George Gresley Perry

“ This he could not do in France, and he began to meditate flight. At this moment Bishop Atterbury, then living in exile in Paris, strongly encouraged him to fly to England, and gave him valuable assistance in arranging for his journey. Atterbury had long been Courayer's warm admirer. His picture ornamented Atterbury's rooms, and the bishop had been able to procure for him from Oxford the honour of a D.D. honoris causâ (1727) . The timid scholar and recluse would probably never have found his way to our shores had not the bishop furnished him with a capable English attendant. ”

“ A still more interesting relic of the bishop is the ‘office’ adapted to the breviary hours, containing special hymns in his praise, prayers, and ‘capitulum’ grounded on the events of the bishop's life and his alleged miracles. The most remarkable of these was the restoring of human speech to certain people in Rutlandshire who could only bark like dogs. The people, on the refusal of the pope to canonise, took the matter into their own hands, and worshipped at the shrine of St. John de Dalderby, as they did under similar circumstances at that of Robert Grosseteste. ”

“ Foliot witnessed with satisfaction the humiliation of Becket, and at Northampton, in the same year, when the archbishop was so hardly dealt with in money matters, he counselled him to resign his see, and otherwise acted an unfriendly part towards him. At the famous scene, when the archbishop went to the king, carrying his cross in his own hand, Foliot actually tried to wrest it from him by force, declaring that it was his right to carry it as dean of the province. Being unable to obtain it, he exclaimed, ‘You have always been a fool, and always will be one’ (Will. Cant. Gervase) . ”

“ Hall calls himself the ‘first English satirist,’ which must be interpreted as the first formal writer of satires after the Latin models since Wyatt, Gascoigne, Lodge, and others had preceded him as satirists. His claims of priority seem to have specially excited the wrath of Marston, whose satires, issued in 1598, attack Hall with much bitterness. On 1 June 1599 an order signed by Whitgift, archbishop of Canterbury, and Bancroft, bishop of London, directed the Stationers' Company to burn Hall's satires, together with books by Marston, Marlowe, and others, on the ground of their licentiousness. ”

“ Probably no divine of the church of England has been more violently attacked than Hoadly. As the prominent and aggressive leader of the extreme latitudinarian party in church and state he naturally attracted all the strongest assaults of the tory and high church party. ”

“ The preliminaries for the discussion were all arranged by Heath in concert with Sir Nicholas Bacon, and when, in the disputation that ensued, the Romish divines refused to abide by the preliminaries that had been agreed upon, Heath refused to uphold them in their objections, and condemned their disorderly conduct. In the debate in the House of Lords on the bill for establishing the queen's supremacy Heath made a long speech, dwelling especially on the danger of forsaking the see of Rome and on the nature of the supremacy claimed, which he held to be against the word of God. ”

“ His works, the principal part of which have survived to our day, fully justify his reputation. There are few better pieces of contemporary history than his ‘Historia Novorum;’ and his biographies, especially that of Anselm, are of a higher order than most similar compositions. Nothing apparently is known of Eadmer before he emerges into notice as the close companion and friend of Archbishop Anselm. Leland and Bale have very carelessly confused him with an Eadmer who was abbot of St. Albans, and died in 980, more than a hundred years before the era of the Canterbury monk. ”

“ The king was naturally very much angered that one who had professed such violent antagonism to Rome should thus without reason return thither. He sent the bishops of London and Durham and the dean of Winchester to question the archbishop and to find out his real views and intentions. De Dominis skilfully parried their inquiries, declaring still his regard for the church of England, but expressing his belief that both churches were right in fundamentals, and that there might be a union between them. ”

“ When the bishops were called upon to take the oath enjoined by the Supremacy Act, and were summoned before the queen, Heath naturally became the leader and spokesman for the party. He showed great boldness on the occasion, calling upon Elizabeth to fulfil Mary's covenant with the holy see for the suppression of heresy (Strype) . The archbishop suffered no ill-consequences from his bold words. Upon his ultimate refusal to take the oath, Heath, together with the other bishops, was deprived of his see. ”

