter anxious to do what he could to save his master. On the 21st of September, a Declaration appeared, to the effect that it was the Royal purpose to provide a legal security for universal liberty of conscience, yet to preserve the Church of England in particular, and to secure the Protestant religion in general; at the same time it was indicated that Roman Catholics were to remain incapable of being members of Parliament.[21] Upon the 24th, Sancroft received a summons to attend the Royal presence, and a like command was sent to Compton, Bishop of London; Mew, of Winchester; Turner, of Ely; Lake, of Chichester; Ken, of Bath and Wells; White, of Peterborough; Trelawny, of Bristol; and Sprat, of Rochester. They were men of different mark: Compton had gone beyond any of his brethren in bold resistance of James’s policy; Mew had been a Royalist in the days of Charles I., and had fought as a soldier in his master’s service; Trelawny had won popularity by being one of the imprisoned seven, but, like other men in Church and State, he had shown a time-serving spirit.[22] Sprat distinguished himself as an accommodating mortal; the rest were High Churchmen, and supporters of the divine right of Kings.
PREPARATIONS FOR REVOLUTION.
On the day of dispatching the summons, James told Clarendon that the Dutch were coming in earnest to invade England. “And now, my Lord,” he added, “I shall see what the Church of England men will do.”[23] On the 26th, the King saw Turner, Bishop of Ely, who reported that the conversation which arose was only of a general kind. Whatever liberal sentiments might have dawned on the Royal mind, all seemed dark on the 27th, when the Lord Chancellor informed Clarendon that some rogues had changed the King’s purposes, that he would yield in nothing to the Bishops, “that the Virgin Mary was to do all.”
1688.
The first meeting between the King and the Bishops took place on Friday, September the 28th. All invited were present, except Sancroft, who excused himself on the ground of being unwell, and Compton and Trelawny, who did not reach town in time. Their brethren, however, who, like them, were in the country when the command arrived, managed to be there. The Prelates came prepared honestly to give advice; but James, no doubt under the influence mentioned by Clarendon, was very reserved, on the one hand declaring his goodwill to the Church of England, and on the other, reminding his spiritual advisers of their duty to be loyal to the Crown. Ken plainly expressed his disappointment, observing that “His Majesty’s inclinations towards the Church, and their duty to him, were sufficiently understood and declared before, and would have been equally so if they had not stirred one foot out of their dioceses.”[24] As the Prelates issued from the Royal presence, the courtiers loitering about the closet door, full of curiosity as to this much-talked-of interview, inquired, “How things went?” The Bishop of Winchester—“poor man,” as Clarendon calls, him—answered, “Omnia bene.”[25] James wished to make capital for himself out of what had taken place, and immediately announced to his subjects, through the Gazette, that several of the Bishops having attended, he was pleased, amongst other gracious expressions, to let them know that he would signify his pleasure for taking off the suspension of the Bishop of London, which was done accordingly. That any such communication was made could scarcely have been gathered from the account of the audience given by others.
The same Gazette contained a Proclamation, dated September the 28th, stating, that undoubted advice had been received of a projected invasion from Holland, under false pretences relating to liberty, property, and religion, but really aiming at the conquest of the kingdom. The King declared his purpose to resist this attempt, to venture his life for the honour of the nation; and deferring at present the meeting of Parliament, he called upon his subjects to resist their enemies, and prohibited any assistance being given them on pain of high treason.[26]
PREPARATIONS FOR REVOLUTION.