and an exile, famous for translating the bible into Engfish in the reign of K. Henry VIII. and other good services to religion, had been hitherto without any place or preferment, living privately in and about London, and often preaching in the churches there. For this very reverend man, that had so well deserved of religion, our bishop had a great concern: And it troubled him much to see such an one, as it were, cast by, without that notice taken of him that was due: And once cried out about it, “I cannot "excuse us bishops;" but somewhat, he said, he had to speak for himself, that he had offered him several things, which nevertheless he thought not meet for him to accept of. This man, notwithstanding his great years, had gotten the plague this year, and recovered; as though GOD had some more work for him to do in the church before his death. Grindal acquaints the secretary herewith : Telling him, that surely it was not well, that Father Coverdale, as he stiled him, qui ante nos omnes fuit in Christo; i. e. who was in Christ before us all, should be now in his age without stay of living. And therefore Landaff being void, he recommended him to the secretary for that see, if any competency of living might be made of it, after it had been so spoiled and stripped by the last incumbent : Putting him in mind here, that it would be well, if any means might be found, that things wickedly alienated from that see might be restored. But I suppose Coverdale cared not now to enter upon the charge of a bishopric, considering his own age, and his want of strength and activity, required to execute such an office. But in fine, in the month of February, our bishop collated Coverdale in the parish of Saint Magnus, at the Bridge-foot; and withal, sued to the secretary to obtain the favour of the queen to release him his first fruits, which came to sixty pounds and upwards. And the venerable man pleaded himself for this favour to be shewn him, for these reasons; viz. that he had been destitute ever since his bishopric had been taken away from him; (which was upon the death of K. Edward) and that he never had pension, annuity or stipend of it for ten years now past. And that he was unable either to pay the first fruits, or long to enjoy the same living: Not able to live over a year, and going upon his grave. And lastly, adding these words; That if poor old Miles might be thus provided for, he should think this enough to be as good as a feast.' And he enjoyed his request.

6

April 15, 1564, Grindal took the degree of D. D. at

Cambridge,

Cambridge, and the same year executed the queen's express command for exacting uniformity in the clergy; but proceeded so tenderly and slowly, that the archbishop thought fit to excite and quicken him; whence the Puritans thought him inclined to their party. However, he brought several nonconformists to comply, to which end he published a letter of Henry Bullinger, minister of Zurick in Switzerland, to prove the lawfulness thereof, which had a very great effect. The same year, October 3. on the celebration of the emperor Ferdinand's funeral, he preached the sermon at St Paul's, which was afterwards printed. This sermon is very scarce, and there being only one other besides it ever printed on these occasions, Mr Strype has given extracts from the most material passages of it.

Bishop Grindal was not wanting in his endeavours to bring over the dissenters to be satisfied with what was enjoined. And among other means in order to this end, he published, as was observed before, an excellent Christian. letter of Henry Bullinger, sent to him and Horn, bishop of Winton, and Parkhurst of Norwich, concerning the lawfulness of wearing the habits; but drawn up for the satisfaction of Sampson and Humfrey, two Oxford divines, of great note there; the one dean of Christ Church, and the other president of St Magdalen's college. The letter was written with such a clearness of reason, such evidence from Scripture, and in such a fatherly, compassionate style, that it had a very good effect upon many that before were ready to leave their ministry; but having read it, were satisfied. Theodore Beza, late assistant to Calvin, and now the chief minister of Geneva, made a present this year to bishop Grindal, of his Annotations upon the New Testament. And the same reverend father soon after sent him a letter, thanking him for the book, and withal, a gratification. What it was, I cannot tell; perhaps it was the bishop's picture, or his ring: But Beza called it, Longè maximum gratissimumq; tui μmuócvvov, i. e. a very great, and most acceptable remembrance of himself, which he would. keep for his sake. The bishop in his letter had much commended his Annotations, as accurate and learned; but Beza modestly declined the praise, and added, that then they might seem such as the bishop had charactered them, when they should be critically corrected by him, and such other learned men as he.

In the year 1567, our bishop had much trouble with

the

the Puritans, some of whom (it must be owned) did not behave with much decency to him or to the supreme power. Many of them were doubtless good men, and, having been abroad at Geneva, Strasburg, and other places during Q. Mary's persecution, wished to see the Reformation proceed entirely upon the plan of Calvin, and the other foreign Reformers. They objected particularly to the clerical habits, and other indifferent matters, upon which they did not express themselves with common patience; and so to avoid what they thought idolatry, some of them approached perhaps too nearly to downright bigotry, for which Beza, Bullinger, and Żanchius, in their letters to Grindal, absolutely condemned them. They censured their furious attachment to these external matters, and separation upon account of them, when the Reformation required unity; even though themseives had no sort of partiality to the things in question. These great and good men saw, that such affairs have very little to do with the essence of religion, and that, if men had indeed the grace of GOD, their souls would soar above such stupid, such nugatory contentions. Articles of faith make another matter in which Christians are to yield only to GOD; but there was no dispute (as we can find) of any moment here; the Reformed churches, at that time, nearly agreeing in the substance of religion.

