to the council April 12th, a commission was ordered to the archbishop of Canterbury, the bishops of Ely, Worcester, [Westminster] Chichester, Lincoln, Rochester, [Sir Wm. Petre, Sir Thomas Smith, Dr. Cox, Dr. May,] and some others, any three being a quorum, to examine and search after all anabaptists, heretics, or contemners of the common prayer, whom they were to endeavor to reclaim, and after penance to give them absolution; but if they continued obstinate they were to excommunicate, imprison, and deliver them over to the secular arm. This was little better than a protestant inquisition. People had generally thought that all the statutes for burning heretics had been repealed; but it was now said, that heretics were to be burnt by the common law of England; and that the statutes were only for directing the manner of conviction; so that the repealing them did not take away that which was grounded upon a writ at common law. Several tradesmen that were brought before the commissioners abjured; but Joan Bocher,or Joan of Kent, obstinately maintained, that Christ was not truly incar'nate of the virgin, whose flesh being sinful he could not partake of it; but the word, by the consent of the inward 6 man in the virgin, took flesh of her.' These were her words: a scholastic nicety, not capable of doing much mis. chief, and far from deserving so severe a punishment. The poor woman could not reconcile the spotless purity of Christ's human nature, with his receiving flesh from a sinful creature; and for this she is declared an obstinate heretic, and delivered over to the secular power to be burnt. When the compassionate young King could not prevail with himself to sign the warrant for her execution, Cranmer with his superior learning was employed to persuade him; he argued from the practice of the Jewish church in stoning blasphemers, which rather silenced his Highness than satisfied him: for when at last he yielded to the archbishop's importunity, only pretended to be deduced from Scripture, as almost all opinions of religion were, and therefore they rejected them. Amongst these the baptism of infants was one. They held that to be no baptism, and so were re-baptised. But from this, which was most taken notice of, as being a visible thing, they carried all the general name of Anabaptists.. Hist. Ref. vol. ii. p. 110, &c. he told him with tears in his eyes, that if he did wrong, since it was in submission to his authority, he should answer for it to God. This struck the archbishop with surprise, but yet he suffered the sentence to be executed.§ Nor did his Grace renounce his burning principles as long as he was in power; for about two years after, he went through the same bloody work again. One George Van Paris a Dutchman, being convicted of saying, that God the Father was only God, and that Christ was not very God, was dealt with to abjure, but refusing, he was condemned in the same manner with Joan of Kent, and on the 25th of April, 4551, was burnt in Smithfield: he was a man of a strict and virtuous life, and very devout; he suffered with great constancy of mind, kissing the stake and faggots that were to burn him. No part of archbishop Cranmer's life exposed ↑ Burnet's Hist. Ref. vol. ii. p. 112. § Mr. Neal, representing Joan Bocher as a poor frantic woman, more hit for Bedlam than the stake, and as obstinately maintaining her opin ion, has not spoken so respectfully of her as her character and the truth of the case required. The charge of obstinacy wants propriety and candor; for though an opinion in the account of others may be a great and hurtful error, it cannot, without insincerity and the violation of conscience, be renounced by the person who has embraced it, until his judgment is convinced of its falshood. Arguments which produce conviction in one mind, do not carry the same degree of clearness and strength to other minds; and men are very incompetent judges of the nature and force of evidence necessary to leave on others the impressions they themselves feel. The extraordinary efforts used to bring Joan Bocher to retract her opinion, shew her to have been a person of note, whose opinions carried more weight and respect than it can be supposed would the chimeras of a frantic woman. The account which Mr. Strype gives of her is truly honorable. "She was (he says) a "great disperser of Tindall's New Testament, translated by him inte English, and printed at Colen, and was a great reader of Seripture "herself. Which book also she dispersed in the court, and so became "known to certain women of quality, and was more particularly ac"quainted with Mrs. Anne Ascue. She used, for the more secrecy, to "tie the books with strings under her apparel, and so pass with them "into the court." By this it appears, that she hazarded her life, in dangerous times, to bring others to the knowledge of God's word: and, by Mr. Neal's own account, her sentiments, were they ever so erroneous, were taken up out of respect to Christ; for "she could not recon"eile the spotless purity of Christ's human nature, with his receiving "flesh from a sinful creature." ED. Strype's Ecclesiastical Memorials, vol. ii. p. 214, as quoted in Lindsay's Apology, 4th Ed. p. 43, and in his Historical View of the Unitarian Doctrine and Worship, p. 87. him more than this: it was now said by the papists, that they saw men of harmless lives might be put to death for heresy by the confession of the reformers themselves. In all the books published in Queen Mary's days, justifying her severities against protestants, these instances were always produced; and when Cranmer himself was brought to the stake they called it a just retaliation. But neither this, nor any other arguments, could convince the divines of this age, of the absurdity and wickedness of putting men to death for conscience sake. Bonner, bishop of London, being accused of remissness in not settling the new service book throughout his diocese, and being suspected of disaffection to the government, was