There are so many references to the Forest of Morf in the early history of Bridgnorth, that it may be well, for the information of the reader, to append the following interesting description of it, given by Mr. Eyton, in the 3rd. Vol. of his Antiquities, p. 212.

“Where now the Counties of Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Worcestershire converge, there was once a vast region of Forest, not confined to one bank of a succession of lakes and marshes which we now know as the Valley of the Severn, but stretching away for miles eastward and westward. The Severn itself was in one place a land-locked and sluggish stream; in another a series of rivulets struggling on, with no concentrated force, amid the various impediments which uncontrolled nature had crowded on its course. Its fits of wintry and swollen fury, like human passions, re-acted upon themselves; for the giant oak, which to-day was torn from its bank and plunged in the torrent, lay on the morrow athwart the subsiding stream, an additional element of its future bondage.

“The region, whose chief features I thus imagine, seems to have been known to the Britons as Coed, or forest—the forest, that is, par excellence of this part of England.

“When we read of the Forests of Morf, Kinver, and Wyre, we get notions of extent which must be added one to the other before we can realize any idea of the more ancient Coed; for the Coed was the parent of the other three, and they perhaps not its only constituents.

“I am now to speak of Morf Forest more particularly, and, though I cannot indicate the precise time at which it was separated from its associates, we shall not err in ascribing the change to an increasing population, and the Saxon devotion to agriculture.

“In the earliest stage of its self-existence, Morf Forest can be ascertained to have been at least eight miles in length, while its greatest width was more problematically about six. Its known, because afterwards maintained, northern boundary rested upon the Worf, for some miles before that stream falls into the Severn. Its south-eastern extremity is determined by its name, taken from the Staffordshire Village of Morf, where commenced that interval which gradual change had interposed between the Forests of Morf and Kinver.

“By still further compression of its southern boundaries, and by large clearances within its area, Morf Forest had, at the Norman Conquest, been altered both in extent and character. But the Forest ground, though alternated with cornfields and villages, was still very great, and very great it remained for more than two centuries afterwards.”

The final perambulation of this Forest was made in the reign of Edward I, a.d., 1300; and it will be a matter of interest to those who know the locality, to trace its ancient boundaries, as given in the document, which was published after the survey was made. It is furnished by Mr. Eyton in p. 219, and is as follows:—

“From Pendlestones Mulne (Pendleston Mill), going up by the Severn to where Worgh (Worf) falls into Severn[75]: and so going up along the bank of Worgh to Worth-brugg (Worf-bridge), and going up thence along the said bank to Rindeleford-brugg (Rindleford-bridge): and so going up along the bank to Chirle, and upwards still to Chirlefordes-brugg; and so along the highway to the vill of Hulton (Hilton), and thence by a certain road to Woghbrokesheth, and so straight along the Stoni-strete[76] to Apewardes Castle,[77] and so along the boundary between the Counties of Salop and Stafford to the Chirlesok: and thence direct between the King’s demesne in his Manor of Claverley, and the fields of Whittimere, Borhton (Broughton), Bebrugg (Beobridge), and Gatacre, to the Cover of Morf. And so through the said Cover to the Blackewalle at the Oldefield, and thence to the Shirevelydyat: and thence by the Crosweyslone (Crossways-lane) to the hedge of the Brodenewelonde: and thence straight to Fililode, and so between the hedge and the Lythe to Trugge-put. And so going down by a certain water-course to the Stonibrugge of Wodeton (Stone-bridge of Wooton), and so along a water-course to Wynelesford; and thence by the highway to Mose-lydyat, and thence to Halyweyes-lydyat; and so by a certain path to the Hethenedich, going down by the Hethenedich to the weir (gurgitem) of Quatford: and so going up by the Severn to a certain ancient ditch, between the field of Brugge and the vill of Quatford: and along the highway to the House of the Lepers of St. James of Brugge: and thence right to a certain ancient ditch under the Gyhet (Gibbet-Hill); and so straight to Baconescroft, going down to Tissengecros; and so by the highway going up to Pendestanes Mulne, where the first boundary of the said bosc begins. The Perambulators also declare that John de Hastinges holds Rughtone (Roughton), Barndelegh (Bradney), Hocoumbe, Swanecot, Burcote, and Bromlegh; John de Astlegh holds the Manor of Northlegh (Nordley); John Fitz Philip holds the vill of Mose; and the Dean of Brugge holds the vill of Quatford,—all within the bounds of the said Forest.”[78]

The sole remaining fragment of this Castle was very carefully examined and measured by King, the author of “Munimenta Antiqua”; in which work he gives the following description of it. (pp. 346-7) He was of opinion indeed that it was a Saxon fortress; but in this he must have been mistaken, as the testimony of history is very clear as to the fact, that it was erected by the Norman Earl, Robert de Belesme.

“The exceeding solidity of whose structure [the leaning Tower] has defied the decay of ages, the blast of gunpowder, and the continually active force of gravity, notwithstanding it is apparently in a tottering state.... It evidently contained three apartments, one above another, each of which were of small dimensions, being only 23 feet 10 inches in length, and 21 feet 2 inches in breadth, and the entrance was manifestly by an arched doorway up a flight of steps on the outside, The marks of the places for the timbers supporting every floor are still visible.... The walls are between 8 and 9 feet thick, or rather more, but not quite uniformly so on each side; for the external measure of the Tower is nearly about 41½ feet square. The outside wall next the town has not even a loophole in it. This side however is very oddly covered with iron hooks, which are said by tradition to have been placed there so late as in the time of Charles I., during the civil wars, to hang wool packs upon, in order to protect the walls from the effects of the cannon: but as this tale is not credible, and the hooks themselves have the appearance of being much more ancient, they serve rather to remind one of a savage custom which sometimes prevailed in early ages, of fastening the bodies of enemies slain on the outside of the walls of fortresses.”

A further grant was made for the same purpose by Henry III. “On May 10, 1220, King Henry III., being at Worcester, orders the Sheriff of Salop to aid the Burgesses of Bruges in the enclosure of their town, allowing them out of the Royal Forest near Bruges, as much of old stumps and dead timber as would suffice to make two stacks (rogos). This was to be done with as little injury as possible to the Forest.” (Antiquities of Shropshire, Vol. 1, p. 299.) Notwithstanding this caution, however, a good deal of damage was done, on account of the large amount of timber which was required for this purpose; for in the Sheriff’s report of the state of the Forest in 1235 there is the following notice:—“Item. The Bosc of Worfield was viewed—much wasted by ancient waste, to wit, in the time of the great war [the Barons’ war], and also in the time of R., late Earl of Chester, who, whilst he was sheriff, sold 1700 oak trees there, besides other wastes made in his time for the Castle of Bruges, and besides delivery of timber made for enclosing the Vill of Bruges, before it was fortified with a wall.” (Ibid, Vol. 3, p. 215.)

