bishop mentions in a way that would seem to imply that it was according to the usual practice.* The commission issued by William, on Queen Mary's death, in 1695, and renewed in 1700," differs greatly," as Dr. Cardwell observes, "both in its principle and in its effects, from the warrant issued for similar purposes by King Charles II." This commission, as Bishop Leslie points out, in the passage already mentioned as quoted in the last Number, was entirely composed of bishops, "any three or more" of whom were competent to act, the Archbishop of Canterbury being always one, and the Archbishop of York also one, in any case where the vacant office was in one of the churches of his province. The abuse to which a commission of this kind would, especially in the course of time, obviously be liable, is that of the crown arbitrarily selecting bishops of any party bias, political or religious. In its original provisions, committing, at any given moment of time, the patronage of the crown, honestly and unreservedly, into the hands of the metropolitans, with such assistance as would be desired from the episcopal college generally, such a commission would, evidently, be a great security to the church's best interests. It would, at the same time, obviously imply a better and sounder state of things, when no such definite security were needed, as this commission, like the warrant of 1681, explicitly provides against the applications of secretaries of state and other persons, and when kings and queens, in the exercise of their sacred trust, consulted, as a matter of course, with the church's primates and metropolitans, the natural representatives of the united judgment of the whole episcopal college. Of the consultations which passed between the several members of King William's Commission as to the disposal of vacant offices, we have an instance in the following extract from a letter of Archbishop Sharp to Archbishop Tenison, dated August 3, 1700 :— "MY LORD, "I had the favour of your grace's yesterday, wherein you ask me who I would desire should succeed in the deanery of Norwich, Dr. Prideaux or Dr. Trimnell. Why truly, my lord, though I have a most high esteem of Dr. Trimnell, and do most heartily love him, knowing his great worth, and goodness, and modesty, with which I have been charmed ever since I have been acquainted with him; yet, as to this particular place, my former obligations to Dr. Prideaux, and his long services to that church, and the circumstances he is in, which are unlikely to be ever mended, if he be disappointed of this place, I say, these considerations sway with me to give my vote for him rather than Dr. Trimnell or any other. But this I say with great submission to the judgment of your grace, and the rest of my brethren the commissioners, and See Autobiography of Bishop Patrick, pp. 80, 81, quoted above, vol. xvi. p. 274. "In July following I had notice that the Dean of Peterborough was dead, and was earnestly pressed by a neighbouring gentleman to endeavour to be his successor. had never sought anything hitherto, and therefore was unwilling; but was persuaded the.next morning to go to Lambeth and acquaint my Lord of Canterbury with his death, who advised me to go to Windsor, (where the king was,) which I did, with his letter of recommendation, and had a grant of the deanery immediately, in which I was installed August the 1st." † Documentary Annals, &c., vol. ii. p. 353. particularly of the Bishop of Norwich, who I wish may have satisfaction in the choice of dean to his cathedral.”* Of the influence of other bishops, members of the commission, in the disposal of the crown patronage, we have one or two other scattered notices. Whiston, in his memoirs of himself,† mentions "a city divine" who" applied himself to the great Bishop Stillingfleet for his recommendation, which was then of the highest value at court;" and shortly after, in reference to an appointment in which some of the officers of the crown were concerned, tells us Mr. Halley was "thought of to be a mathematical professor at Oxford, and Bishop Stillingfleet was desired to recommend him at court; but hearing that he was a sceptic or banterer of religion, he scrupled to be concerned till his chaplain Mr. Bentley should talk with him about it, which he did; but Mr. Halley was so sincere in his infidelity, that he would not so much as pretend to believe the Christian religion, though he thereby was likely to lose a professorship; which he did accordingly, and it was then given to Dr. Gregory."§ Of Bishop Patrick's influence, first with Queen Mary, during the time that the disposal of church preferment was in her hands, and afterwards as a member of King William's commissions, the continuator of his autobiography || says "I should not forget to mention the great respect that the best of queens, Queen Mary, had for our bishop. As her heart was set upon doing good, so she found in him such a spirit of wisdom and counsel, together with so great a zeal for every good work, that she often consulted him in those momentous affairs in which she was engaged.. "King William had also so an high opinion of him, that he not only raised him from one bishopric to another without his seeking, but also honoured him so far as to grant a commission to him in conjunction with several other deserving persons, whereby they had full power to dispose of most of those church preferments which were in his gift; which great, though unusual trust, was managed with great fidelity and judgment. And as his knowledge of mankind, and his great zeal to encourage religion and learning, caused his influence to be very great in such disposals, he was sure to make a proper use of it." In connexion with this commission may be taken the notice of another which is mentioned in Bishop Patrick's autobiography, and which was given for a temporary purpose to six bishops¶ and three di Sharp's Life of Archbishop Sharp, vol. ii. # [Stilling fleet was a member of the commission of 1695, and continued so till his death.] § Ibid. p. 123. Dr. Gregory's