Some Archbishops of Canterbury.

John seems to have been influenced by his uncle Robert, for he gave great offence to a very bigoted Roman Catholic aunt, with whom he sojourned in London. Indeed, she was so unpleasant that John returned to Grimsby under his aunt's ban, which ran in this form:

'I thought I had received a saint, but now I perceive he is a devil!'

Uncle Robert, however, was far from endorsing the opinion of the offended aunt. Having examined his nephew, he found to his great satisfaction how well he had progressed at St. Anthony's, and he now urged the Grimsby merchant to send the youth to Cambridge. To Queen's College, Cambridge, he accordingly went, and from Queen's to Pembroke; perhaps because it was a college of more Protestant tone than Queen's, Ridley being its Master and Bradford and Grindal among its Fellows. Having taken his degree, John Whitgift was chosen a Fellow of Peter House, over which society the generous Doctor Perne at that time presided.

As long as Edward VI. lived Whitgift made no secret of his opinions, but as soon as Mary succeeded he found himself in danger. When Cardinal Pole threatened the University with a visitation, Whitgift thought of leaving England; but Dr. Perne was very loth to lose so bright an ornament of the College, and he undertook to screen Whitgift from the gaze of the inquisitors. By using caution, he contrived to remain at the college until the tyranny was overpast and the star of Elizabeth had arisen. He was then ordained, and feeling he had been somewhat timid hitherto, he preached from the text, 'I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ.'

Whitgift's University career was a splendid one.

He was Master

of Pembroke, Lady Margaret's Professor of Divinity, Regius Professor of Divinity, and finally Master of Trinity. Moreover, he became a Prebend of Ely and Prolocutor of the Lower House of Convocation.

In all these several posts he acquitted himself with zeal and wisdom. While he was Vice-Chancellor, the famous Thomas Cartwright, as Lady Margaret's Reader of Divinity at Cambridge, had attained a greater popularity than any other man at that University. It is said the Queen grievously offended him when she visited Cambridge, by taking undue notice of his rival. Thrown into the cold shade, as he thought, Cartwright, to spite the Queen, commenced an active career of opposition to the Church. He was never weary of pointing out the disagreement of the Church of England with the Scriptures. Bishops, sacraments, ceremonies, vestments, organs, and chanting, all came in for his clever abuse and eloquent criticism; and not only many young men admired Cartwright, and ardently supported him, but some of the older fellows and men in authority were impressed by his ability, and gave him their countenance. Parker, being alarmed at this, moved the Chancellor to put Cartwright to silence. In this matter Whitgift, as Vice-Chancellor, was concerned, and thereby he brought upon himself much odium as a tyrant and persecutor; but Cartwright was obliged to leave Cambridge, and the Church of St. Mary resounded with bitter pulpit personalities.

After residing at Trinity College for ten years, during which

Some Archbishops of Canterbury.

period he was of great service to the University, John Whitgift accepted the Bishopric of Worcester. How popular he was may be imagined, when we read how an immense cavalcade of admiring friends rode with him out of Cambridge for several miles when he finally left the town; and how, as he drew near to Worcester, another multitude issued from its ancient gates, and welcomed him with cheers.

The Queen seems to have had a very high opinion of Whitgift, and, as a special mark of her esteem, he was appointed Vice-President of Wales; and he had the privilege of nominating the magistrates for the counties of Warwick and Worcester. The Queen also wished him to accept the Primacy of all England during Grindal's life, but this Whitgift steadfastly refused to agree to. When, however, the Archbishop died in 1583, John Whitgift was promoted to the Primacy; and he brought to his arduous post the experience gathered in a life of continued usefulness and activity. He found abundance of matters for the exercise of wisdom and patience. He was resolute and determined in the maintenance of the law; but as he advanced in years he grew more tolerant, and winked at irregularities which did not ruffle the public peace.

In Whitgift's days, dangers of a new sort threatened Church and Queen. Sanctioned by the King of Spain and the Pope, many Roman priests plotted to effect a revolution in England. Some of these troublers of Israel' confessed they meant to murder the Queen if they could, and Elizabeth was aware of it. She once said as much to her Parliament.

'I know no creature that breathes,' exclaimed she, 'whose life stands hourly in more peril for it than mine own is.'

At the same time, the Puritans continued as opposed as ever to the Reformation Church of England. It was now that one of these men, under the assumed name of Martin Marprelate,' launched his bolts against Queen and Bishops, and all his betters in Church and State. These scurrilous pamphlets were printed by means of a movable press, which took journeys by night from the Thames to the Avon, from the Avon to the Irwell. At Manchester, however, Martin Marprelate's press was captured by the Earl of Derby, and there was an end of it.