The earliest written Charter was granted to the Borough in the reign of Henry II., a.d., 1157, and is as follows:—

“Henry, King of England, and Duke of Normandy, and Aquitaine, and Earl of Anjou, to his Justiciars, and Sheriffs, and Barons, and Ministers, and all his faithful of England, greeting. Know ye that I have conceded to my Burgesses of Bruge all their franchises, and customs, and rights, which they, or their ancestors, had in the time of King Henry, my grandfather. Wherefore I will and strictly command that they have them well, and in peace, and honourably, and fully; within the Borough and without, in wood and in field, in meadows and pastures, and in all things, with such comparative fulness and honour, as they held them in the time of King Henry, my grandfather. And I forbid any one to do them injury or insult in regard of their tenements. Witnesses—T. Chancellor, and Henry de Essex Constable, and William Fitz Alan, at Raddemore.”

In the reign of King John a second Charter was granted, January 10, 1215. A few years afterwards this was renewed by King Henry III., who, in a short time, considerably enlarged the privileges of the Burgesses, in the new Charter referred to. It has been generally supposed, that this charter was destroyed along with other documents, in the fire which took place in Bridgnorth during the siege of the Castle. Most of the papers, belonging to the Corporation, were placed in St. Leonard’s Church for safety; but, this having been set fire to, they were all burnt, and this charter, as it was supposed, among them. But I conclude from the following passage in the Blakeway Papers that this is a mistake, and that this original charter, granted by King Henry, may still be in existence. In M.S. Congreve are the following historical particulars of the town, in the reign of James II.:—The following Aldermen subscribed to the running away with the Charter.

“John Lewis and William Hammonds, Bailiffs; Humphrey Braine, George Longnor, William Baker, Thomas Weal, and about forty others.

“Bickerton’s son subscribed for him while he was out of town.

“Silvanus read a recantation afterwards. Bailiff Hammonds took away the Charter which the town had possessed for 450 years (the people of the town pursuing him) contrary to the mind of the old sages of the town.’”

Whatever may have been Queen Mary’s private feelings, it is plain that she yielded to the pressure of political expediency in this matter. In order to induce the Parliament to repeal all the statutes made against the See of Rome in the two last reigns, she ratified in the fullest manner the alienation of the property which had belonged to Abbeys, Priories, Chantries, Colleges, &c., and strictly forbade any suits against any one on that score, either by authority from the Pope, or general council, or on pretence of any canon or ecclesiastical constitution whatever. (Collier’s Ecclesiastical History, Vol. vi, Book v, pp. 94-6.)

But there are some facts connected with the subject of the suppression of the Monasteries, and the confiscation of their property, which ought to be better known, in order to shew how little warrant Roman Catholics have for representing the matter, as they commonly do, as a piece of Protestant sacrilege. There is a valuable chapter in Mr. Froude’s recent History of England on this subject, and much important additional matter is brought forward in a review of his work, in the Christian Remembrancer of July last. From these two sources I have drawn the following facts, which are well worthy of attention. The state of the Monasteries and Religious Houses generally was such, in the reign of Henry IV., as to call from the House of Commons an indignant remonstrance, and a petition for their secularization; and in the reign of his successor, Henry V., when Popery was wholly in the ascendant in this country, one hundred Monasteries were suppressed by order of the King. (Froude, Vol. 2, p. 411.) But a still more remarkable fact is the following: that a twelve month after the Act of 1536 for the suppression of smaller Monasteries in England, Pope Paul III. appointed a committee of nine of the most eminent ecclesiastics, to examine into the state of the Church. These persons recommended changes far more extensive than any which the English Parliament had contemplated. So hopeless did they consider the reformation of the monastic bodies, that they united in recommending the total suppression of every Monastery in Europe. One of these nine ecclesiastics was Reginald, afterwards Cardinal Pole; and he, firmly as he was attached to the Church of Rome, not only advised this universal sequestration of all Convents, but did not refuse to share in the spoils of their suppression in this country. On his arrival in England, he received from Queen Mary a grant of lands belonging to the dissolved Priory of Newburgh. (Christian Remembrancer, Vol. xxxii, p. 92) Bishop Fisher also, one of the most zealous Prelates of the Romish party in the Church, previous to the passing of the famous Act for the suppression of Monasteries, seized on the Nunnery of Higham, after a vain attempt at its reformation, and by his own act set the example for subsequent confiscations. “In fact, while the reforming[79] party in the Church were pleading for the preservation of some of the Convents, the opposite party were contending for their utter overthrow.” (Ibid.) Yet notwithstanding these facts, which are attested by existing documents, Roman Catholics still speak as if the suppression of these establishments was exclusively the work of Protestants, to be ascribed to a spirit of impiety and sacrilege which the Reformation has let loose upon the Church. The truth is, that the Monastic and Conventual Establishments had become so totally corrupt, and the moral disorders by which they were affected had been proved to be so incurable, that society could no longer endure them; and the opinion prevalent among Roman Catholics, as well as Protestants, was, that the evil had arrived at such a height, that no remedy could be effectual, short of the general suppression of the Religious Houses. Both writers to whom I have referred are warm in their admiration of the original members of the monastic bodies, and of the purposes which such establishments answered at an earlier period of their history. Mr. Froude says, “Originally, and for many hundred years after their foundation, the regular clergy were the finest body of men of which mankind in their chequered history can boast.” (Vol. 2, p. 403) And his Reviewer thus speaks of the Monasteries and Convents: “Great have been the advantages which not only devotion, but political civilization, have received from monastic establishments. In times of disturbance, they were the places of comparative peace—in days of ignorance, retreats of learning—in periods of profligacy, abodes of devotion.” Yet, from the evidence which authentic records supply, the conviction has been forced upon both Mr. Froude and his Reviewer, that scarcely anything could be worse than the moral condition of the inmates of such establishments in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It is natural to regret that remedial measures were not resorted to. Possibly, however, if we possessed all the information which was in the hands of the Government and Legislature of the day, we might be convinced that the only safe and wise course was that which they pursued. But at all events, we must bear in mind that this course was advocated by the warmest friends of the Papacy; and that, although the cupidity of courtiers and public men may have hastened forward the confiscation of monastic property, yet that Roman Catholics, and even dignitaries of the Roman Catholic Church, did not refuse a share of the spoil.

