J. I do not reject the word, but would understand what the word meaneth. D. It meaneth the institution of Christ. J. All writers do not so understand it. Some by the word, understand the promises, as Musculus, Bullinger, Peter Martyr, and Calvin. D. The word is not the promise. J. These learned men so take it. Herein I am content to refer myself to the judgment of the learned. L. C. J. Here is my lord of London, a prelate of the realm, and a bishop, and this gentleman, Mr. Dean; dost thou think they are not learned? J. I neither despise, nor deprave their learning. But as to the words of the institution, I say, they are to be considered, either as they are expressly set down by the evangelist; or, as other words are used equivalent to them, declaring the sum and substance of them, and, in either case, the institution is whole and sound. Consecration may be taken either according to the consecration of the papists, who say, "This is my body, and this is my blood;" or, as the best writers in our time, take it for the rehearsal of the promises and thanksgiving to be enjoined; and whichsoever of these two be accepted, seeing I used the words of delivery, there was sufficient consecration. L. C. J. Let us make an end of it. Charge the jury.The witnesses were then called and sworn, some of whom were known papists, and others had done penance for the foulest crimes, against whom no exception would be taken; and Mr. Johnson being by their verdict found guilty, was condemned to one year's imprisonment, and immediately sent back to the Gatehouse.* The hard treatment Mr. Johnson received from Bishop Sandys, and the other commissioners, as appears in the above examination; with the heavy sentence pronounced upon him, after having endured some close and severe imprisonment already, were, surely, more than proportionate to any crime with which he was charged, even supposing he had been guilty. Indeed, whether the principal thing with which he was charged was good or evil, was matter of mere opinion, and a point much to be disputed. But right or wrong, he must be punished. During the execution of the heavy sentence, and about two weeks after his trial, Mr. Johnson wrote a letter to * Parte of a Register, p. 105–11]. Bishop Sandys, dated March 7, 1574, in which he earnestly pleads for more kind treatment. He thus observes," Our Saviour saith, Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy: And the apostle, He shall have judgment without mercy, that hath shewed no mercy. I wonder what mercy you, and the rest of the commissioners, hope for, and what judgment you look for, seeing for trifles and of no weight, nay of no truth, as I doubt not you are persuaded in your own consciences, you not only mock and molest men, deprave and deprive them, but to their great poverty and utter ruin, and without any bowels of mercy, you condemn them to long imprisonment. Where hath God given any such commandment? Where hath Christ given any such precedent? Where did the apostles put any such thing in practice? If you say, that we hold errors, are schismatics, and promote sects; then do you the part of a teacher, to reform our errors, to reduce schismatics to unity, and to dissuade sectaries from dissention. Your office and function, your name and title, your degree and profession, your knowledge and religion, yea the apostles, Jesus Christ, and God himself, requireth this at your hands. You know who saith, If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness. Compare your doctrine in time past, and your doings now, and see how they agree. We may say as the prophet said: The Lord God of your fathers was wroth with Judah, and he hath delivered them into your hand, and you have persecuted them in a rage that reacheth up to heaven. "If to imprison and famish men, be the proper way to instruct the ignorant and reduce the obstinate, where is the office and work of a shepherd, to seek that which was lost, and bring home that which went astray? We beseech you, therefore, to gather something out of the Old and New Testament, that you may reduce those who go astray, and heal that which is bruised and broken. And I pray you, let us feel some of your charitable relief, to preserve us from death, under this hard usage; especially as you have been the chief cause of my trouble, I desire you to be some part of my comfort. Let pity requite spite, and mercy recompence malice. Thus beseeching God, that you may proceed faithfully in all the duties of a bishop, I commend you to Jesus Christ, the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. "ROBERT JOHNSON." * Parte of a Register, p. 117, 118. Mr. Johnson, at the same time, presented a petition to the queen or council, desiring to be restored to his former liberty of preaching, from which he was restrained by the foregoing heavy sentence. This petition, together with a letter from the court, dated Greenwich, March 19, 1573, were sent to the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishop of London, pressing them to take the case into consideration, and take such order therein as should appear most convenient. The council also sent another letter to the Bishop of London, dated Greenwich, May 16, 1574, signifying that their lordships were given to understand, that Mr. Johnson, committed to the Gatehouse for nonconformity, was very sick and likely to die, unless he might enjoy more open air. Therefore they commanded his grace to give order for the poor afflicted man to be bailed, and upon sureties to be removed to his own house, but not to depart thence without further order.. All these efforts were, however, without any good effect. The relentless prelate continued inflexible. Mr. Johnson experienced neither his lenity, nor his charity, nor any other favour: for the good man died soon after, a prisoner in the Gatehouse, through the cruelty of his imprisonment, and his extreme poverty and want. Herein, surely, his inhuman persecutors would be highly gratified. Bishop Sandys, who was at the head of these proceedings, is said to have been "a man very eminent for his learning, probity, and prudence;" but, surely, it may be questioned whether he exercised these excellent qualifications on the present occa sion. This is even admitted by his partial biographer: for he observes, that during the above period, the good bishop proceeded so vigorously against the puritans, that his doings brought public reproach on his name and reputation.