NONCONFOR:viITY
165
K ON CON FORMITY
Kennett, in his Register and Chronicle, the great store- house of information respecting the years IGGO- 1(502, often denied that the number was so large ; but Calamy, in 1702, published an A bridgment of Baxter's Life and Times, the ninth chapter of which is occupied with bio- graphical notices of some of the Nonconformists, and in which lie gives the number of '2000 as correct. When thischapter was answered, in 1714, by Walker's folio vol- ume on the Suffering of the Clergy, Calamy compiled a •Continuation' of his former work, which was pub- lished in 1721 in two volumes, and in which he still maintained that 2000 Nonconformists were 'ejected' by the Act of Uniformity. A critical examination of Calamy's evidence shows, however, that he has much overstated his case, the number being not much more than one third of what he alleges it to be; and as so much has been made of the matter by dissenting writ- ers, it is worth while to show what is the real conclu- sion furnished by his evidence. The list of ejected min- isters printed by Calamy may be distributed under the seven following heads: (1) Those who were actually dead before the time of ejection arrived; (2) those who yielded up their places to the dispossessed episcopal in- cumbents; (3) curates and lecturers, whose appoint- ments were not benefices, and who were not, therefore, 'ejected' from any by the act; (4) cases in which the list sets down two incumbents for the same benefice ;
(5) cases in which bishops' registers show that other men than tliose named in the list were in possession ;
(6) those who on Calamy's own showing had no benefices to be lost, but whom he includes among those ejected from benefices; (7) those who may have been deprived by the operation of the Act of Uniformity. By the help of Newcourt's Repertorium of the diocese of London, those ministers whom Calamy names as ejected from benefices in that diocese may be distributed under these seven heads as follows :
Number ^iveli l)y 1 Calamy. 1
2
3
4
5
6
Numl.er possibly ejected.
119 31
12T 16
2 2
21 3
23 5
S 3
1
3 6
12 14 15
8
22 IS
51
11
62
3
Afiddlesex
Esses
Herts
Total
293
A
52 19
12T
The number of those who it is possible maj- have been ejected is thus, taking the general average, only 43.3 per cent, of the number given by Calamy" for the diocese of London. If this proportion be taken as regards the alleged number ejected throughout Eng- land and Wales, that number will thus be reduced from 2000 to 8G7. It seems improbable, therefore, that the number of Nonconformist ministers who were ipso facto deprived of their parishes on .St. Bartholomew's day was much or any over 800; and as contemporaries allege that some of these were men of property; that some made good marriages; that some returned to the trades which they had left for the pulpit; and that great kindness Avas shown to those who were poor by the bishops and nobility (Kennett's Register, p. 888, 919), it may be concluded that much exaggeration has been used by those who have turned the event to the discredit of the Church. Among tho.se who thus re- fuse(l to accept the terms offered by the Act of Uni- formity, there was also a large number who continued to attend the ministration of the Church, and whom Baxter calls 'Episcopal Nonconformists.' 'These,' he says, 'are for true parish churches and ministers' re- formed, without swearing, promising, declaring, or sub- scribing to any but sure, clear, necessary things; desir- ing that Scripture may be their canons"; taking the ca- pable in each parish for the communicants and Church, and the rest for hearers and catechised persons ; desirinri- that the magistrate will be j udge as to whom he will main'^ tain, approve, and tolerate; and the.ordainer judge of whom he will ordain ; and the people be free consenters,
to whose pastoral care they will trust their souls, desir- ing that every presbyter may be an overseer over his tiock, and every Church that hath many elders have one incumbent, president, for unity and order; and that goodly diocesans may (without the sword or force) have the oversight of many ministers and churches, and all these be confederate and under one government of a Christian king, but under no foreign jurisdiction, though in as much concord as possible with all the Christian world. And they would have the keys of excommuni- cation taken out of the hands of laymen (chancellors or lay brethren), and the diocesan to judge in the synods of the presbyters in cases above parochial power' {Life and Times, App. p. 71, ed. 1G96). These were probably a large class among the laity for some time after the Restoration" {Did. Hist. Theul. s. v.).
But whatever difference of opinion may exist as to the real number of those who were visited with suffer- ing by the Act of Uniformity, there is certainly no ground for the indifference with which some historians have deigned to treat those men in supposing that their con.sciences were more tender than they need be, for it must be remembered they were men of as extensive learning, great abilities, and pious conduct, as ever ap- peared. Mr. Locke, if his opinion have any weight, calls them " worthy, learned, pious, orthodox divines, who did not throw themselves out of service, but were forcibly ejected." Mr. Bogue thus draws their character : ^^Asto their public ministration," he says, "they were orthodox, experimental, serious, affectionate, regular, faithful, able, and popular preachers. .4s to their moral quulities, thej' were devout and holy ; faithful to Christ and the souls of men; wise and prudent; of great liberality and kindness; and strenuous advocates for liberty, civil and religious. .4 s to their intellectual qualities, they were learned, eminent, and laborious." These men were driven from their homes, from the society of their friends, and exposed to the greatest difficulties. Had the government of the day been content with requiring subscription from those who desired to remain as min- isters of the establishment, without proceeding to the passing of obnoxious, persecuting, and iniquitous acts against those whose consciences forbade their compli- ance with the requirements of the Act of Uniformitj', dissent would not, in all probability, have taken such deep root in the minds of the people, nor would it have attained that growth to which it subsequently reached. The burdens of Nonconformists were very greatly in- creased by another enactment, under the same reign, entitled the "Conventicle Act," whereby they were prohibited from meeting for any exercise of religion (above five in number) in any other manner than al- lowed by the liturgy or practice of the Church of Eng- land. For the first offence the penalty was three months' imprisonment, or a fine of £5 ; for the second offence, six months' imprisonment, or £10; and for the third offence, banishment to some of the American planta- tions for seven years, or £100 ; and in case they re- turned, death penalty without benefit of clergy. By virtue of this act the jails were quickly tilled with dis- senting Protestants, and the trade of an informer was very gainful. So great was the severity of these times, saj's Neale, that they were afraid to pray in their fam- ilies if above four of their acquaintance, who came only to visit them, were present; some families scrupled ask- ing a blessing on their meat if five strangers were at table. But this was not all. In 1065 an act was brought into the House to banish them from their friends, commonly called the " Oxford Five-JIile Act," by which all dissenting ministers, on the penalty of £40, who would not take an oath (that it was not law- ful, upon any j^reience whatever, to take arms against the king, etc.), were prohibited from coming within five miles of any city, town corporate, or borough, or any place where they had exercised their ministry, and from teaching any school. Some few took the oath; others could not, and consequently sriffered the penalty.