I think it right, in laying before my readers the foregoing statements of Mr. Froude and his Reviewer, to express my great regret that I had not become earlier acquainted with them. Had I possessed the information which I have derived from them somewhat sooner, the language which I have used (p. 85) would have been considerably modified.

A friend has kindly furnished me with the following passages, relating to the Monastic orders, in the document which was presented to Paul III., by Cardinal Pole and the other Divines. The document itself is entitled, “Concilium delectorum Cardinalium, & aliorum PrÆlatorum, de emendanda Ecclesia, S. D. N. D. Paulo III. ipso jubente conscriptum, et exhibitum, Anno M.D. XXXVIII.”

The passages referred to are as follows:—

These passages are extracted from the “Historia Conciliorum Generalium,” by Edmund Richer, Doctor and Fellow of the Sorbonne: Book IV, Part II, pp. 78-9. Colon. 1681. See also Du Pin Cent. XVI, B. I.,ch. 27.

An Act of Parliament was passed in 1571, to enforce the wearing of Woollen Caps; but this failing to have the desired effect, and the people still continuing to indulge their fancy in the choice of covering for their heads, the Queen thought fit to exert her royal prerogative in the matter, and issued a Proclamation for the purpose of enforcing the statute. The Proclamation set forth “how that by little and little the disobedience and wanton disorder of evil-disposed and light persons, more regarding private fantasies and variety, than public commodity or respect of duty, had increased by want of execution of the said law.” It therefore commanded that Bailiffs, Constables, Churchwardens, &c., every Sunday and Festival Pay, make diligent view and search in all Churches and Chapels, and all other places within the circuit and compasses of their offices, for all singular breakers and offenders of the said Statute, and without delay cause the names of such offenders, together with the day and place of the offence, to be then written, and lawfully ordered and committed. It states that the violation of this Act of Parliament tended “to the decay, ruin, and desolation of divers antient Cities and Boroughs, which had been the nourishers and bringers up, in that faculty, of great numbers of people, as London, also Exeter, Bristowe, Monmouth, Hereford, Rosse and Bridgnorth.” (Strype’s Annals, Vol. 2, Book 1, C. viii, pp. 109-110.)

It is a curious fact, that two of our great poets, writing in prose, have exerted their genius to paint, the one the character of Cromwell, the other the character of Charles I, in the darkest possible colours. Cowley, in his “Vision,” has heaped on the Protector as many reproachful epithets, and as stern expressions of reprobation, as the most unrelenting royalist could desire; but the bolder wing of the Author of “Paradise Lost,” has soared far above him in the region of invective. In his famous answer to the Icon Basilica, Milton has put together for the purpose of defaming the memory of his Sovereign, a piece of writing perhaps as vituperative and scornful as is to be found in the English language. But it is not in brochures, such as these, that we are to look for just delineations of character; and as I should consider it very unwarrantable to bring an accusation against King Charles on the authority of Milton, I should feel it to be equally so to found a charge of hypocrisy against Cromwell, on statements made in “The Vision” of Cowley, or in any writing of the kind. Unhappily the charge of hypocrisy against Cromwell rests on less questionable evidence. The following letter, written by him to Robert Hammond, Governor of the Isle of Wight, plainly convicts him of it; and affords melancholy proof of how unscrupulously he could adopt the most sacred phraseology when he had a point to gain, and enter on the discussion of the most deeply spiritual subjects, when his real purpose all the while was to win over his correspondent to his party, and to secure his co-operation in furthering his own schemes. The letter to Hammond is so curious an illustration of this, that I think it right to lay the whole of it before the reader. The occasion of his writing it was this:—King Charles had been induced by Cromwell’s machinations to make his escape from Hampton Court, and to fly to the Isle of Wight, and there to entrust himself to Hammond, the Governor. This man, when he was required by the Army to surrender the person of the King to them, felt strong scruples of conscience against doing so, and for a while refused. In order to remove his scruples, both Ireton and Cromwell wrote to him. Cromwell’s letter[80] is written with consummate skill, but no one surely can avoid seeing how deeply it is tainted with the odious sin of hypocrisy—all the more odious for venturing so far on holy ground, and soiling with its touch things so precious as the things of the Spirit of God.

The following letter,[81] written from Bridgnorth in the year 1642, affords evidence of the fact, that there were partizans of the Parliament in the town, who doubtless did their best to alienate the minds of the people from the King’s cause; and also that the rude conduct of the soldiers, in the royal army, greatly aggravated the evil. The statements made on this latter subject must however be taken with some allowance, as they are made under the influence of strong party feeling.

There is a copy of a letter among the Blakeway Papers from Prince Maurice, addressed to His Majesty’s Commissioners for the county of Salop, dated 1645, which also affords evidence of some disaffection to the royal cause among the people of Bridgnorth, or, at least, some slackening of zeal in the King’s service, produced most likely by the causes above referred to.

The College, which stood in Saint Leonard’s Church Yard, had formerly, it is supposed, been the residence of the Chauntry Priests belonging to the Church, and after the Act for the Suppression of the Religious Houses, it became the dwelling of the Master of the Grammar School. The exact year of the foundation of this School cannot be ascertained; but the Charity Commissioners, who visited Bridgnorth in 1815, fully investigated the matter, and discovered that it was in existence in the reign of Henry VIII. The following is an extract from their Report on the subject:—“It appears from the return of the Commissioners under a Commission of the 20th. July, in the second year of Edward VI., that a Grammar School, long before the said 20th. of July, had been continually kept in the town of Bridgnorth, with the revenues of the Chauntry of St. Leonard, in that town; and it appeared to the said Commissioners, that the Schoolmaster then for the time being should have for his wages, or salary, £8 a year, as before that time he was allowed anciently out of the revenues of the said Chauntry.”