enjoined to declare publicly in a sermon at Paul's cross, his belief of the King's authority while under age, and his approbation of the new service book, with some other articles; which he not performing to the council's satisfaction, was cited before the court of delegates, and after several hearings, in which he behaved with great arrogance, sentence of deprivation was pronounced against him Sept. 23d, by the archbishop of Canterbury, Ridley bishop of Rochester, secretary Smith, and the dean of St. Paul's. It was thought hard to proceed to such extremities with a man for a mere omission; for Bonner pleaded, that he forgot the article of the King's authority in his sermon ; and it was yet harder to add imprisonment to his deprivation: but he lived to take a severe revenge upon his judges in the next reign. The vacant see was filled up with Dr. Ridley, who, on the 24th of Feb. 1549-50, was declared bishop of London and Westminster, the two bishoprics being united in him; but his consecration was deferred to the next year. The parliament that met the 14th Nov. revived the act of the late King, impowering his Majesty to reform the canon law, by naming thirty-two persons, viz. sixteen of the spirituality, of whom four to be bishops; and sixteen of the temporality, of whom four to be common lawyers, who within three years should compile a body of ecclesiastical laws, which, not being contrary to the statute law, should be published by the King's warrant under the great seal, and have the force of laws in the ecclesiastical courts. This design was formed, and very far advanced in King Henry VIII's time, but the troubles that attended the last part of his reign prevented the finishing it. It was now resumed, and in pursuance of this act a commission was first given to eight persons, viz. two bishops, two divines, two doctors of law, and two common lawyers, who were to prepare materials for the review of the thirty-two; but the preface to the printed book says, that Cranmer did almost the whole himself. It was not finished till the month of Feb. 1552-53, when another commission was granted to thirty-two persons to revise it, of whom the former eight were a part, viz. eight bishops, eight divines, eight civilians, and eight common lawyers; they divided themselves into four classes, and the amendments of each class were communicated to the whole. Thus the work was finished, being digested into fifty-one titles. It was translated into Latin by Dr. Haddon and Sir John Cheek; but before it received the royal confirmation the King died; nor was it ever revived in the succeeding reigns. Archbishop Parker first published it in the 1571, under the title of Reformatio Legum Anglicarum, &c. and it was reprinted 1640. By this book Cranmer seems to have softened his burning principles; for though, under the third title of judgments for heresy, he lays a very heavy load upon the back of an obstinate heretic, as that he 'shall be declared infamous, incapable of public trust, or of being witness in any court; or of having power to 'make a will; or of having the benefit of the law;' yet there is no mention of capital proceedings! year Another remarkable act, passed this session,t was for ordaining ministers; it appoints, "that such forms of or"daining ministers as should be set forth by the advice of six "prelates and six divines, to be named by the King, and "authorized under the great seal, should be used after April "next, and no other." Here is no mention again of a convocation or synod of divines; nor do the parliament reserve to themselves a right of judgment, but intrust every thing absolutely with the crown. The committee soon finished VOL. F * Strype's Life of Cranmer, p. 271. 14 their Ordinal, which is almost the same with that now in use. They take no notice in their book of the lower orders in the church of Rome, as subdeacons, readers, acolytes, &c. but confine themselves to bishops, priests and deacons; and here it is observable, that the form of ordaining a priest and a bishop is the same we yet use, there being no express mention in the words of ordination whether it be for the one or the other office:* this has been altered of late years, since a distinction of the two orders has been so generally admitted; but that was not the received doctrine of these times.† The committee struck out most of the modern rites of the church of Rome, and contented themselves (says bishop Burnet) with those mentioned in scripture, viz. imposition of hands and prayer. The gloves, the sandals, the mitre, the ring and crosier, which had been used in consecrating bishops, were laid aside. The anointing, the giving consecrated vestments, the delivering into the hands vessels for consecrating the eucharist, with a power to offer sacrifice for the dead and living, which had been the custom in the ordination of a priest, were also omitted. But when the bishop ordained, he was to lay one hand on the priest's head, and with his other hand to give him a bible with a chalice and bread in it. The chalice and bread are now omitted; as is the pastoral staff in the consecration of a bishop. By the rule of this ordinal a deacon was not to be ordained before twenty-one, a priest before twenty-four, nor a bishop before he was thirty years of age. The council went on with pressing the new liturgy upon the people, who were still inclined in many places to the old service; but to put it out of their power to continue it, it was ordered that all clergymen should deliver up to such persons whom the King should appoint, all their old antiphonals, missals, grayls, processionals, legends, pies, portuasses, &c. and to see to the observing one uniform order in the church; which the parliament confirmed, requiring further, all that had any images in their houses, that had belonged Burnet's Hist. Ref. vol. ii. p. 144. +For a full vindication of the above assertions, see Mr. Neal's review, p. 860-64, of the 1st vol. of the quarto edition of his History. ED. |