A history of England principally in the seventeenth century, Volume 2 (of 6)

by Leopold von Ranke

The Westminster Assembly.

It is obvious at the first glance how great was the difference in this respect between the two countries. In Scotland the parishes with their lay elders, the synods and assemblies, were the expression of the national independence permeated by ecclesiastical ideas: in England all had to be introduced from above, by the power which held the helm of state. The Assembly of Divines at Westminster differed equally widely from a Church assembly in Scotland. The members had been named by Parliament according, not to dioceses, but to counties: their resolutions had no force beyond what Parliament chose to give them: they acted like the disputants in the colloquies of earlier times: the state reserved to itself its judgment, whether of rejection or of approval[398].

In the Assembly itself these ideas were represented by some members, the Erastians, who were also regarded as the most learned of all. They claimed for the state high authority in Church affairs, for which they regarded the kingship of the Old Testament as the model. They rejected the right of Church sessions and courts to excommunicate, which formed the mainspring of their power.

Besides the champions of State-intervention in the Church, there were other and more dangerous opponents, who asserted the autonomy of all religious congregations, and their total independence of the State, even more strongly than the Presbyterians. The Congregationalists, who appear more definitely as the Independents, formed perhaps a seventh part of the Assembly. They had become by far the most important of A.D. 1644. the separatist sects with which the Presbyterians four years earlier had co-operated.

So far as the overthrow of the episcopal system went, these two parties were still in accord, and the temporal authority lent its hand to the work. The pictures were burned in solemn procession, as at Florence in Savonarola’s time, the organs were destroyed, the episcopalian members of the colleges in the universities expelled. Under these influences the prosecution of Archbishop Laud was resumed. The chief accusation against him was that he had tried to assimilate the English Church to Popery, and to introduce into it papistical and superstitious observances. Laud, like Stafford, was condemned by a Bill of Attainder proceeding from the House of Commons (Nov. 11), and this Bill, though not without opposition, was accepted by the Lords[399]. After all that had happened, the King’s sanction was thought to be as little necessary in this matter as in others.

When the time came for erecting a new edifice on the ground chosen and levelled for the purpose, the contest between the Presbyterians and Congregationalists in the Assembly of Divines instantly began. The latter rejected entirely the system of lay elders, and denied that it could be proved from Scripture to be a divine institution: they would allow the consistories neither to ordain nor to excommunicate. In these institutions they saw nothing but the relics of an old and detestable system, for the imposition of hands was evidently of a hierarchical character: if the Reformation was to be complete they must revert to the original institution of independent churches, each one possessing the right to govern itself through its elders. They revived the idea of the first Anabaptists, that the communities should consist of the faithful only, and that no one could be admitted who had not proved that he was in true grace. Personal holiness, a blameless life, they required less strictly than the Puritans; but A.D. 1644. they expected a thoroughly Christian disposition which came of grace. In such a community all clerical elements entirely vanished; it alone had the power to choose the ministers of the word, or to expel from its society. One day one of their spokesmen, Nye, declared plainly that the establishment of a church government extending over the whole country, even of a national assembly, would have disastrous and terrible consequences. The Scots were greatly agitated; they would have nothing more to do with principles so hostile to their own. On this occasion, as in relation to other differences, they were persuaded to moderate their anger. The adherents of these opinions were already a power in the realm: some of the leading members of the Committees were among them; a breach between the two parties must at any cost be avoided.

In reality it was the political preponderance of the Scots which gave them the upper hand in the religious strife. There can be no doubt of this, their own letters assert that their arms had had a large share in the result[400]. If at first they held back from discussing the weightiest questions, they declared it was because they wished first to wait for the advance of their troops: they assert later that their enemies would go further and occasion greater confusion if not kept in check by the fear of their army, which had approached meanwhile. It was due to the necessity of the closest union in a moment of difficulty, that in May 1644 they obtained the recognition of the principle that the right of ordination did not belong to any single congregation. At the same time also they obtained the acceptance of their eucharistic rite, which was resisted by the Independents.

In the decisive battle of Marston Moor however the Independents also had a great share. The question which of the two portions of the army had done best assumed a sort of theological importance. Cromwell was almost accused of cowardice by the Presbyterians; while the Independents extolled his merits to the skies.

A committee was appointed to try and smooth over the A.D. 1644. differences between the Independents and Presbyterians. The former claimed at least toleration, which seemed to the others unendurable: the point had already been decided at the conclusion of the league between the two nations. At that time all objections had been waived on the English side, in order to gain the religious sympathies of the Scots. The stronger their influence, the more firmly they held to their exclusive Presbyterianism. Necessarily the Independents resisted as much as they could.

The occupation of Newcastle by the Scots, in the name of the English Parliament, was an event of scarcely less ecclesiastical than military importance. Once more royalist sentiments were manifested there in all their strength: all the offers of the Scots were rejected, and they were obliged to take the place by storm (October 19, 1644.) This success in the face of a brave resistance raised their own estimate of their services to England. When they announced their victory to the Committee of the two kingdoms, they demanded that now the settlement of public worship should be completed by the Assembly and ratified by Parliament.