The Charity Commissioners of 1815 were equally unsuccessful in their endeavours to ascertain the origin of the Almshouses which are situate in the Church Lane; but they found, among the papers belonging to the Corporation, the presentment and verdict of a Jury empannelled at Bridgnorth, in the sixth year of Charles I., which proves that land was granted to this Charity as early as the eighth year of Henry VIII. By a Deed, however, which I copied from the Blakeway Papers in the Bodleian Library, it is evident that the Almshouses of this locality were well known in the parish of St. Leonard, in the earlier part of the reign of Henry VII. The Deed is dated 1492, and is as follows: “Alice Wood, prioress of ye house and ch. of St. Leonard, of ye White nuns of Byrywood, and the convent of ye same place. Whereas John Bruyne, of Bruggen?, and his ancestors from time immemorial, have held of us, and our predecessors, in ye High Street of Bruggen? betw. ye land belong? to ye chantry of S? Tho. Martyr, in ye Ch. of St. Leonard, there on ye North, and the Almshouse on ye South, we confirm his estate therein, and grant it to Wm. Otteley, of Salop, and Margery his Wife.”[82]

“Articles agreed upon for the Surrender of Bridgnorth Castle, the 26th. day of April, 1646; between

• Sir Robert Howard, Knight of the Bath, Governor,
• Sir Vincent Corbet,
• Sir Edward Acton, and
• Sir Francis Ottley, Commissioners for the King;
• and
• Colonel Andrew Lloyd,
• Colonel Robert Clive, and
• Robert Charlton, Esquire, Commissioners for the Parliament.

I. That all Commissioned Officers of Horse, and all Captains of Foot, shall march away to any of His Majesty’s Garrisons or Armies within forty miles, with their horses and arms for themselves, and each of them to have a servant, with his horse and sword, and their wearing apparel. Free quarter for thirty miles, and safe conduct, and not to march less than eight miles a day. Any of the aforesaid Officers to repair to any of their own habitations.

II. That all inferior Commissioned Officers shall have liberty to march with their swords, and the common soldiers without arms, to any of His Majesty’s Garrisons or Armies within forty miles, as before stated, on laying down their arms; to live at their own habitations for a fortnight, and afterwards to take the negative oath if they live within the county, or letters from hence to the Committees of the several counties where they intend to reside, and to have papers granted them accordingly.

III. That all Clergymen, Townsmen, and Countrymen, within the Castle, may have liberty to repair to their own habitations, provided they lay down their arms, and a fortnight’s time allowed them for taking the negative oath, and not to live within a mile of the Parliament Garrisons; or otherwise, if they should desire it, to march to any of the King’s Garrisons or Armies.

IV. That all wounded and sick persons within the Castle shall have liberty to reside in the Low Town, or elsewhere, till they be fit to travel; and then to have passes to go home, or to any of the King’s Garrisons or Armies.

V. That Sir Robert Howard, Sir Vincent Corbet, Sir Edward Acton, and Sir Francis Ottley, with each of them, their horses, arms, and two men a piece, with their horses and swords, and their master’s wearing apparel, shall have liberty to march to their several habitations, and to continue there for the space of two months: to which time they are to make their election, whether they will go to make their peace with the Parliament, or go beyond Sea, or to any of the King’s Garrisons, or Armies, and to have passes accordingly,—they engaging themselves to do nothing prejudicial to the Parliament in the mean time.

VI. That Mr. Howard, Mr. Fisher, and Mr. Grovenor, shall march away with their horses and arms, and one man a piece, with their apparel and swords, to any place within forty miles.

VII. That Lieutenant Col. Hosier and Doctor Dewen shall march away without horse or arms, to any of the King’s Garrisons, or any other place within thirty miles; provided it be not within this County.

VIII. That Mr. Milward, Captain of the Garrison, may have liberty to go with a horse, to his house at Leighton, in this County, and to take with him his manuscripts, and there to live, taking the negative oath within one month’s time; or is to march away out of the County with the rest.

IX. That the Clerks of the Commissioners may have liberty to march, as the rest of the inferior Officers, and to have the same conditions; and to take with them all papers concerning the Garrison, and their wearing apparel.

X. That Lady Ottley, her children, and maid-servant have liberty, with their wearing cloaths, to go to Pitchford, or the Hay, and there to live unmolested.

XI. That all women and children within the Castle, may have liberty to go to their own, or any of their friends’ houses, provided it be not within one mile of this Garrison.

XII. That all Gentlemen, Officers, and Soldiers, within the Castle, Strangers as well as others, desiring to go beyond the Sea, shall have passes accordingly, and letters to the Committee of their several Counties, to afford them the like conditions as to the Gentlemen of this County, upon the surrender of this Castle here granted.

XIII. That the Surgeon belonging to this Garrison shall march away, and to have the same conditions as the inferior Officers.

XIV. That the Gunners and Powdermen, with their mates, may march away as the rest of the common Soldiers.

XV. That no violence, injury, or incivility, shall be offered to any who shall march out of this Castle, but be protected in all things, according to the tenor of these Articles; and that sufficient Hostage on both sides be given for the performance of all and every the matters here agreed upon.

XVI. That the Governor, and the rest of the Officers, shall do their utmost endeavors to protect and preserve all the ordinances, arms, ammunition, victuals, provisions, goods, bedding, and all other accommodation necessary and belonging to the Castle, other than what is allowed to be taken by the aforesaid Articles; and all these, safe and unspoiled, to be delivered up, together with the Castle, unto the Committee whom they shall appoint; and these Articles to be confirmed by the Governor.

XVII. That if these Articles be consented to, the Castle to be surrendered by seven of the clock to morrow morning; and those who intend to march to Worcester, to quarter in the Low Town, or any other Town within five miles of the Garrison, upon the return of the Trumpeter and Officer sent to Worcester; provided they come within two days.

XVIII. That if any Officer, or Soldier, shall in any way maliciously spoil his horse or arms, or misdemean himself in his march, such misdemeanor shall not be extended further than upon the party offending; and upon them Justice shall be done according to the discipline of war.

XIX. That all Commissioned Officers be certified by the Governor of the Castle, and upon his certificate be allowed to march accordingly; and that all Troopes march away with their swords.

XX. That Mr. Edward Lathan[83] (Latham) be delivered to the mercy of the Parliament.

• (Signed)
• ANDREW LLOYD,
• ROBERT CLIVE,
• ROBERT CHARLETON.”

The following is a copy of the assignment of the goods and chattels of Apley, by the Parliamentary Sequestrators, to Roger Rowley, Esq., of Rowley, in the Parish of Worfield. The original document is in the possession of T. C. Whitmore, Esq., of Apley, who kindly furnished me with this transcript.

