in his youth he continued to be till his death. Through a long and chequered career no poverty was borne so cheerfully, no wealth distributed so wisely and so bountifully, as that which fell to the lot of Thomas Morton.

Morton's opinion on the subject.

It was but natural that Morton should be far from sharing the opinions of the Puritans on the subject now brought before him. He and those who thought with him were sure to deny the Sabbatical character of the Lord's Day. Their reverence for Church authority led them to shrink from tracing its institution higher than to the earliest Christian times, and their whole tone of mind was such as made them lay stress rather upon the due attendance upon public worship, in which Christians met together as an organized congregation, than upon the restraints which they might place upon themselves during the remainder of the day. When, not many years later, the poet whose verses are the mirror of the feelings and the sentiments of the school of divines to which Morton belonged, celebrated the joys and duties of the great Christian festival, it was in this key that all his thoughts were pitched.

66

Sundays observe: think, when the bells do chime,
'Tis angels' music :

is the commencement of his exhortation. Through two whole pages he continues in a similar strain. Of behaviour out of church he has not a single word to say.1

His advice.

Holding these views, Morton had little difficulty in perceiving what was best to be done. On the one hand, nothing should be permitted which might disturb the congregation during the hours of service. On the other hand, it must be left to every man's conscience to decide whether or no he would take part in the accustomed amusements after the service was at an end. No compulsion was to be used. If the Puritans could persuade their neighbours that the practices in question were sinful, they should have perfect liberty to do so. But further than that they were not to be allowed to go.2

Herbert's Church Porch.

2 Barwick's Life of Morton, 80.

1617

The Declaration of Sports

Lancashire.

THE DECLARATION OF SPORTS!

251

With the exception of a clause by which the benefit of the iiberty accorded was refused to all who had absented themselves from the service-a clause by which it was intended to strike a blow at recusancy, but which in reality published in bribed men to worship God by the alluring prospect of a dance in the afternoon-little objection would be taken to the general scope of the declaration which James founded upon Morton's recommendations.1 If he had contented himself with leaving it behind him for the use of the Lancashire magistrates, it is probable that little more would have been heard about the matter.

to the rest of

But this would hardly have contented James. He had not been many months in London before he determined to publish, 1618. for the benefit of the whole kingdom, the declaraIts extension tion which had been called forth by the peculiar England. circumstances of Lancashire. In doing this, he hit upon a plan which was calculated to rouse the greatest possible amount of opposition. Instead of issuing a proclamation, or directing the Council to send round a circular letter to the Justices of the Peace, warning them not to allow themselves to be carried away by religious zeal to exceed their legal powers, he transmitted orders to the clergy to read the declaration from the pulpit. No doubt, in those days, the clergy were regarded far more than they are at present in the light of ministers of the Crown. Still James might have remembered that, by a large number amongst them, his declaration would be regarded

Wilkins's Concilia, iv. 483. The most striking clause is the following:-"And as for our good people's lawful recreation, our pleasure likewise is that, after the end of Divine service, our good people be not disturbed, letted, or discouraged from any lawful recreation, such as dancing, either men or women, archery for men, leaping, vaulting, or any other such harmless recreation, nor for having of May-games, Whitsun-ales and morris-dances, and the setting up of May-poles and other sports therewith used, so as the same be had in due and convenient time without impediment or neglect of Divine service, and that women shall have leave to carry rushes to church for the decoring of it, according to their old custom. But withal we do here account still as prohibited all unlawful games to be used on Sundays only, as bear and bull baitings, interludes and (at all times in the meaner sort of people by law prohibited) bowling."

as sheer impiety, and that there was that in their position which made it impossible to treat them as mere official dependents, bound to carry out, without a murmur, every order issued by superior authority.