appointment was in 1691. Whiston adds, "Yet was Mr. Halley afterwards chosen into the like professorship there without any pretence to the belief of Christianity." Whiston's statements are to be received with great caution; so far, however, as the fact of Bishop Stillingfleet's "recommendations," and the value attached to them, Whiston may be taken as a fair witness. P. 225. Compare the case referred to in the last Number, in which the queen ordered the secretary for Ireland to call a council of six bishops to examine into the character of a person whom he had proposed for an Irish sce. Supra, vol. xvi. pp. 518, 19. vines, with the special purpose of their recommending to the bishoprics* then vacant in Ireland. "I went up to London," says the bishop,t "against the meeting of the parliament, and on the 12th of December was desired to come to the Bishop of London's lodgings in Whitehall, where a letter from the king was opened, directed to six bishops, and the Deans of Canterbury and St. Paul's, and Dr. Tenison, to consult the best way of settling the church of Ireland, and promoting piety there, and particularly to consider what persons were fit to be made bishops there. We resolved upon one thing immediately, which was to desire his majesty to send home the clergy of Ireland who were here, to their respective cures, if they lay in such places as were under his majesty's protection. On the 15th we met again, and agreed upon such persons as we thought fit to recommend to his majesty for bishops in Ireland. Several other times we met, but I do not remember what was further done." The history of the disposal of church preferment under Queen Anne is the history of the ecclesiastical administration of Archbishop Sharp, who had long been entrusted with responsibility of this kind; first, as chaplain to Lord Chancellor Finch, who, as we have seen, put into his hands all the patronage of his office, and afterwards as one of the two presiding members of William's Commissions. The relation in which he stood to Queen Anne, and the spirit in which he discharged its duties, are thus described by his biographer; the statement is illustrated more fully in the larger extracts that follow: "His situation was something singular, at least for many years in which he served the late Queen; he had constant and free access to her person, and was presumed to have no small share of her confidence and favour during her whole administration, under the conduct of different sets of ministers, of different attachments, excepting the last year of her reign, in which he was rendered incapable, through indisposition, of attending her."§ "The affairs of the church of England were the things that lay at his heart. In these he interested himself deeply and zealously. He looked upon himself, in that post which no intriguing had obtained to him, but providence had allotted him, to be one of her chief pillars, and was resolved to support her with all his might."|| It is a striking testimony to the value of such counsels that the four first names in the annals of Queen Anne's appointments to the bench, are those of Hooper, Beveridge, Bull, and Wake. [KING WILLIAM III, ARCHBISHOP TENISON.] "Anno 1701, Dec. 2. Humphrey Humphreys, Bishop of Bangor, was translated to Hereford, whereupon the archbishop, on the 4th of January following, being assisted by Henry London, &c., consecrated John Evans, D.D., Bishop of Bangor, in his chapel at Lambeth. "Anno 1702, April 23, he crowned Queen Anne in Westminster Abbey."¶ The Archbishop of York [Dr. John Sharp] " preached the sermon. . . . **** "It was immediately upon her accession to the crown, that my Lord Nottingham, in a letter wrote to him [Archbishop Sharp] to persuade him to come up without delay to pay his duty to the queen (for he was at that time Comp. sup. * It will be recollected there were eight lying vacant. Vid. sup. vol. xvi. p. 510. Autobiography, p. 159. § Life, vol. i. p. 251. || Ibid. p. 255. Le Neve, Archbishops of Canterbury, p. 255. ** Ibid. Archbishops of York, p. 284. in his diocese), uses these words as his argument:-'I ought to tell you I have good reason to believe that your grace is more in her majesty's favour and esteem than any of your order. And judge whether something more than the ordinary respect of a subject is not due to her from you.'"* "After this he had several conferences with her majesty about ecclesiastical matters; and (says he)I thank God, I honestly spoke my thoughts about things and persons. She promised that she would not alter her list of chaplains. I did what good offices I could to my Lord Canterbury, Lord Norwich,' &c. His stay in town was very short upon this occasion. But upon his return to parliament next winter, the queen offered him the almonry and a seat in the privy council, by my lord treasurer. But he entreated to be excused from accepting either, especially the former. He went to the queen; he prevailed upon Lord Nottingham to intercede for him with her, but to no purpose.... "Accordingly, on Friday, February 5th, he received the almoner's seal. . . . and March 20th, following, he was sworn a privy counsellor, with Lord Thanet and Lord Guernsey. And the queen afterwards told him, that she intended to make him dean of her chapel, if the Bishop of London should drop; and in everything shewed her inclination to oblige him as much as she could. And he, for his part, made it his endeavour to discharge his duty towards her in the best manner, as her divine or casuist, with respect to her spiritual concerns; as a good bishop, with regard to ecclesiastical affairs; and as a faithful counsellor in state points. "In the first of these capacities, as her pastor, she trusted very much to his fidelity and skill. She not only allowed him to enter with her into warm discourses about religion, which he often did, when he found proper opportunities for it, but she would send for him on purpose to discourse with her on practical duties, especially before she received the sacrament. . . . "He spoke often and freely to her about methods of