It is very important that the members of the Church of England, and others, should receive some correct information on the subject of religious persecution, or persecution for conscience sake; for a very great mistake on the subject very commonly prevails—namely, that the Dissenters have always been the suffering party, and the Church the offending party, in this matter. At a time, indeed, when the duty of toleration was little understood, some of the rulers of the Church of England, as well as of the government of the day, did exercise the most unjustifiable severity against those who ventured to separate from the established religion. But the instances of this have been so much insisted on, and have been so frequently made the subject of popular declamation, that many have been led to imagine that the Church of England has, again and again, been chargeable with the guilt of cruelly persecuting her opponents, while the opponents have been guiltless of any such wrong against her. But the impression is a most erroneous one; for it may be asserted, without the fear of contradiction, that the sufferings which the clergy endured in the short space of three years during the Commonwealth, at the hands of those who had separated from her, were in severity and extent greater than the whole amount of suffering which she may have been the instrument of inflicting on separatists for the hundred years previous.[84]

In proof of this, Gauden,[85] in the Petitionary Remonstrance which he delivered to Cromwell, in behalf of the suffering Clergy of England, stated that the number of Ministers ejected from the benefices amounted to 8000. And Gauden would not, in a public address, and to such a man as Cromwell, have ventured to make a false or careless statement. But a much closer investigation of the subject was afterwards made, and the result of it was published by Walker, in his well known work, entitled—“The Sufferings of the Clergy,” from which it may be seen that, if we include in the catalogue the Cathedral Clergy, and the Clergy belonging to the Universities, and chaplains,—as well as the parochial ministers and their curates,—the sufferers far exceeded the number above stated. By a resolution passed in the House of Commons, during the Protectorate of Cromwell, all ministers were to be deprived of their benefices who refused to sign the League and Covenant; and, consequently, numbers who were too loyal to subscribe a document so hostile to the interests of the King and the Church, were at once reduced to poverty, and had to bear the severest hardships and privations. They and their families were driven from their houses, not knowing where to look for food and shelter; exposed also to the brutal insolence of the military, who found as much pleasure in plundering a peaceful parsonage, as in defiling the sanctity of the house of God. And these outrages appear to have been sanctioned by those in authority, rather than repressed. Besides this, numbers were thrown into prisons—the ancient palaces of the Bishops being turned into jails for the purpose; and when these and the common prisons in London were crowded with inmates, “many” as Clarendon states, “both of the laity and clergy, were committed to prison on board the Ships in the river Thames, where they were kept under decks, and no friend suffered to come to them, by which many lost their lives.” Nor is this to be omitted, in giving account of their sufferings, that while they were enduring these wrongs, for conscience sake—nay, suffering the loss of all things, rather than abandon their principles—they were vilified in Parliament, and by the public press, as being little better than criminals; and men, whose reputation had never been blemished by a single stain,—whose deep learning, and still deeper piety, would have reflected honor on any church of which they had been members;—men who were saints indeed, in the true and ancient sense of the word—were held up to public scorn, as if they were not fit to live, and branded by the name of “malignant and scandalous ministers.”

The recollection of these persecutions, inflicted on the loyal body of the clergy, sharpened the feelings of the Government, after the Restoration, against Dissenters; and those who then came into power were too ready to make reprievals for the injuries and wrongs committed during the Commonwealth. The consequence was, that many excellent men, whose devotedness to God and whose zeal in the pastoral office was unquestioned—men of whom, indeed, “the world was not worthy,” and whose only offence was want of conformity to the Church, suffered very severely; but their sufferings were trifling, both in extent or severity, compared to the previous sufferings of the Clergy: so much, indeed, does the one exceed the other, that Archbishop Bramhall, who certainly was one not accustomed to utter words at random, says, “Let Mr. Baxter sum up into one catalogue all the nonconformists throughout the kingdom of England, even since the beginning of the Reformation, who have been cast aside, or driven away. I dare abate him all the rest of the kingdom, and only exhibit the Martyrologies of London, and the two Universities, or a list of those who in the late intestine wars have been haled away to prisons, or chased away into banishment, by his own party, in these three places alone; or left to the merciless world to beg their bread, for no other crime than loyalty, and because they stood affected to the ancient rites and ceremonies of the Church of England, and they shall double them for number.”—Grot: Relig. p. 116.

It is very desirable that such facts as these should be known; not that the knowledge of them may serve to ferment and keep alive any feelings of hostility, or unkindness, towards those who still maintain the principles of nonconformity—such a purpose cannot be too strongly repudiated; but, that we may have an answer to give to such as charge the Church with intolerance and persecution, and may be able to shew, that in this respect she has been far more “sinned against than sinning.” These facts also prove to us, and on this account they are worthy of record, that the principles of the Church of England were considered by our forefathers as worth suffering for; and that rather than surrender the Articles of her Creed, or abrogate her regimen, they willingly endured the severest penalties; took joyfully the spoiling of their goods, and counted not their life dear unto them. Happily, the day of persecution for conscience sake is past,—the spirit of the age does not tolerate any thing like violence;—would that our “unhappy divisions” were at an end also;—that all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity were not only of one heart, but of one mind also—were “perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement,” “spoke the same things,” “walked by the same rule;” not only kept “the unity of the Spirit,” but also unity of worship and of doctrine. This is the fellowship which the Scripture teaches should subsist between the members of Christ’s Church; and nothing short of this should be the object of your hopes and prayers.

