Eccles

“ If preachers would speak only to men's fancies or understandings, and not meddle too smartly with their hearts, and lives, and carnal interests, the world would bear them, and hear them as they do stage-players, or at least as lecturers in philosophy or physic. A sermon that hath nothing but some general toothless notions in a handsome dress of words, doth seldom procure offence or persecution: it is rare that such men's preaching is distasted by carnal hearers, or their persons hated for it. "It is a pleasant thing for the eyes to behold the sun," Eccles. ”

“ They took the subjects of their romances partly from the field of the Old Testament, and partly from the field of the New Testament in the form of Gospels, Acts, Apostolic Epistles and Apocalypses. A number of them are professedly drawn from the prophecies of old heathen seers. Of greater importance, especially for the history of the constitution, worship and discipline of the church are the Eccles. Constitutions put forth under the names of Apostles. Numerous apocryphal Acts of Martyrs are for the most part utterly useless as historical sources. ”

“ Aesculapius and his temple and altars everywhere, in Corinth, Lacedaemon, Athens, Thebes, Epidaurus, &c. Pausanius records, for the latitude of his art, deity, worth, and necessity. With all virtuous and wise men therefore I honour the name and calling, as I am enjoined “to honour the physician for necessity's sake. The knowledge of the physician lifteth up his head, and in the sight of great men he shall be admired. The Lord hath created medicines of the earth, and he that is wise will not abhor them,” Eccles. ”

“ Like England and America do make a great noise:
Be wise, for it only diverts our girls and boys.
Price threepence." In his preface, the writer, who speaks of having visited other countries, and being now at a low ebb, says, "Having lived in the parish of Eccles for the last eight months (1777) , I have had some opportunity of making some remarks of the customs, manners, and behaviour of the inhabitants of the said parish, not only to strangers, but to each other, which behaviour I shall treat upon, together with some remarks upon the folly of guising. ”

“ He was appointed vicar of Eccles, Lancashire, and fellow of the Collegiate Church, Manchester, in 1606, and resigned these offices in 1609 on being presented by Sir John Crofts to the rectory of Barsham, Suffolk. ”

“ If old Flaccus had lived now, he'd have been pretty much like Bob Eccles, and putting in his divinity lectures perhaps. By the way, I hope your father won't go and give away that small rectory in Kent. 'We who live to preach, must preach to live.' That is n't exactly the line, but it will do. Pulvis et umbra sumus, Digby; and take what care we may of ourselves, we must go back, as the judges say, to the place from whence we came. ”

“ He recommended that the General Minister, Elias, should be requested to appoint Albert of Pisa, or Haymo, or Radulf of Rheims, as his successor. He constituted Peter of Tewkesbury his Vicar, and made his last confession to him. He died at Oxford in great pain, crying continually, ‘Veni, dulcissime Jesu.’ The exact date of his death is uncertain; it was probably early in 1235 [1218] . He was, says Eccleston,
‘a man specially endowed with natural prudence and foresight, and conspicuous for every virtue [1219] .’ ”

“ No great significance was attached by the Council of Ephesus or the older theologians to the antiquity of the Fathers. The Church herself has bestowed the title of “Doctor Ecclesiæ,” by which it honours the most illustrious Fathers in the Liturgy, upon many saints of later date, and has thereby put them on the same level. We may even say that the canonization of a theological writer raises him to some extent to the dignity of a “Father.” ”

“ Yonder is the tower of Eccleston Church; and as we are now nearing the village, we may land, if we choose, and indulge in a hasty stroll of inspection. Eccleston is the pet village, and wholly the property of the Marquis of Westminster, whose elegant mansion, Eaton Hall, we are so soon about to visit. Every house in this village is a picture of itself, clothed in woodbine and choicest evergreen, and adorned with small, but sweetly smelling gardens. The Church is a modern structure of red sandstone, having taken the place of an older temple in 1810. ”

“ With all their poverty and holiness they were singularly free from that form of piety which consists in wearing a sad countenance and appearing unto men to fast. We hear indeed of strict silence, of constant prayer, of vigils that lasted the whole night [34] .
‘Yet,’ continues Eccleston [35] , ‘the brethren were so full of fun among themselves, that a mute could hardly refrain from laughter at the sight. So when the young friars of Oxford laughed too frequently, it was enjoined on one that as often as he laughed he should be punished. ”

