Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 2 of 3Hallam, Henry
History
Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 2 of 3
Hallam, Henry
Constitutional history -- Great Britain
This celebrated work, which gained its author the epithet of immortal,
is now, I suspect little studied even by the clergy. It is, no doubt,
somewhat tedious, when read continuously, from the frequent recurrence
of the same strain of reasoning, and from his method of following,
sentence by sentence, the steps of his opponent; a method which, while
it presents an immediate advantage to controversial writers, as it
heightens their reputation at the expense of their adversary, is apt
to render them very tiresome to posterity. But the closeness and
precision of his logic, which this mode of incessant grappling with
his antagonist served to display, are so admirable, perhaps, indeed,
hardly rivalled in any book beyond the limits of strict science, that
the study of Chillingworth might tend to chastise the verbose and
indefinite declamation so characteristic of the present day. His
style, though by no means elegant or imaginative, has much of a
nervous energy that rises into eloquence. He is chiefly, however,
valuable for a true liberality and tolerance; far removed from
indifference, as may well be thought of one whose life was consumed in
searching for truth, but diametrically adverse to those pretensions
which seem of late years to have been regaining ground among the
Anglican divines.
_Hales._--The latitudinarian principles of Chillingworth appear to
have been confirmed by his intercourse with a man, of whose capacity
his contemporaries entertained so high an admiration, that he acquired
the distinctive appellation of the ever-memorable John Hales. This
testimony of so many enlightened men is not to be disregarded, even if
we should be of opinion that the writings of Hales, though abounding
with marks of an unshackled mind, do not quite come up to the promise
of his name. He had, as well as Chillingworth, borrowed from Leyden,
perhaps a little from Racow, a tone of thinking upon some doctrinal
points as yet nearly unknown, and therefore highly obnoxious in
England. More hardy than his friend, he wrote a short treatise on
schism, which tended, in pretty blunt and unlimited language, to
overthrow the scheme of authoritative decisions in any church,
pointing at the imposition of unnecessary ceremonies and articles of
faith, as at once the cause and the apology of separation. This having
been circulated in manuscript, came to the knowledge of Laud, who sent
for Hales to Lambeth, and questioned him as to his opinions on that
matter. Hales, though willing to promise that he would not publish the
tract, receded not a jot from his free notions of ecclesiastical
power; which he again advisedly maintained in a letter to the
archbishop, now printed among his works. The result was equally
honourable to both parties; Laud bestowing a canonry of Windsor on
Hales, which, after so bold an avowal of his opinion, he might accept
without the slightest reproach. A behaviour so liberal forms a
singular contrast to the rest of this prelate's history. It is a
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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