Abstract
Two days after the bishops’ confrontation with James was the date set for the reading of the Declaration in London churches. It was a bad error of judgement to permit the date for the reading of the Declaration in the rest of the country to be two weeks later than the date for the reading in London, not least because the country clergy were clearly looking for a lead from those in London. The London clergy were as good as their word. Simon Patrick claimed that it was not read in any parish church, and only in Westminster Abbey because Thomas Sprat, bishop of Rochester, a supporter of James, was dean and ordered a minor canon to read it — though the congregation walked out and Sprat absented himself in the country. At the Whitehall chapel, only a member of the choir was prevailed upon to read it, and afterward the preacher, the Latitudinarian John Scott, preached an archly apposite sermon on ‘the vicissitudes of worldly things’. Evelyn claimed that the Declaration was ‘almost universally forborne throughout all London’.1 In Wales, it was reported that ‘the King’s edict for the reading the Declaration of Indulgence was wholly disobeyed’.2 In fact, only four London parish clergy, one of whom was hopeful of appointment to the vacant see of Oxford, read the Declaration. Some leading clergy, such as Stillingfleet and Tenison, made sure they were out of London on 20 May, so that they could not read the Declaration.3 In other cases, clever clergy read the Declaration to empty churches, having dismissed the congregations before doing so.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Notes
C. A. Lowe, ‘Politics and Religion in Warwickshire during the Reign of James II, 1685–1688’, Warwick University MA thesis, 1992, p. 146.
G. V. Bennett, White Kennett, 1660–1728, London, 1957, p. 11.
J. S. Clarke, The Life of James II by Himself, London, 1816, vol. 2, pp. 155–6.
A. Browning (ed.), Memoirs of Sir John Reresby, London 1991 (second edition with notes by M. Geiter and W. Speck ), p. 499.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Copyright information
© 2009 William Gibson
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Gibson, W. (2009). The Tower. In: James II and the Trial of the Seven Bishops. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230233782_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230233782_5
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London
Print ISBN: 978-1-349-30163-8
Online ISBN: 978-0-230-23378-2
eBook Packages: Palgrave History CollectionHistory (R0)