“ Cornwallis at Eccleshall-castle led his Lordship to indulge him with a greater share of personal esteem than has often fallen to the lot of a private Clergyman so remotely placed from his Diocesan. Mr. Pegge had attended his Lordship two or three times on affairs of business, as one of the Parochial Clergy, after which the Bishop did him the honour to invite him to make an annual visit at Eccleshall-castle as an Acquaintance. ”

“ The church of the Holy Trinity, one of the most noteworthy in Staffordshire, is principally Early English, and has fine stained glass. Several bishops of Lichfield are buried here, as Eccleshall Castle was the episcopal residence from the 13th century until 1867. ”

“ To be short this passage was scarce by when Master Dixon of Mary in Eccles, goodly grinning, asked young Stephen what was the reason why he had not cided to take friar’s vows and he answered him obedience in the womb, chastity in the tomb but involuntary poverty all his days. ”

“ A few years later he took a leading part in an agitation in favour of religious education.
He was appointed honorary canon of Chester Cathedral in 1845, chaplain to Dr. Lee, bishop of Manchester, in 1851, and rural dean of Eccles at a later date. He died at his residence, Barr Hill, Pendleton, near Manchester, on 5 Oct. 1865, and was buried in the church of which he had been minister for thirty-four years. His portrait, painted by Charles Mercier, was placed during his lifetime in the Salford town-hall. ”

“ On another occasion Eccleston tells us—
‘Friar Albert was present at the sermon of a young friar at Oxford; and when the preacher boldly condemned loftiness of buildings and abundance of food, he rebuked him for vainglory [1246] .’
Soon after his arrival, Albert appointed lecturers at London and Canterbury [1247] , though he does not appear to have been a learned man himself. His connexion with Oxford was slight, and his acts as Provincial can hardly claim a place here. After remaining two years and a half in England, he went to Rome to take part in the proceedings against Elias [1248] . ”

“ White in his will speaks of the ‘distresses’ that he suffered at Eccles, ‘which I was never able to look through to this day.’ It is inferred from this that he was in poverty when he died, at the age of 45, in 1615, in Lombard Street, London. He was buried on 28 May 1615 at the church of St. Mary Woolnoth. He left seven children. The eldest, John, entered Gonville and Caius College in 1611, aged 16, and became vicar of Eaton Socon ”

“ John Eck, in which Luther was classified with Zwingli, Oecolampadius, Carlstadt, Pirkheimer, Hubmaier, and Denk, and was charged with every conceivable heresy. In a letter of March 14, accompanying the copy of his Propositions which Eck sent to the Emperor, he refers to Luther as the domestic enemy of the Church (hostis ecclesiae domesticus) , who has fallen into every Scylla and Charybdis of iniquity; who speaks of the Pope as the Antichrist and of the Church as the harlot; who has praise for none but heretics and schismatics ”

“ For the learning of the friars was not confined to the Universities [440] . To the Franciscans Oxford was more than a place for study; it was the [Pg 65] centre of a great educational organization which extended throughout the land.
‘The gift of wisdom,’ to quote Eccleston’s words, ‘so overflowed in the English province, that before the deposition of Friar William of Nottingham, there were thirty lecturers in England who solemnly disputed, and three or four who lectured without disputation. ”

“ For Bishop Acca himself was a most skilful singer, as well as most learned in Holy Writ, sound in the confession of the catholic faith, and well versed in the rules of ecclesiastical custom; nor does he cease to walk after this manner, till he receive the rewards of his pious devotion. ”

“ The opposition and persecution he met with was very severe, but it appears that, notwithstanding, the members greatly increased, for in 1670 there were 97 at Bromsgrove who professed the Baptist belief; at the present time, although the population has more than doubled, there are but 103. Mr. Eccles was for a considerable time confined in a dungeon in Worcester gaol, but was restored to liberty through the influence of Mr. ”