§ Mr. Johnson wrote a letter, a little before his death, to the Dean of Westminster, another zealous promoter of his persecution. This letter is still preserved. Mr. Strype charges Mr. Johnson as a false accuser, and, in 1609, as reviling the puritans. But the fact of his being dead several years before either of these events are said to have taken place, at once acquits him of the twofold charge. Some other person of the same name, who was a rigid churchman, we believe to have been guilty of those crimes.1 * Baker's MS. Collec, vol. xxi. p. 383, 384. Le Neve's Lives, vol. i. part ii. p. 69. § Ibid. p. 31. Strype's Parker, p. 328, 329. RICHARD TAVERNER, A. M.-This distinguished person was born at Brisley in Norfolk, in the year 1505, and educated first in Bennet college, Cambridge, then in the university of Oxford. The famous Cardinal Wolsey having founded a new college at the latter place, furnished it with all the best scholars in the nation; among whom were Taverner, Tindal, Frith, Goodman, and many others. Here Mr. Taverner and his brethren were soon called to the trial of their faith. They were men of good learning and grave judgments, and Mr. Taverner was famous for his knowledge of music; but conferring together about the corruptions of the church, they were presently accused to the cardinal, and cast into prison. They were confined in a deep cell under the college, where salt fish was wont to be preserved; so that by the filthiness and infection of the place, several of them soon lost their lives. Mr. Taverner, however, escaped the fatal malady. Though he was accused of hiding one Mr. Clark's books under the boards of his school, the cardinal, on account of his music, exempted him, saying, "He is only a musician;" and so he was released. He had a good knowledge of the Greek language, philosophy, and divinity; but about this time he removed or was expelled from the university, and became a student at the inns of court. Here, when he read any thing in the law, he made his quotations in Greek. In the year 1534, he was taken under the patronage of Lord Cromwell, principal secretary to Henry VIII.; by whose recommendation the king afterwards made him one of the clerks of the signet. This place he kept till the accession of Queen Mary, having been held in high esteem by King Henry, Edward VI., and the Duke of Somerset, the lord protector. In the year 1559, he published "A Recognition or Correction of the Bible after the best Exemplars." It was printed in folio, dedicated to the king, and allowed to be publicly read in the churches. But upon the fall of Lord Cromwell, in 1540, the bishops causing the printers of the Bible in English to be cast into prison and punished, Mr. Taverner, as the reward of his labours, was sent to the * Cardinal Wolsey possessed, for some years, all that power and grandeur which could be enjoyed by the greatest favourite, and most absolute minister, under an arbitrary prince. He exercised as absolute a power in the church, as he had done in the state. His abilities were equal to his great offices, but these were by no means equal to his ambition. He was the only man that ever had the ascendancy of Henry VIII., but afterwards fell into disgrace.-Granger's Biog. Hist. vol. i. p. 92. + Fox's Martyrs, vol. ii. p. 209, 251. Tower. Here, however, he did not continue long; for, having fully acquitted himself before his judges, he was soon after released, and restored to his place and the king's favour. He was about this time, a member of parliament, and held in high esteem by men of piety and worth. Upon King Henry's coming to the parliament house in 1545, and exhorting the members to charity, unity, and concord, he published a translation of Erasmus, entitled "An Introduction to Christian concord and unitie in matters of Religion." In the year 1552, Mr. Taverner, though he was not ordained, obtained a special license subscribed by King Edward, to preach in any part of his dominions; and he did not fail to make use of the liberty granted him. He preached from place to place through the kingdom; also at court before the king, and in other public places, wearing a velvet bonnet or round cap, a damask gown, and a chain of gold about his neck; in which habit, he sometimes preached in St. Mary's church, Oxford, in the days of Queen Elizabeth. When Queen Mary came to the crown, he retired to his country house called Norbiton-hall, in Surrey, where he continued during the whole of her reign. Upon the accession of Elizabeth, he presented her majesty with a congratulatory epistle in Latin, for which she exceedingly respected him, placed great confidence in him, and, besides offering him the degree of knighthood, put him into the commission of peace for the county of Oxford. Here numerous concerns were entrusted to him, and, in 1569, he was made high sheriff of the county. Notwithstanding his high station, he did not relinquish his ministerial labours, but continued preaching as he found opportunity. While he was in the office of high sheriff, he appeared in St. Mary's pulpit, with his gold chain about his neck, and his sword by his side, and preached to the scholars, beginning his sermon with the following words :-" Arriving at the mount "of St. Mary's, in the stony stage where I now stand, I "have brought you some fine biskets, baked in the oven of "charity, and carefully conserved for the chickins of the "church, the sparrows of the spirit, and the sweet swallows "of salvation."+ This way of preaching was then mostly fashionable, and commended by the generality of scholars Wood says the pulpit of St. Mary's was then of fine carved stone;' but it was taken away in 1654, when Dr. John Owen was vice-chancellor, and a pulpit of wood set up in its place.-Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 144. note. + Fuller's Church Hist, b. ix. p. 65. t |