It is pleasant to find Whitgift acting a magnanimous part toward those who had reviled him; but he felt obliged at the same time to get a decree passed, by which no printing-presses were allowed except at London and the two Universities, and no book might appear unless it had the license of the Primate and the Bishop of London.

In his later days Whitgift seems to have inclined somewhat to Calvinism; that is, to such doctrinal Calvinism as was consistent with the Episcopal regimen of the Church of England. He thought it would be wiser to yield something to the Calvinistic clergy of the Church, so long as they rendered due canonical obedience to their Bishops. The result of the Primate's opinion was the Lambeth Articles, nine in number, which were drawn up about 1595, under his presidency. These Articles are strongly Calvinistic. They were not, however, accepted by the Church, and they were not approved

Some Archbishops of Canterbury.

by the Queen. In fact, Whitgift had become more pliable in his old age, and desirous of peace; and his friend, the Earl of Salisbury, said, 'There was nothing more to be feared in his government, especially towards the latter part of his time, than his mildness and clemency.'

It is pleasant to find Whitgift showing acts of kindness to his doughty adversary, Cartwright, and as pleasant is it to hear of Cartwright receiving gratefully what his old opponent did for him. In fact, the two men were softened into mutual respect, and probably each regretted he had used such sharp words in the heat of theological battle. It is certain that Cartwright on his death-bed

Some Archbishops of Canterbury.

expressed his regret at having brought unnecessary trouble on the Church.

Whitgift, as the son of an affluent merchant, was able to exercise a larger hospitality than his two immediate predecessors. He frequently entertained his Sovereign on the great festivals; and the gentlefolk of Worcestershire and Kent were his guests on many occasions. But while keeping a great and bountiful house (and the poor were not forgotten), he knew what a good and holy thing true economy is. And while he was kind to all, he was particularly careful not to favour his own relations to the injury of other claimants on his good graces.

The Queen never ceased to love Whitgift. He dared to write plain letters to her when her conduct seemed to need reproof. He warned her of the sin and peril of sacrilege. He pointed out how her father had suffered by invading Church rights, and so forth; but the Queen took all in good part, and was his friend to the last.

She would often visit him without ceremony at his house in Croydon, and there she enjoyed the society of her honest prelate; she appointed him one of the executors of her will, and when she knew she was dying, Whitgift was the comforter she wished for. He came, and found her speechless. She answered his questions by lifting her eyes, and holding out her hand; he told her she was a sinner, and about to render up the account of a long and splendid life. He knelt down and prayed till he was weary, and would have risen from his knees, but she made a sign he was to stay. He therefore prayed half an hour longer, and would then have left her, but she would not let him go; he therefore remained praying, yet more earnestly, and when it was dark and he was almost spent he blessed her, and left her to die.

James VI. of Scotland was named her heir; and as he had been brought up a Presbyterian, of course English Churchmen were fluttered at the idea of a Head of the Church averse to episcopacy and a liturgy. But their misgivings in that respect were groundless, for King James declared he meant to stand by the Church of England.'

When, in his progress from Edinburgh to London, the King had reached Theobalds, Archbishop Whitgift waited on him, and had an interview, in which he was fully assured of the new sovereign's loyal feelings towards the Church. This was cheering, but the Primate was yet anxious, for he did not see whether the King would be able to play the part of nursing father to the Church, however willing he might be. To satisfy the Puritan party, a Conference was held at Hampton Court, in the state apartment. The Puritans had hoped much from James's accession, for some ten or twelve years before this time he had spoken against the Church of England service, calling it an evil-said mass in English.' The conference at Hampton Court was not favourable to the Puritan party, for their objections were mostly overruled, though some reforms were decided on.

One raw day in February, 1604, Whitgift went in his barge from Lambeth to Fulham, to meet his brethren the bishops. He was de

A Voice from Heaven.

pressed in spirits, and felt the cold extremely. On the Sunday following he was stricken with paralysis at the Council Chamber in Whitehall. He was removed to his own house in a dying state, and unable to speak; but he managed to express great satisfaction when the King sent word he was coming to see him. The former deathbed scene was now reversed. Then, the Archbishop waited on the dying sovereign-now the sovereign came to soothe the departing soul of the Archbishop. James sat by the bed, and Whitgift strove to address him, but no one in the room could understand what was meant, except the words, 'Pro ecclesiâ Dei!' which he fervently and frequently whispered with uplifted hands.

On the 29th of February the Archbishop breathed his last sigh, dying, as a Puritan writer says, 'in David's fulness of days, and leaving a name like sweet perfume behind him.'

G. S. O.