“ Thanks to Giordano of Giano, we are from this time forward informed upon the crises which the institute of Francis passed through after 1219; he furnishes us the solidly historical base which seems to be lacking in the documents emanating from the Spirituals, and corroborates their testimony.
II. Eccleston: Arrival of the Friars in England5
Our knowledge of Thomas of Eccleston is very slight, for he has left no more trace of himself in the history of the Order than of Simon of Esseby, to whom he dedicates his work. A native no doubt of Yorkshire, he seems never to have quitted England. ”

“ Richard de Ingewrthe or Indewurde (Norfolk) is named second in the list of friars who came over with Agnellus in 1224. He was a priest and advanced in years; according to Eccleston he was the first Minorite who preached to the people ‘citra montes.’ With three other friars he established the first house of Franciscans in London (at Cornhill) ; he then proceeded to Oxford with Richard of Devon, hired a house of Robert le Mercer in St. Ebbe’s, and thus founded the original convent in the University town. ”

“ So Bishop Gray: “he endeavours to illustrate the insufficiency of earthly enjoyment; not with design to excite in us a disgust to life, but to influence us to prepare for that state where there is no vanity.” Ecclesiastes may justly be considered as a sequel to the Book of Proverbs. Ecclesiastes, according to a modern author, is a dialogue in which a man of piety disputes against a libertine who favoured the opinions of the Sadducees ”

“ ECCLESIASTES (Heb. קהלת‎, Kohelet, “Koheleth”; Sept. ἐκκλησιαστής; Jerome concionator) , one of the Wisdom Books of the Old Testament (see Wisdom Literature) . The book, as it stands, is a collection of the discourses, observations and aphorisms of a sage called Koheleth, a term the precise meaning of which is not certain. The Greek ecclesiastes means one who takes part in the deliberations of an assembly (ecclesia) , a debater or speaker in an assembly (Plato, Gorgias, 452 E) , and this is the general sense of the Hebrew word. ”

“ There are several handsome modern churches and chapels, a town hall, and numerous cotton mills, while silk-throwing and the manufacture of fustians and ginghams are also among the industries, and there are also large engine works. A peculiar form of cake is made here, taking name from the town, and has a wide reputation. Eccles was incorporated in 1892, and the corporation consists of a mayor, 6 aldermen and 18 councillors. ”

“ But the fame of the Franciscan school at Oxford was not only English, but European [449] . Friars were sent thither to study not only from Scotland [450] and Ireland [451] , but from France and Aquitaine [452] , Italy [453] , Spain [454] , Portugal [455] , and Germany [456] ; while many of the Franciscan schools on [Pg 67] the Continent, both in universities and elsewhere [457] , drew their teachers from England, and, in England, mainly from Oxford. Eccleston mentions a friar who studied with him at Oxford, where his lectures, after some failures, won the admiration of Grostete ”

“ Thus, according to Luther, they are all of one character, one rank. The only thing peculiar to the so-called ecclesiastics or priests, is the special office or work of 'administering the Word of God and the Sacraments' to the congregation. The power to do this is given, indeed, by God to all Christians as priests, but, being so given, cannot be assumed by an individual without the will and command of the community. ”

“ They also partly informed me by what bishops and under what kings the provinces of the East and West Saxons, as also of the East Angles, and of the Northumbrians, received the faith of Christ. In short I was chiefly encouraged to undertake this work by the persuasions of the same Albinus. In like manner, Daniel, the most reverend Bishop of the West Saxons, who is still living, communicated to me in writing some things relating to the Ecclesiastical History of that province, and the next adjoining to it of the South Saxons, as also of the Isle of Wight. ”

“ Winter's constant scrutiny.
The remaining male members of the company were Mrs. Jacobus's two sons, Tom and Bob Eccles. They were between twenty and twenty-five, and like their mother, though one was fat, with the lazy smile of a Buddha, and the other, who through a cast in his eye just missed being handsome, inclined to be truculent.
Loveland had intended to take a chair next his room-mate, but Miss Moon made a place for him between herself and Buddha—smiling Bob. As everybody except Jack Jacobus and the Winters talked and joked continually, it was surprising how fast they ate. ”