In the mean time, Grindal was threatened, on the other hand, with a premunire by some of the clergy for raising a contribution upon them the preceding year for the persecuted Protestants abroad, without the queen's licence. But this did not discourage him, and having procured a commission from her majesty to visit the Savoy, the hospital appointed for the relief and entertainment of poor travellers, he deprived the master, who had almost ruined the charity by his abuses and mismanagement.

This was the last piece of service he did for his diocese, being translated May 1st the following year, 1570, to the see of York. He owed this promotion to secretary Cecil and archbishop Parker, who liked his removal from London, as not being resolute enough for the government there. Soon after his accession to this new province, he commenced a law-suit for a house belonging to it at Battersea in Surry, which he recovered, together with eighty acres of demesne land. The same year he wrote a letter to his patron Cecil, that Cartwright, the famous Nonconformist,

formist might be silenced; and in 1571, at his metropolitical visitation, the subsequent year, he shewed a hearty zeal, by his injunctions, for the discipline and strict government of the church. In 1572, he petitioned the queen to renew the ecclesiastical commission. In 1574, he held one for the purpose of proceeding against Papists, whose number daily diminished in his diocese, which he was particularly careful to provide with learned preachers, as being, in his opinion, the best method of obtaining that end.

He rejected, therefore, such as came for institution to livings, if they were found deficient in learning, of which we have a remarkable instance in the case of one William Ireland, who came with a presentation to the rectory of Harthill, in which the archbishop's chaplain observing the words, vestri humiles & obedientes, required him to translate them; he did so, by expounding them,

your

humbleness and obedience.' He was then asked, who brought the children of Israel out of Egypt? he answered, K. Saul: And to the question, who was first circumcised, he could say nothing. Whereupon the archbishop re jected him, and procured the benefice for another person. In this policy the archbishop was encouraged by the queen, to whom it was entirely agreeable. But his intercession, the preceding year, for the clergy, does not seem to have been so well relished at court.

The gentlemen pensioners having, it seems, obtained a grant of the penalties incurred by the clergy for concealing of lands, &c. given to superstitious uses, employed such deputies for the purpose as, according to our archbishop's complaint, practised great extortions; however, his patron Cecil, then lord treasurer, intimated to him, that the affair was of too interesting a nature to meddle in.

This did not hinder the same patron from recommending him to the first chair in the church, when it became vacant by the death of Dr Matthew Parker, whom our Author succeeded at Canterbury; in which see he was confirmed archbishop, on February 15, 1575: And a con vocation of that province was held under him the same year. May 6, 1576, he began his metropolitical visita tion, and took measures for the better regulation of his courts; but the same year he fell under her majesty's dis pleasure, by reason of the favour he shewed to what was called the Exercise of Prophesying.' P

VOL. II.

As

As this was the most remarkable incident in our Au thor's life, we shall give the following account of the matter. These prophesyings had been used for some time, the rules of which were, that the ministers of a particular division at a set time met together in some church of a market, or other large town, and there each in their order explained, according to their abilities, some portion of Scripture allotted to them before: This done, a moderator made his observations on what had been said, and determined the true sense of the place, a certain space of time being fixed for dispatching the whole. The advantage was the improvement of the clergy, who hereby considerably profited themselves in the knowledge of the Scripture; but this mischief ensued, that at length there happened confusions and disturbances at those meetings, by an ostentation of superior parts in some, by advancing heterodox opinions, and by the intrusion of some of the silenced Separatists, who took this opportunity of declaiming against liturgy and hierarchy, and hence even speaking against states and particular persons; the people also, of whom also there was always a great conflux, as hearers, fell to arguing and disputing themselves much about religion, and sometimes a lay-man would take upon himself to speak. In short, the exercises degenerated into factions, divisions and censurings.

Our author laboured to redress these irregularities by setting down rules and orders for the more useful management of these exercises. However, the queen still disapproved of them, as seeing probably how very apt they were to be abused. She did not like, that the laity should neglect their secular affairs by repairing to those meetings, which she thought might fill their heads with notions, and so occasion dissentions and disputes, and perhaps seditions in the state. And the archbishop being at court, she particularly declared herself offended at the number of preachers as well as the exercises, and ordered him to redress both, urging, that it was good for the church to have few preachers, that three or four might suffice for a county, and that the reading of the Homilies to the people was sufficient. She therefore required him to abridge the number of preachers, and put down the religious exercises. This did not a little afflict the archbishop. He thought the queen made same infringement upon his office, to whom the highest trust of the church of England, next to herself, was committed, especially as