The following particulars respecting Dr. Percy, have been very kindly communicated to me by the Rev. H. E. Boyd, Rector of Dromara, in the County of Down, who was for many years domestic Chaplain to the Bishop:—“The Right Reverend Thomas Percy, D. D., Bishop of Dromore, in Ireland, highly distinguished in the literary world, the son of Arthur Lowe Percy, by his wife Jane Nott, was born at Bridgnorth, and baptized the 29th of April, 1729; his grandfather, Arthur Percy, having removed thither from the City of Worcester, where his family had been settled for several generations. Arthur was grandson of Thomas Percy, who was Mayor of Worcester, in 1662. The subject of this note received the rudiments of his education at the Grammar School of Bridgnorth, and graduated as A. M. from Christ’s Church College, Oxford, in 1753: in November of that year, in the presentation of his College, he was instituted to the Vicarage of Easton Manduit, in Northamptonshire, which he retained until 1782. In 1756, he became resident, and was presented to the Rectory of Willby, by the Earl of Sussex, whose Mansion was close to the Parsonage. In 1759, he was married to Ann Goderick, after an attachment of several years, to whom he had addressed the pastoral ballad of “O Nancy, wilt thou go with me;” which being transformed, by changing some words into the Scottish dialect, “Nancy” into “Nannie,” “go” into “gang,” &c., has passed with many persons as an original Scottish ballad, written by Burns, or Allan Ramsay. During his residence at Bridgnorth, through the kindness of Mr. Humphrey Pitt, of Prior’s Lee, he became possessed of the M. S. folio of Ancient Poetry, which exercised a magnetic influence on his literary taste, and led to the publication of the Reliques, in 1764. Through the kindness of the Earl of Sussex, he was introduced to the Duke and Duchess of Northumberland, who appointed him their domestic Chaplain, and patronized him in his Antiquarian pursuits. In 1769, he became Chaplain in Ordinary to King George III.; and having obtained the degree of S. T. P., from Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he was collated to the Deanery of Carlisle, 1778; and in 1782, elevated to the see of Dromore, where he died 30th September, 1811, in the 84th year of his age, revered by all sects and classes in his Diocese, to whom the exercise of every virtue—piety, charity, and hospitality—especially to his Clergy, had endeared him, during an episcopate of nearly thirty years. There, his memory is still vividly preserved: and recollections of his kindness are traditionally handed down from father to son by the inhabitants of Dromore. He survived his excellent and amiable partner, Mrs. Percy, about five years; they are both interred in a vault in the north aisle of Dromore Cathedral, which was added in 1804, and erected chiefly at the Bishop’s expense. The “Key to the New Testament,” a most useful manual to the Divinity Student, and a translation of the “Song of Solomon,” with some occasional Sermons, form the chief of the Bishop’s theological labours. An allusion to his discursions in the other various paths of literature, in which he was engaged, would extend this notice to an inconvenient length. And as it is intended to give a more detailed account of this eminent man, in case the copious supply of materials, known to be in existence, be contributed and placed in the hands of the writer, the brevity of this sketch will be the less to be regretted.”

The following is a copy of the Petition, presented to Lady Bartue, the draft of which is preserved among the papers of the Corporation:—

The foundation of this Charity has already been referred to Appendix I, and proofs given of its antiquity. An official report of it was drawn up by the Rev. Wm. Corser, in 1792, and presented to the Corporation; after a very careful investigation into its history. In this, he states it as his opinion, that it was first established and supported by the members of the Religious fraternity of the neighbouring College in St. Leonard’s Church Yard; though the management of it, and the right of appointment to it, was vested entirely in the Corporation. The objects of the Charity were originally poor persons, of either sex,—“the Alms Houses being open to poor Burgesses’ wives; but, for the last hundred years, the Charity has been confined to poor women,” the widows, or unmarried daughters of Burgesses, seven chosen from the parish of St. Leonard’s, and five from the parish of St. Mary’s. The management of the Charity is placed by a late Act of Parliament, in the hands of “the Trustees of General Charity Trusts.”

“Charles the Second, by the Grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To all, and singular, Archbishops, Bishops, Archdeacons, Deans, and their Officials, Parsons, Ministers, Lecturers, Vicars and Curates, and all other Spiritual Persons: And also to all Justices of the Peace, Mayors, Sheriffs, Bailiffs, Constables, Churchwardens, Collectors for the Poor, and Headboroughs: And to all Officers of Cities, Boroughs, and Towns, Corporate; and to all other our Officers, Ministers, and Subjects, whatsoever they be, as well within Liberties as without, to whom these Presents shall come, Greeting.

