ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY ex-Bishop of Exeter, was attacked by the pestilence, but recovered, and in compassion for his age and poverty Bishop Grindal appointed him rector of St. Magnus/"^ Part V — From 1563 to 1666 The history of the Church in London during the forty years between the EHzabethan settlement and the accession of James I is remarkable less for striking events than for the rapid and steady growth of the Puritan school of thought. It is difficult to estimate the magnitude of the change which passed over the City in this respect ; and it seems more possible to obtain a true idea of the time by tracing the gradual process of alteration than by giving a mere chronological summary of events. Owing to the changes which had been made in the ritual of the Church under Edward VI and Mary considerable disorder prevailed in London in 1563, both as to services and the apparel of the clergy.^ With a view to obtaining uniformity in these respects the queen in January 1564—5 issued some ' Advertisements,' partly for due order in public worship and partly ' for the apparel of all persons ecclesiastical,' commanding, amongst other things, that every clergyman saying public prayers or ministering the sacraments should wear ' a comely surplice with sleeves, provided by the parish.' ^ A number of disorderly London ministers were summoned to Lambeth,^ and about 140 appeared, of whom all but thirty promised con- formity.* In 1566, however, Archbishop Parker felt it necessary to take further action, and published his ' Advertisements,' in which, while repeating the Injunctions of 1559 and the order for the wearing of the surplice, he added a rule that when not ministering the clergy should wear their gowns and cloaks with standing collars and cornered (i.e. square) caps.^ A fierce controversy at once arose, fomented by the foreign reformers,* and lasting for some years. The archbishop and the Bishop of London summoned the London clergy to Lambeth in order to explain to them the urgent need of conformity, and to induce them to promise submission. Parker foresaw that many would refuse, and thought it probable that tumults would arise in the City in consequence of the steps he proposed to take in that event, viz., to suspend recalcitrant ministers for three months, and should they still prove obstinate to deprive them.^ Out of about 108 ministers ninety-eight obeyed his summons, of whom sixty-one promised obedience, while thirty-seven absolutely refused. ° Amongst these latter, Parker wrote, ' were the best,^" and some preachers, seven or eight convenient sober men pretending a conscience, divers of them but zealous and of little learning and judgment.' " All were suspended for three months, but the archbishop had good hope that '°'B.M. Lansd. MS. 6, no. 85 ; ibid. 7, no. 60. ' Zurich Letters, i, 153 ; Neal, Puritans (ed. 1822), i, 154. ' B.M. Tracts, 775 (10). ' Strype., Jnnals (ed. 1824), i (ii), 129. ' Ibid. 130 ; Strype, Life of Grindal, cap. x. Master Kelle, minister of St. Saviour's Southwark, refused to wear a surplice, and was consequently ' given warning of his services ' by the vestry. He was an old man, and the parishioners gave him a sum of money ' of their goodwills ' at his departure ; Vest. Min. 1565. ' Stow, Mem. in Three i^th-Cent. Chron. fCamd. Soc), 135 ; Sharpe, Lond. and the Kingdom, i, 503.
- Zurich Letters, , passim. ' B.M. Lansd. MS. 8, fol. 213
Mbid. Mbid. 9, fol. 153. '" See Neal, Puritans, i, 167. " B.M. Lansd. MS. g. fol. 153. 309