“ After the execution of the king, Hacket declared that he would never again set foot in London, but broke his resolution so far as to attend Lords Holland and Norwich when they were condemned to death. Some letters written about this time by Hacket to Dr. Dillingham, and preserved among the Sloane MSS., represent him as a 'sickly old man' who had fallen into bad health through grief of mind. He always appears, however, full of faith and courage, and with a firm belief in the certainty of the coming of the restoration. ”

“ Henry made frequent visits to the monastery in his hunting expeditions in Selwood Forest. He consulted Hugh about his affairs of state, and determined to promote him to the important see of Lincoln, which had now been two years vacant. In May 1186, at a council held at Eynsham, near Oxford, he sent for the canons of Lincoln, and desired them to elect as their bishop Hugh the Burgundian. Some of these canons, men of considerable eminence and great wealth, objected to Hugh as an obscure foreign monk, but they were forced to yield to the king. ”

“ To have a formal condemnation of Hoadly's doctrine, which would carry with it almost the whole of the clergy, would have been inconvenient to the government. The royal supremacy was therefore used to order the prorogation of the convocation to 22 Nov. Hoadly was accused of having sought to silence his opponents by this act of authority. This he strongly denies in his ‘Reply to the Representation of Convocation,’ a lengthy treatise of 130 folio pages. Part of this treatise is directed against the convocation report and part against a tract which had been written by Sherlock, dean of Chichester. ”

“ In 1716 Hoadly endeavoured to justify the favour shown to him by the publication of his famous treatise ‘A Preservative against the Principles and Practices of the Nonjurors both in Church and State.’ This treatise was occasioned by the publication of some of the papers of the nonjuror, George Hickes [q. v.] It is a popular work, designed, according to its author, (1) to state the case between the protestant branches of the royal family and the popish; (2) to maintain the right in all civil governments to preserve themselves against persons in ecclesiastical offices as well as others ”

“ On one occasion a soldier entering his church presented a pistol at his breast and ordered him to stop. Hacket replied that he would do what became a divine, let the other do what became a soldier; and continued the service. He is said to have carefully committed the burial service to memory that he might use it without offending the puritans. He was at one time taken prisoner by the army of Essex and carried with them. Lord Essex used much persuasion to lead him to join the parliamentary side, but Hacket remaining obdurate, he ordered him to be dismissed. ”

“ Frampton proved himself a great builder and restorer. He did much both at the deanery and the episcopal palace of Gloucester, and rebuilt the house at Standish. He was a frequent preacher at Whitehall, and in the administration of his diocese was tolerant towards dissenters, and universally popular. After the accession of James II the king complained to the archbishop that Frampton was in the habit of denouncing popery. When the famous declaration of indulgence was published, and ordered to be read in churches, the bishop went strongly with those of his brethren who opposed it. ”

“ As regards contemporary estimate, William of Malmesbury may be cited, who says that in his narrative of events he does not venture to compare himself to Eadmer, ‘who has told everything so lucidly that he seems somehow to have placed them before our very eyes. For those who wish to read the letters which passed between the pope, the king, and Anselm, the book of Eadmer will give every facility. ”

“ The bishop's unflinching courage was completely successful, and excited the king's admiration. Not long afterwards he was involved in another quarrel with Richard, who had made a heavy demand on the canons of Lincoln. Hugh again went abroad to settle matters, and arrived just before the death of Richard. He took part in the funeral rites of the king at Fontevrault, and immediately afterwards had many colloquies with John, who was very anxious to secure the great influence of Hugh in his support. ”

“ But the next year, when it was apparent that the spirit of the American people was fairly roused, the bishop recommended conciliation. On the Duke of Grafton's motion for conciliatory measures, he said: ‘There is no earthly government but in a great measure is founded on opinion. ”

“ Hoadly had long had a bitter feeling against Atterbury, both on account of former controversies, and because Atterbury had charged him in a published tract (‘Some Proceedings in Convocation,’ &c. 1705) with ‘imputing rebellion to the clergy in the church, while he himself preached it in the State.’ Hoadly's answer to the sermon was severe and long, extending to nearly one hundred folio pages (1709) . An ‘Essay on the Origin of Civil Government’ was appended, and the effect of all his writings on this subject was to raise Hoadly to the highest point in the estimation of the whig party. ”