“Whereas, We are credibly given to understand, as well by the humble Supplication and Petition of the Bailiffs and Burgesses of Our Town of Bridgnorth, in Our County of Salop, as also by a Certificate under the hands and seals of our Trusty and well-beloved Subjects, Sir William Whitmore, Baronet, Sir Thomas Wolrich, Knight and Baronet, Sir Walter Acton, Baronet, Sir John Weld, the younger, Knight, Sir Richard Otley, Knight, Richard Scriven, Thomas Whitmore, Robert Sandford, Robert Leighton, and Thomas Holland, Esqs.; Justices of the Peace, at the general Sessions of the Peace held for the said County, at Salop, on Tuesday next after the Feast of the Epiphany, now last past, that in the year of our Lord One Thousand, Six Hundred, Forty and Six, at which time, our said Town being kept as a Garrison for Our dear Father, the same was surprized by the contrary party then in Arms, and the upper town thereof being set on fire, all the houses and the greatest part of the goods and wares therein, and their Market House, the Colledge, Alms Houses, and great Collegiate Church, were burned down and consumed, and that at the said Sessions, it appeared to our said Justices, by the Oaths of Edward Whitehead and Michaell Millington, able and sufficient persons; that the losses sustained by the same fire, do amount in the whole unto the value of Threescore Thousand Pounds at the least; which being to the utter destruction and laying waste of Our said town, and the great impoverishment and undoing of the Inhabitants thereof, unless they shall be relieved by the love and charity of such whose hearts the Lord (who is the great disposer of hearts) shall warm and stir up to commiserate them in this their most deplorable condition, Our said Justices did humbly certifie the same to Our Princely and Christian consideration, to the end that our gracious Letters Patents for a collection of the charitable benevolence of our well-disposed subjects of Our Kingdome of England, might be granted unto Our said Bailiffs, Burgesses, and other Inhabitants of our said town, for and towards their relief and the re-edifying of the said Collegiate Church and Colledge. We therefore, and upon the Petition of the said Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Inhabitants have thereunto condescended, not doubting but that all compassionate and tender-hearted Christians rightly and duely considering the Premisses and the miserable and mutable state of man through these inevitable and deplorable accidents, (none knowing how soon they may fall into the like calamity) will be ready and willing to extend their liberal contributions towards this so charitable and pious a work, the same tending not only to the relief, support, and refreshment of Our said distressed subjects in their great necessity, but to the advancement of the Honour and Worship of Almighty God. Know ye therefore, that of Our especial grace and Christian compassion have given and granted, and by these Our Letters Patents under Our great Seal of England, We do give and grant unto Our said poor distressed subjects, the Bailiffs, Burgesses, and other Inhabitants of Bridgnorth aforesaid, and to their Deputy and Deputies, the Bearer and Bearers hereof, authorized and deputed in that behalf, as hereafter in these presents is appointed, full power license and authority, to ask, gather, receive and take the alms and charitable benevolence of all of Our loving subjects whatsoever; inhabiting within our Kingdome of England, and all and every the Cities, Towns corporate, priviledged places, Parishes, Hamblets, Villages, and in all other places whatsoever, within our said Kingdome, for and towards the re-edifying, rebuilding, and repairing of the said Collegiate Church, College, and Alms Houses, in the first place; and after for and towards the reimbursements and recovery of the losses and for the future support of Our said poor distressed subjects, and for the relief of them and their desolate families, which being a work of so Christian and charitable concernment, will doubtless be readily and fervently promoted and performed by all well-disposed people, who upon their serious and due consideration of the said great Losses, will, with a fellow-feeling of the miseries and distresses of their fellow Christians extend their free and cheerful contributions more then ordinary in this pious and blessed work, for in so doing they do lend unto the Lord, and hence it is that wisdom itself hath said and testified, That it is more blessed to give than to receive. Wherefore, We will and command you, and every of you, that at such time and times, as the said Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Inhabitants of Bridgnorth aforesaid, their Deputy or Deputies, the Bearer or Bearers hereof, (authorized and deputed as hereafter in these presents is appointed,) shall come and repair to any of your Churches, Chappels, or other places, to ask and receive the gratuities and charitable benevolence or Our said loving Subjects, quietly to permit and suffer them so to do, without any manner of your lets, or contradictions. And you, the said Parsons, Ministers, Lecturers, Vicars and Curates, for the better stirring up of a charitable devotion, deliberately to publish according to the tenor of these Our Letters Patents, or brief hereof unto the people, upon the Lord’s Day next after the same shall be tendered unto you,—exhorting, perswading, and stirring them up to extend their liberal contributions towards this so pious and charitable a work. And you, the said Churchwardens of every Parish, and Collectors for the poor, where such Collection is to be made, as aforesaid, together with such other honest active men there, as shall be nominated by the minister and your selves, are hereby willed and required to collect and gather the Alms and charitable benevolence of Our said loving subjects: not only Householders, but also Servants, Strangers, and others: And if you shall find it more expedient for an effectual performance of this pious work, you are to go from house to house in your respective parishes, upon the Week dayes, to gather the Alms of Our said loving subjects. And what shall be by you so gathered by vertue of these presents, in the said parishes and places, to be by the Ministers and yourselves, endorsed on the back side of these our Letters Patents, or the true copies or briefs hereof, in words at length and not in figures; which endorsement is to be subscribed with the hands of you the said Ministers, Churchwardens, and such in each Parish or Place, as shall assist you in such Collection, and also to be registered in the Books of your respective Parishes: And the sum and sums of money so gathered and endorsed you are to deliver to the bearer or bearers of these Our Letters Patents, so deputed and authorized as hereafter in these presents is appointed, whensoever you shall be by him or them required so to do: whose receiving thereof, with his or their Acquitance or Acquitances shall be sufficient discharge for so doing; which said bearer or bearers of these Our Letters Patents, are hereby willed and required forthwith to pay and deliver all the moneys by them so to be collected and received as aforesaid, unto John Bennett, George Weld, and the said Thomas Holland Esquires, and to John Rogerson, Robert Richards, and Thomas Fingmore, of the said town of Bridgnorth, gent., aforesaid, or any two of them, whom We do by these presents nominate, constitute and appoint the Treasurers of all such moneys, as shall be collected and gathered by virtue of these Our Letters Patents, who are from time to time to pay and dispose of the same moneys, in such manner and order as the said Sir Thomas Wolrich, Sir William Whitmore, Sir Walter Acton, Sir John Weld the younger, Thomas Whitmore and Thomas Holland, Esquires, and Michael Thomas, Rector of Stockton, in the said County of Salop, or any three or more of them, shall by writing under their hands and seals direct and appoint the same. And lastly, for the more assurance of faithful and equal dealing in the receipt accompt, and distribution of the moneys hereby to be collected as aforesaid, and that the said Bailiffs, Burgesses, and Inhabitants of Bridgnorth aforesaid, may not be defeated of any part thereof, but enjoy the full benefit of this Our Royal favour extended to them, and that a true and honest accompt may be given and rendered to them, Our will and pleasure is, that no man shall be employed to collect any of the said moneys but such only as shall be appointed and authorized thereunto, by Deputation or Deputations under the hands and seals of the said Treasurers or any two of them, and that such person or persons as shall be so deputed, to make the said collections within our City of London, and the liberties and suburbs thereof, shall beside the said Deputation procure a Testimonial in this behalf from the Lord Mayor of Our said City of London for the time being, under his hand and seal, whom we do by these presents desire to grant the same accordingly, that so no scruple or impediment, may be raised to prevent or hinder a ready, speedy, and effectual performance, in Our said City of London, and the Liberties and Suburbs thereof, of Our Royal will and pleasure herein before declared; and for the better and more speedy collecting of the said charitable benevolence, Our further will and pleasure is, that the said respective Deputies (if they shall see cause) shall respectively deliver Briefs unto the chief Constables, of every Hundred or Division, in every of the said Counties, who are hereby required to distribute the same to the respective Churchwardens of every Parish or Precinct, within their respective Constabularies, and when such collection shall be made as aforesaid, the said several Churchwardens are required to return to each respective Chief Constable the Briefs received by them, together with the moneys collected by the same, to be endorsed thereupon and subscribed in manner as is hereby before directed and appointed, and the said chief Constables to give discharges for the receipt thereof accordingly, which said chief Constables are to deliver and pay the said moneys so by them to be received, together with the said Brief or Briefs so endorsed as aforesaid, unto the bearer or bearers of these our Letters Patents, so to be deputed as aforesaid, at the Assizes next after such their receipt thereof whensoever holden within the several and respective Counties, or whensoever they shall be required thereunto, by the person or persons so deputed as aforesaid, and the said Treasurers or any two of them are hereby willed and required, from time to time to pay and distribute the Moneys so to be by them received as aforesaid, in and about the uses aforesaid, and the promoting and carrying on the same by and according to such directions and appointments as they shall from time to time receive from the persons for that purpose herein above-named, or any three or more of them: Any Law, Statute, Act, Ordinance, or Provision heretofore made to the contrary hereof in any wise notwithstanding. In witness whereof, we have caused these Our Letters to be made Patents for the spase of one whole year next after the date hereof to endure, and no longer. Witnesse Our Self at Westminster, the first day of June, in the Thirteenth year of our Raign.”