Resistance

As might have been expected, symptoms of resistance showed themselves on every hand. Not a few amongst the Calvinist clergy, amongst whom, it is said, was the of the clergy. Archbishop of Canterbury himself, made up their minds to refuse compliance, at any cost; and of those who consented to obey, there were some who determined to preach against the very declaration which they did not refuse to read, while a still greater number were sure to declaim in their private conversation against the principles of the document which, as a matter of public duty, they had brought before the notice of their congregations. James who, unlike his son and successor, was prudent enough to give way before so wide an expression of feeling, withdrew his order for the reading of the declaration.2

Prospects of

It was of good augury for the Church of England that during the first ten or twelve years of Abbot's primacy the ecclesiastical history of the country was almost the Church totally barren of events. The proceedings of Laud of England. at Gloucester, and of the Puritan magistrates in Lancashire, were sufficient to indicate the quarter from which danger might arise, but the very rareness of such occurrences gave reason to suppose that the terrible evil of an internecine quarrel between the two great Church parties might yet be averted. For the first time since the early days of the Reformation the Nonconformists were reduced to insignificance. There were no longer any voices raised loud enough to make themselves heard in favour of a change in the ritual of the Church. There were, for the first time, two parties opposed indeed in theology and in practice, but both declaring themselves to be ready to take their stand upon the Book of Common Prayer. What was of still more importance, there was no strong line of demarcation between them. Each party shaded off into the

Wilson in Kennet, ii. 709.

2 Fuller's Church History, v. 452.

1617

THE HISTORY OF TITHES?

253

other. Amongst the laity especially, there was a large and increasing body which took no part with the fanatics on either side, but which was growing in piety and in moral progress under the influence of both. In their zeal for religion, these men had no intention of placing England under the yoke of a few clerical firebrands of any shade of opinion whatever.

If there had been any doubt as to the direction in which the current of public opinion was setting, it would have been cleared up by the reception which was accorded to John Selden. the History of Tithes, a book which was published at the time when James was considering the propriety of giving a general circulation to the Declaration of Sports. The author of this book, which was distinguished by its thorough opposition to all ecclesiastical claims to civil authority, was John Selden, a lawyer of the Inner Temple, who, at the early age of thirty-four, had established the reputation of being the most learned man of the day. To a knowledge of the constitution and antiquities of his country, which even Coke could not venture to despise, he added a marvellous familiarity with the most recondite studies. He was as completely at home in the writings of the Jewish Rabbis and the capitularies of Charlemagne as he was in the works of the Fathers of the Church, or the classical masterpieces of Greece and Rome. The very names of the books which he had already published testified to the multifariousness of his knowledge. He had written on the early laws of England, on duels, on titles of honour, and on the religion of the ancient Syrians. But of these various subjects, there was none so thoroughly to his taste as that which he had now taken in hand. Of all men living, there was no one so completely imbued with the spirit which had animated the political leaders of the English Reformation. The supremacy of the civil power over all ecclesiastical causes and all ecclesiastical persons, was the cardinal point of his doctrine; and yet that supremacy was to him something very different from what it had been to Henry VIII. and Elizabeth. They had wished the State to be supreme, in order that they might enforce their own compromise upon opposing and irreconcileable parties. Selden knew that times were changed, and that

the parties into which the Church of England was in his day divided were no longer irreconcileable. He, therefore, wished to see the Royal Supremacy put forth with vigour, in order that it might allow liberty to all, whilst it kept in check every attempt at persecution from whatever quarter it might arise.

His

1618.

History of

The form into which he threw his work was a curious one. He professed, with a modesty which deceived no one, that the question whether or not tithes were due by Divine right was above his comprehension. He left such Tithes. high matters to churchmen and canonists. As for himself, he was a mere student of the common law, and he could not venture to express an opinion on questions so far above his sphere. All he wished to do was to state what the practice had actually been, not what it ought to have been. In spite of this modest commencement, he showed pretty well what his opinion was. He argued that there was no proof whatever that tithes had ever been claimed as of right during the first four hundred years of the Christian era ; and in treating of their subsequent history, he showed that the practices had been so various, and had been so completely subjected to local customs, and to the laws of the various European nations, that the payment had in reality been accepted by the clergy from the State with whatever limitations the civil authorities had chosen to impose.

the book.

It is evident that the book was of greater importance than its actual subject would indicate. It struck at all claims Tendency of on the part of the clergy to fix limits to the power of the Legislature. It seemed to say to them :We, the laity of England, will not limit our powers at your demand. If you can persuade us that such and such things are in accordance with the will of God, you are at liberty to do As soon as we admit the force, of your reasoning, we shall be ready to give effect to your arguments. If you claim a Divine right to money or obedience, irrespective of the laws of England, you must obtain what you ask from the voluntary consent of those from whom you require it. If you wish to have the assistance of pursuivants and judicial processes, you

SO.