Having lain in prison several months, he petitioned the bishop to be brought to trial, or admitted to bail. But all the answer he could obtain of his grace, was, that he deserted to lie in prison seven years. This very hard usage, together with Mr. Wright's open and undisguised honesty and piety, moved the compassion of his keeper; and, his poor wife being in child-bed and in great distress, he gave him leave, with the private allowance of the secretary of state, to make her a visit at Rochford, upon his parole. But it so happened, that Dr. Ford, the civilian, met him on the road, and acquainted the bishop with his escape; who, falling into a violent passion, sent immediately for the keeper, and demanded his prisoner. The keeper pleaded the great compassion of the case; but all was unavailable. For the bishop threatened to complain of him to the queen, and have him turned out of his place. Mr. Wright, having received information of his keeper's danger, returned immediately to his prison, and wrote as follows to the lord treasurer in his behalf:- "Oh! my lord," says he, "I most humbly crave your lordship's favour, that I may be delivered from such unpitiful minds; and especially, that your lordship will stand a good lord to my keeper, that he may not be discouraged from favouring those who profess true religion." This was written in May, 1582. The keeper was therefore pardoned.*

The bishop, however, was resolved to have full satisfaction of the prisoner; and, bringing him before the high commission, he was examined upon certain articles concerning the Book of Common Prayer; the rites and ceremonies; praying for the queen and church; and the established form of ordaining ministers. He was, moreover, charged with preaching without a license, and with being a mere layman. To which he replied, “that he thought the Book of Common Prayer, upon the whole, was good and godly, but could not answer for every particular. That as to rites and ceremonies, he thought that his resorting to churches where they were used, was a sufficient proof, that he did not utterly condemn them. That he prayed for the queen, and for all the ministers of God's word; consequently, for archbishops, bishops, &c. That he was only a private chaplain, and knew of no law that required a license for such a place. But he could not acknowledge, that he was a mere

Strype's Annals, vol. iii. p. 123, 124.

layman, having preached seven years in the university with a license, and being since that time regularly ordained, by the laying on of the hands of the presbytery at Antwerp.'

The bishop having charged Mr. Wright with saying, "That the election of ministers ought to be by their flocks,' he acknowledged the charge, and supposed it was no error; adding, "That he was himself thus chosen by his flock at Rochford; that in his opinion, every minister was a bishop, though not a lord bishop; and that his grace of London, must be of the same opinion; because when he was last before him, he rebuked Mr. White for striking one of his parishioners, alleging that text, A bishop must be no striker which had been impertinent, if Mr. White, who was only a minister, had not been a bishop." When he was charged with saying, "That the ministers who only used the common prayer, were dumb dogs," he said, "the phrase, though used in scripture, has very seldom been in my mouth, on any occasion whatever. But it can never be proved, that I ever called any man, especially any preacher, by that name. Yet a man who is professedly the pastor of a flock, and does not preach at all, may, according to the design of the prophet, deserve the name of dumb dog."

Aylmer also charged him with saying, "There were no lawful ministers in the church of England; and that those who are called ministers, are thieves and murderers." To this, Mr. Wright said, "I will be content to be condemned, if I bring not two hundred godly, preaching ministers, as witnesses against this accusation. I do as certainly believe, that there are lawful ministers in England, as that there is a sun in the sky. In Essex, I can bring twenty godly ministers, all preachers, who will testify that they love me, and have cause to think that I love and reverence them. I preached seven years in the university of Cambridge with approbation, and have a testimonial under the hands and seals of the master and fellows of Christ's college, being all ministers, of my good behaviour."*

This excellent divine having been a considerable time in the Gatehouse, in September, 1582, became willing to subscribe to the allowance of the ministry of the church of Eng land, and the Book of Common Prayer. Yet Bishop Aylmer required his friends to be bound in a good round sum, that henceforth he should never preach, nor act, contrary to the same. Upon these conditions, his grace was

VOL. I.

Strype's Annals, vol. iii. Appen. p. 38-43.

R

not unwilling to grant him favour, if the queen approved of it. It is, indeed, very doubtful whether the favour was ever obtained; for the unmerciful proceedings of the above prelate against the puritans, were almost unparalleled.+

BERNARD GILPIN, B. D.-This celebrated person was born of an ancient and honourable family, at Kentmire in Westmoreland, in the year 1517, and educated in Queen's college, Oxford. He made the closest application to his studies, and uncommon progress in useful learning. Having determined to apply himself to divinity, he made the scriptures his principal study; and with a view to his better acquaintance with them, he resolved by the greatest indus try to gain a thorough knowledge of the Greek and Hebrew languages. He had not been long thus employed before he was noticed as a young man of excellent parts and considerable learning; and became exceedingly admired and beloved for the sweetness of his disposition, and the politeness of his manners. At the usual term, he took his degrees in Arts, and was elected fellow of his college. His reputation was, indeed, so great, that he was chosen to supply the college newly founded by Cardinal Wolsey.+

Strype's Aylmer, p. 87.

