following the very footsteps of those whom they had denounced as frequenters of evil paths. Although they had decried the prayer-book, they enforced the use of the directory: although they had made such a stir about their scruples of conscience, they had no tenderness for those of others; their assembly of divines voted that the presbyterian form of church government was of divine right; and, much as they had decried pluralities, they took possession of all that they could grasp. By such conduct Milton was provoked to use his powerful and caustic lash. He pronounced that the assembly of divines was "neither chosen by any rule or custom ecclesiastical, nor eminent for either piety or knowledge, above others left out; only as each member of parliament in his private fancy thought fit, so elected, one by one. The most part of them were such as had preached and cried down, with great show of zeal, the avarice and pluralities of bishops and prelates, and that one cure of souls was a full employment for one spiritual pastor, how able soever, if not a charge rather above human strength. Yet these conscientious men, (ere any part of the work done for which they came together, and that on public salary,) wanted not boldness, to the ignominy and scandal of their pastor-like profession, and especially of their boasted reformation, to seize into their hands, or not unwillingly to accept, (besides one, two, or more, of the best livings,) collegiate masterships in the universities, rich lectures in the city, setting sail to all winds that might blow gain into their covetous bosoms; by which means these great rebukers of non-residence, among so many distant cures, were not ashamed to be seen so quickly pluralists and non-residents themselves, to a fearful condemnation doubtless by their own mouths." He then inveighs against their tyrannical conduct, and declares that their disciples did "manifest themselves to be no better principled than their teachers;" seeking "gainful offices," which they discharged "unfaithfully, unjustly, unmercifully, and, where not corruptly, stupidly. So that between them, the teachers, and these, the disciples, there hath not been a more ignominious and mortal wound to faith, to piety, to the work of reformation, nor more cause of blaspheming given to the enemies of God's truth since the first preaching of reformation.” The presbyterians often desired the interference of the civil power in matters so trivial as to expose them to ridicule. On one occasion a deputation of the London divines went to the protector, to complain that the episcopal clergly "got their congregations from them, and. debauched the faithful from their ministers." "Have they so?" said Cromwell, "I will take an order with them," and moved as if he was going to say something to the captain of the guards; when turning short," But hold,” he said, "after what manner do the cavaliers debauch your people?" "By preaching," replied the complainants; "Then preach them back again," said the protector, and left them to their own reflections. This anecdote certainly shows the temper of these people better than a much longer description. The preaching, which they accounted so great a grievance, was probably in private houses where congregations assembled every Sunday, as we learn from the frequent mention of them by Evelyn and other contemporary writers; but we also know that archbishop Usher was permitted to exercise his ministry publicly in the church till the time of his death, and it is possible that some other clergymen may have enjoyed the rare favour of a similar exemption from the general silence imposed upon their brethren *. When the power of the presbyterians began to be surpassed by that of the independents, the clergy experienced *The episcopalians were for a long while, probably during the greater part of the commonwealth, permitted to meet at St. Gregory's, a small church adjacent to St. Paul's cathedral. In the year 1658, Kidder, (afterwards bishop of Bath and Wells,) having been then recently ordained by one of the old bishops, was not prevented from holding a country living, to which he had been presented by his college at Cambridge, of which a change of masters but not of treatment; they were still insulted, persecuted, and afflicted. Such was their condition till the restoration; and who would have wondered if, on the occurrence of that joyful event, when the country was weary of the puritans, every living in the kingdom which they held had been at once declared void? At first, however, nothing more was done than to restore to their preferments those of the ejected clergy who survived, and negotiations were immediately entered into with a view to the settlement of the affairs of religion, so as to satisfy all parties. These, however, proved worse than fruitless; they appear to have been approached on both sides with very little disposition to conciliate or make concessions of any kind, and, terminating in a most unsatisfactory manner, were followed by the Act of Uniformity, some of the provisions of which were deplorably impolitic and unjust. Between the puritan ministers who were removed from preferments to give place to the clergy whom they had supplanted, and those who were deprived for refusing to conform, about two thousand, consisting of incumbents of livings, fellows of colleges, lecturers, and curates, were ejected from the restored national church. he was a fellow. Sanderson and Bull also officiated, the former as an incumbent, the latter as curate of a small parish. But they did not venture to use the Common Prayer, although they conformed to the spirit of its services. These, however, were but exceptions to the general rule of exclusion. "It was now a rare thing," says Evelyn, "to find a priest of the church of England in a parish pulpit, most of which were filled with independents and fanatics.” Why comes he not to bear his part, A hand that cannot spare Lies heavy on his gentle breast; We wish him health: he sighs for rest, And Heaven accepts his prayer.—Christian Year. "I HOPE We have learned," said Dr. Hammond, "to want as well as to abound, and to trust God, that can feed the young ravens when the old have exposed them, for the feeding of us and of our families, though all our present means of doing it were taken from us." These were his words at an early period of those troubles, and now he found that his expectation was not in vain. A small patrimony, which the hand of oppression had not reached, gave him something to expend in charity, and sir John and "the good lady" Pakington ministered to his comfort at Westwood with the greatest kindness. His disposition and attainments were such as to make him an acceptable inmate of that mansion; his temper was remarkably placid; his tongue free from guile; his mind was active, sensible, and well informed; he had a pleasant and easy way of expressing himself in conversation; and he had a good voice and a taste for music, and could sing a little. It was not long after his arrival at Westwood that the fatal battle of Worcester took place; and before the engagement he waited on Charles the Second, and received from that prince a letter expressive of his attachment to the church of England, in whose faith his royal father had lived, suffered, and died. When the king escaped after that unhappy defeat, Dr. Hammond gratefully acknowledged the mercy of God, and prayed "that the Lord, who had thus powerfully rescued the king out of Egypt, would not suffer him to perish in the wilderness; but though his passage be through the Red Sea, He would at last bring him into Canaan, and that he might come out of his tribulations, as gold out of the fire, purified but not consumed." Dr. Hammond's studies now proceeded without many interruptions; he rose from his bed at four or five o'clock, rarely so late as six, and did not retire to rest till midnight; for he was both fond of learned research, and so sensible of the snares which lay in the path of idleness, that he had acquired a deep aversion to it, and always besought others to shun its dangers. Even while he dressed, his servant read to him, and in this way he became acquainted with the contents of several volumes; and as he took his walks through the shady avenues which surrounded the mansion of Westwood, a book was his constant companion. To the end of his days he husbanded his time, acting upon the maxim, that we should take care of our minutes, and “thinking it a great folly to spend that time in gazing upon business which should have served for the doing of it.” He principally devoted himself to the study of theology and church history; and some of the most pious, learned, and moderate works of the day were the fruits of his reading and reflection. If he erred, it was not designedly, or for want of due meditation and prayer; and when his opinions excited angry feelings or occasional intemperate language in others, he who had been careful to draw the teeth" as he termed it, (that is, to avoid giving just provocation to any person in his writings,) rendered neither evil for evil, nor railing for railing. So greatly had he gained the mastery over his temper, that some persons who were his companions during the ten latter VOL. I. t K 66 |