Ecclesiastical History of England, Volume 3—The Church of the Restoration [part 1]Stoughton, John
History
Ecclesiastical History of England, Volume 3—The Church of the Restoration [part 1]
Stoughton, John
Great Britain -- Church history
Archdeacons also issued articles touching the manner of celebrating
Divine service.[399]
Notwithstanding all these precautions, a few ministers continued within
the pale of the Establishment without conforming to the Act.
[Sidenote: THE BARTHOLOMEW EJECTMENT.]
John Chandler held the living of Petto in Essex; although he had only
received Presbyterian ordination, he was pronounced by his diocesan,
Bishop Reynolds--thus far true to his old faith--to be as good a
minister as he could make him; and notwithstanding his only partial
use of liturgical worship, he was allowed to retain his incumbency.
Mr. Ashurst, of Arlsey--a poor Bedfordshire vicarage--in the diocese
of Lincoln, in which Laney succeeded Sanderson in 1663, continued to
officiate in the parish church, reading parts of the Common Prayer, and
taking for his support whatever his parishioners chose to contribute.
Nicholas Billingsley, settled at Blakeney, in the parish of Awre, in
the diocese of Gloucester--"lived very peaceably for awhile"--on his
impropriation of £50 per annum, by the permission of Bishop Nicholson.
We also find in the diocese of Chester, under the successive episcopacy
of Hall, Wilkins, and Pearson, that Angier of Denton, continued the
occupancy of the parish pulpit, and the enjoyment of parish emoluments,
notwithstanding his perseverance in Presbyterian worship. Tilsley, the
Presbyterian Vicar of Dean, after losing his vicarage, was, by Wilkins,
permitted to resume his ministry as lecturer in his old parish, the
new Vicar reading prayers. There were other instances in the same
diocese of an evasion of the law. In the diocese of Gloucester, under
Nicholson, Henry Stubbs was allowed the poor living of Horsley; and in
the diocese of Llandaff, under Lloyd, Richard Hawes was permitted to
preach without subscribing. Similar instances of irregularity occurred
in different parts of the country. Some clergymen, after being ejected,
were allowed to become chaplains in hospitals and prisons, and to
officiate occasionally for parochial Incumbents.[400]
[Sidenote: 1662.]
It may be added, that there were clergymen in the Establishment who
disapproved of what had been done. Edward Stillingfleet, however he
might speak and act afterwards, expressed, at that time, liberal
opinions, and acted in a manner consistent with them. He maintained
that Christ's design was to ease men of their former burdens, and not
to lay on more; that the unity of the Church is an unity of love and
affection, and not a bare uniformity of practice or opinion; and that
however desirable in a Church the latter might be, as long as there are
men of different ranks and sizes in it, it is hardly attainable.[401]
In accordance with these sentiments, Stillingfleet sheltered at his
rectory of Sutton, in Bedfordshire, one of the ejected ministers, and
took a large house, which he converted into a school for another.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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