The zeal and assiduity of Bishop Aylmer in defence of the church of England, is said to have recommended him to the particular favour of Queen Elizabeth. Though in the early part of his life he declaimed against the wealth and splendour of bishops, and spoke with vehemence against their lordly dignity and civil authority, and was an avowed advocate of what was afterwards called puritanism; yet, as he rose in ecclesiastical prefer ment and worldly grandeur, he changed his opinions, and became the most violent in the opposite sentiments. And notwithstanding he is styled a person of extraordinary wisdom, a worthy prelate, and a blessing to the church; he was certainly one of the most unfeeling and cruel persecutors, of which the pages of history afford sufficient proof. He was preceptor to Lady Jane Grey; and, on the accession of Queen Mary, he went into exile. His escape was very remarkable. Being a little man, the merchant of the ship in which he made his escape, put him into a wine butt, with a partition in the middle; so that he was inclosed in one end of the cask, while the searchers drank wine drawn out of the other.-He was a man of great courage, and had one of his own teeth drawn, to encourage Queen Elizabeth to submit to a similar operation. When he wished to rouse the attention of his audience while he was preaching, he usually took his Hebrew Bible out of his pocket, and read them a few verses, and then resumed his discourse. He was remarkably fond of bowls, even on the Lord's-day, when he commonly used very unbecoming language, to the great reproach of his character.-Strype's Aylmer, p. 215-292.-Wood's Athena, vol. i. p. 611.-Bing. Britan. vol. i. p. 384-391. Edit. 1778.Granger's Biog. Hist. vol. i. p. 208.

The following memoir of Mr. Gilpin is chiefly collected from the "British Biography," vol. iii. p. 98-.

Mr. Gilpin having been trained up in the popish religion, still continued a steady son of that church; and in defence of popery, had held a disputation with John Hooper, afterwards bishop of Worcester, and the famous martyr. This was in the reign of Henry VIII.; but upon the accession of King Edward, Peter Martyr being sent to Oxford, delivered public lectures upon divinity in a strain to which that university had been little accustomed. He attacked the Romish doctrines in a manner that alarmed the popish party; which induced them to unite, and make as strong an opposition as they were able. Mr. Gilpin having gained considerable reputation in the university, the popish party were exceedingly solicitous to engage him in a public defence of their cause, and made the most pressing applica tions for this purpose. But they found his zeal much cooler than their own. Indeed, he was not satisfied with the cause of the reformers, having never had a sufficient opportunity of acquainting himself with their principles : but, on the other hand, he had never been a bigotted papist; and had discovered, in his dispute with Hooper, that several of the Romish doctrines were not so well supported by scripture, as he had before supposed. While his mind was thus unsettled, he thought himself ill qualified to defend either side by public disputation. His inclination was to stand by as an unprejudiced observer; and to embrace the truth, whether he found it among papists or protestants. By much importunity, however, he at length yielded, and the next day appeared in public against Peter Martyr.*

Mr. Gilpin being thus drawn into the controversy against his inclination, was determined to make it as useful as possible to himself. By bringing his old opinions to the test, The hoped that he should be enabled to discover whether they were justly founded, or he had hitherto been involved in error. He resolved, therefore, to lay aside as much as possible, the temper of a caviller; and to follow truth, from which he was determined nothing should make him swerve. Having commenced the dispute, he soon found the arguments of his adversary too strong for him. They came so forcibly authorized by the testimony of scripture, that he

Dr. Peter Martyr, a celebrated reformer, was born in Florence, and invited to England by the Protector Somerset and Archbishop Cranmer. In the year 1548, he was made regius professor of divinity at Oxford, and, in 1550, installed canon of Christ-church. His numerous works, which are in Latin, consist chiefly of commentaries on the scriptures, and pieces on controversy. On the accession of Queen Mary, and the commencement of persecution, he desired to withdraw, and died at Zurich, November 12, 1562.-Granger's Biog. Hist, vol. i. p. 141.

could not help frankly acknowledging they were of a very different nature from the wire-drawn proofs and strained interpretations, in which he had hitherto acquiesced. The disputation, therefore, was soon over. Mr. Gilpin had too much honesty to defend suspected opinions. He yielded to the force of truth; and owned publicly, that he could not maintain what he undertook to defend; and therefore determined to enter no more upon controversy, till he had gained that full information which he was anxious to obtain.*

Mr. Gilpin being thus staggered by his opponent's arguments, the first step he took, after imploring divine assistance, was to commit to paper, the substance of the dispute. Also, he resolved to enter into a strict examination of the whole, but especially those points in which he had found himself the most closely pressed. At the same time, he began with great assiduity to examine the scriptures, and the writings of the fathers, with a particular view to the controversy betwixt protestants and papists. The first result of his inquiries, cooled his zeal for popery, and gave him a more favourable opinion of the doctrines of the reformation. In this unsettled state of mind, he communicated his thoughts to his friends, and particularly to Tonstal, bishop of Durham, who was his mother's uncle, and his great friend. The advice he received induced him to examine the scriptures and the fathers with still greater attention; and at last he became thoroughly convinced, that there were numerous sore abuses and corruptions in the church of Rome, and that a reformation was highly necessary.

As an academic life affords the greatest leisure for study, Mr. Gilpin was resolved still to continue wholly employed in the pursuit of knowledge. He had too just a sense of the ministerial work, to rush upon it hastily, or to be unacquainted with the qualifications requisite to the discharge of it; and too mean an opinion of himself, to think he was yet possessed of them. He thought more learning was necessary in that controversial age, than he had yet acquired. And his chief argument with his friends, who were continually urging him to leave the university, was, that he was not yet sufficiently instructed in religion himself

* Peter Martyr was much concerned for Mr. Gilpin's welfare, and used to say, he cared not much for his other adversaries; but for Gilpin, who spoke and acted like a man of integrity, he was much troubled. He there fore often prayed that God would convince him of his error, and convert him to the truth; which the Lord was pleased afterwards to do.-Fuller's Abel Redivivus. p. 353.