restraining the licentiousness of the town, of regulating the play-houses, of the hurt done to city apprentices &c. by the plays on Saturday nights, of shops kept open on Good Friday, and other indecencies of that sort, which he thought it became the government to prevent. And then, as to her other affairs of a public nature, whether civil or ecclesiastical, she admitted him to an intimate participation in her counsels. In things relating to the church, he was her principal and guide. In matters of state, he was her confident; one to whom she could disclose her thoughts at all times, and in whose faithfulness and friendship she could entirely trust, though she could not always depend upon his judgment in those matters. For, as was before observed, he was a stranger to all that sort of politics which consists in intrigues, cabals, and party schemes, and would have nothing to do with the struggles of the other courtiers and great men striving to surmount each other, not so much in her majesty's favour, as in the great offices and posts in the government. When her majesty was pleased to acquaint him beforehand with any of her designed changes in the ministry, he would give her his advice very freely. And when alterations were made without his privity, and when he was absent in his diocese, he would as freely speak his mind to her about them after they were made. "He quite disapproved of her giving herself up to the conduct of any ministry or set of men whatsoever; and the more so, when she took into favour those whom she disliked, or when she suffered herself to be prevailed with to do anything inconsistent with her former declarations. These things consisted not with his politics, how well soever they might pass at court. And when he was expostulating with her on such occasions, and sometimes using what he calls very hard words,' as, ' Poor Queen!' that he truly pitied her'... and 'prayed God to inspire her with more courage'... that' such or such things were a reflection on her government; or owing to the influence of those who govern you, madam, and govern us all,' or the like; her majesty would then sometimes vindicate her proceedings, and at others look grave, and be silent. But he never could perceive that she was in the least angry with him for this his frankness in declaring his mind, or that she was the more reserved towards him in communicating her own designs and thoughts. And she had indeed this admirable temper and disposition (which in a princess is the more extraordinary and valuable), that she could not bear anything that looked like flattery, but could allow and bear well with plain dealing, though it were such as could not be agreeable to her on any other account but for the sincerity of it, and the true friendship it denoted. Of this he had abundant proof from what he observed in many of his conversations with her."*.. "But perhaps the greatest mark of her esteem and friendship for him was given by her after his death, in the immediate appointment of the man whom he desired to be his successor. There was no favour she could have obliged him in equal to this. Sir William Dawes was a person whom, for his very great worth and abilities, and inviolable attachment to the interests of the church of England, his grace had adopted in his wishes to succeed him in his pastoral charge; for he was a man of gravity and prudence, of decency and courtesy, of singular presence of mind, of extraordinary resolution and constancy, and yet of a moderate and cool spirit, and of exemplary regularity and exactness in all parts of life. And he had moreover a very strong and vigorous constitution, which fitted him to execute with ease the most laborious parts of the episcopal function; which, in Archbishop Sharp's judgment, was of no small moment in the choice of a bishop. Upon these considerations (not to mention Sir William's other natural and personal advantages, viz. a tenacious memory, a graceful mien, a fine address, and a sweet elocution), he drew the queen's affections upon that baronet. And having first procured him the bishopric of Chester, and made experiment of his prudence and assiduity in the management of that large diocese, he made the way more easy for his removal from thence to the metropolis of the province. "It was said above, that in the affairs of the church he was her majesty's principal guide. This is in good measure true, with respect only to ecclesiastical promotions, though more evidently so in other church affairs, as will be shewn hereafter. At present let it be observed, that the interest that he had with her majesty he chiefly employed in procuring preferments for learned and worthy men, or at least her bounty for such of them as were in distress. He had been formerly, as was related above,† an useful friend to men of literature and merit, while he was chaplain to Lord Chancellor Finch, and recommended to preferments in the gift of the seals; and no less so in the commission appointed by King William for approving and recommending to his majesty fit persons to succeed in the crown preferments, in which he was joined with my Lord of Canterbury, and the Bishops of Ely, Sarum, &c. And the same desire of providing the church with able men prompted him to labour this point with the queen; in which he had more success than any one man in her reign, though not so much as he might have expected, could she always have followed her own judgment or inclination. For her ministry were constantly interposing, and directing her in the disposal of ecclesiastical preferments, as well as of civil and military offices. So that frequently she was not at liberty to yield to his influence, and follow his advice. Yet this regard was had to him, notwithstanding, that the queen would rarely give her promise without his advice, and, generally speaking, consent first obtained. And he did not prove unworthy, either of this her majesty's confidence in him, or condescension towards him. For he neither * Ibid. pp. 315-320. + [Life, pp. 22—25. Comp. sup. vol. xvi. p. 274, note.] |