God save the King.

What makes the resistance of these Prelates to the unconstitutional proceedings of James the more remarkable is, that they afterwards submitted to deprivation, rather than renounce their allegiance to him. When he was deposed, or as others would represent it, when he abdicated the throne, they could not be persuaded by any inducements to abjure his sovereignty, and to take the oath of allegiance to William. They regarded James as still their lawful King, and judged that it would be a violation of the law of God for them to renounce his authority: and, therefore, neither the remembrance of the wrongs which he had done them, nor the prospect of what they might be called to suffer for maintaining their allegiance to him, could shake their fidelity. They refused, notwithstanding the many overtures which were made to them, to take the customary oaths to the new King, hence the name of “Non-Jurors.” They were perhaps extreme in their views, and carried their principles of non-resistance and passive obedience so far, as to involve them in great practical difficulties, which has afforded to their opponents matter for much contemptuous ridicule. But those who express this scorn for the principles of the Non-Jurors, should remember that they were the principles maintained by every protestant community before the revolution—maintained as strenuously by Burnet[86] and Tillotson, during the reign of the Stuarts, as by the seven Bishops. Here lay the difference, that on the accession of William, the former renounced these doctrines, and, in consequence, were advanced to high places of honour and emolument: the latter still adhered to them, though their adherence cost them the loss of all things. This too happened at a time when, according to the testimony of Mr. Macaulay, principle was a very rare quality indeed in public men of any party; so that the sacrifice which the non-juring Bishops and Clergy made for conscience sake stands out in striking contrast to the selfishness and corruption which every where surrounded them. This contrast is so ably drawn by a writer in the Christian Remembrancer, of April last, that I think it well to submit it to the Reader.

“To this scene of falsehood and perfidy and unbridled selfishness,—to the duplicity of the great men, and the corruption of the little men in the state,—there was at this time one striking contrast. There was one body of men in England, who, in spite of the low tone of public honesty, did through evil report, through scorn and ridicule, through the loss of their daily bread, stick to their principles. There was one body of men possessed of reputation and competence, and some of them of high station and wealth, who might have kept all—have been caressed and flattered, at least feared or treated with respect—might at least have kept their freeholds and their influence, their peerages and palaces, or their quiet country parsonages, merely by saying a few words against their convictions, and who would not. It was nothing very fearful or profligate that they were called to do. It was then, and is still, even among those who sympathise with them, a great question whether they ought not to have done it. It was something for which, had they wanted a pretext, they could have found not pretexts but good reasons, in the example, and opinion, and authority of numbers of their brethren—good, and conscientious, and pure-minded men. It was something which Beveridge and Bishop Wilson could do with a clear conscience. But their consciences would not allow them to do it; and they did it not. Call them over-scrupulous, call them narrow-minded, say that they were entangled and misled by a false theory of government, still the fact remains; their duty seemed to them clear and plain, and their duty they followed at all costs. They lost everything by it; they were cast out of the Church, they were cast out of the State; too few to have any influence, too unpopular to hope for converts, they found themselves cut off from the body of their countrymen, cut off from all the chief walks of life, homeless and living on alms, pitied by friends, suspected by all in power, ridiculed by the world, plunged into the miseries and perplexities of a new and difficult course of action, and of a small isolated clique, with small comfort for the present, and small hope for the future. Granting all that their critics or their enemies said of them—and they have had keen critics and rancorous enemies,—that they were fretful and cross-grained, that they were peevish and could not reason—that they were censorious and ill-natured to their opponents—that their theories were absurd, their heads hot, their intestine quarrels about small points very petty—granting that Sancroft was sour and self-opiniated, Turner a busy plotter, Collier indiscreet and a proud priest, that Dodwell had odd notions on the immortality of the soul, and that Hickes was as tiresome as Mr. Macaulay himself about the Theban legion—still there is no denying the fact, that while the great men of the day, who were having their will, and riding on the high places of the earth, were, most of them, men whom we should shun as we do sharpers and swindlers—the mocked and ruined Non-jurors were honest men.” (Christian Remembrancer, vol. xxxi, pp. 412-413).

One of these has left a name in the Church which will be honoured, as long as simplicity and godly sincerity are held in estimation among men. The life of Bishop Ken, both before and after his deprivation, was one so blameless and harmless—one of such uniform gentleness and charity, as to win almost universal reverence and regard; and the record of it has extorted the admiration of those who are most opposed to his principles. He refused to take the new oath of allegiance. After giving the subject every possible consideration, and calmly and dispassionately deliberating on it, he felt that he could not with a clear conscience swear fidelity to William and Mary as his liege sovereigns, and he submitted patiently to the penalties which his refusal brought upon him. He felt it his duty to enter a public protest against the act of the government, which deprived him of his Bishopric; but he retired from it without a murmur, attended, however, by the tears and lamentations of his flock, who had known him long enough to form an estimate of his character, and to calculate their loss in being deprived of his overseership and counsel. Like others of his Brethren, he would have been reduced to great poverty, had not his attached friend and College companion, Lord Weymouth, received him into his house, at Longleat. There he lived for upwards of thirty years after his deprivation, and there he died. He suffered during his latter years an amount of bodily anguish, which few men are called on to endure, and this he sought to alleviate, and not in vain, by the exercise of prayer and contemplation, and by indulging in strains of sacred poetry, for which he had a natural aptitude. These he called anodynes, and “alleviations of Paine,” and such they proved to him. His Biographer states that “writing, saying, and singing hymns, were his chief solace: they turned his mournings into penitential sighs.” His death was like his life, one of perfect peace. His burial was in harmony with his character, free from ostentation and parade. His special request was that he might be buried in the Church Yard of the nearest parish without any manner of pomp or ceremony, and that he might be carried to the grave by six of the poorest men in the parish. He left in his last Will this declaration of his stedfast attachment to the Church, which coming from one of his stamp is of no small importance in these days of disloyalty and division:—

“As for my Religion, I die in the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith, professed by the whole Church, before the disunion of the East and West: more particularly I die in the Communion of ye Church of England, as it stands distinguished from all Papall and Puritan innovations, and as it adheres to the doctrine of the Crosse.”