any

which attended it, were, as we have seen, most repugnant to their feelings; but no sooner did the bull of the pope arrive, than they submitted to it without limitation. Thus the time was come, when every thing unpleasant, which had taken place in the contest, should have been buried in oblivion, and the only rivalry between the parties, should have been, who should best promote good humour. The reverse unfortunately happened: it 'was contended that the actual submission of the appellants did not undo or atone for the criminality of their former appeal: and, on this ground, the archpriest and his adherents continued to treat them as schismatics. This, the calumniated priests could not endure in patience. On the 17th of November 1600, thirty-two of them presented to the archpriest a letter subscribed by them*; in which, after mentioning the grievances under which they laboured, and an increase of them which they apprehended, they appealed in form from him to the holy see, praying, at the same time, the apostoli, or demissorial letter, allowing them to prosecute the appeal;" And," say the appellants, "we "make this appeal in our own names, and in the "names both of the clergy and the laity; of which "latter there are many hundreds, whose names, for

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just causes, are concealed, that adhere unto us." The appellants transmitted the appeal to Rome. The pope received it with kindness; and, in consequence of it, addressed to the archpriest a brief,

Dodd, vol. ii. p. 258. Colleton's Defence, p. 1002.

dated the 17th of August 1601, in the form of a letter*, in which he gives a succinct and impartial account of the contentions, which had occasioned the appointment of the archpriest, and to which that appointment had given rise. His holiness notices, with disapprobation, father Lyster's Treatise on Schism, and an answer of the archpriest, who, when the appellant clergy had complained to him of that work, replied-(" which," says his holiness, "we we repeat with sorrow,")-" that he thought

"them schismatics;" on which, says the pope, the

troubles again burst forth.-The pope then notices the appeal, and declares that he had read and considered it. He proceeds to confirm the archpriest in his appointment, and the powers attached to it; but admonishes him, that he was elevated to the rank which had been conferred on him, for the purpose of edification, not of destruction; and recommends to him to temper severity with mildness, to be the father more than the commander of the flock, to be slow in condemning, and to stop the publication of libels; he suppresses the Treatise on Schism, and all the other publications to which the controversy had given rise. He exhorts all parties, in beautiful and affecting terms, to a general oblivion of offence, and a constant interchange of good offices, and imposes silence on all.-He declines to admit the appeal, as the admission of it would, he says, produce perpetual

This excellent letter did not entirely pacify the troubles. The clergy sent a third deputation to Rome. It produced a second letter from the pope to the archpriest, in the form of a brief, dated the 6th of October 1602*. His holiness observes to the archpriest, that sometimes, in the discharge of his office, he had exceeded his powers; that these were only to be exercised over the seminary priests, and did not extend over the laity; he blames him for proceeding by suspension and censures against the appellant priests; he declares that they had never lost their faculties by their proceedings. His holiness then, in virtue of his apostolical authority, commands him, by holy obedience, to communicate no business of his office to the provincial of the society of Jesus, or to any members of the society in England,-lest it should be a cause of animosity and discord between the society and the appellants; and with the same view, he revokes the contrary injunctions given by cardinal Cajetan. -He enjoins the archpriest to have no communication with the jesuits at Rome, respecting the English mission, or the concerns of his office.-But he observes, that this injunction did not proceed from an unfavourable opinion of the society, whose zeal and piety he warmly commends; but for the sake of preserving peace and harmony, which the jesuits themselves, he says, thought it would promote.Carrying this amiable spirit of conciliation still further, he provided, that, on the death of the three assistants, who should first depart this life, the * Dodd, vol. ii. p. 262.

archpriest should supply the vacancies from the appellants. He directs future appeals to be made to the cardinal protector, and orders the archpriest to transmit them to him. Publications for or against the jesuits, for or against the appellants, and every other publication of that description, without license from the cardinal, he prohibits under pain of excommunication." By the mercies of God and his "Son, we implore you to love one another; to take "offence at none, to render to none evil for evil, "lest it should bring your ministry into contempt:

to do good to all; and to do it both before God and man, that, at length, with the help of God, "who is true peace and charity, you may reap with gladness the fruits of your hard labourings in danger and dismay;-this we, with the whole church, expect from you."

Thus, in a manner highly honourable to the appellant priests, and to those who acted or thought with them, the matters in dispute were settled by papal authority. Applications, however, to Rome for a bishop were still made. It appears, by a letter of father Augustine, prior of the English benedic- tine monks at Douay, written in 1607*, that two clergymen, soliciting the appointment of bishops, were then at Rome. The pious father discusses, with much good sense and discrimination of character, two important questions,-whether bishops for the English mission were necessary; and supposing the appointment necessary, on whom it should fall. To the first question, he answers in the affirmative, but with a salvo, that the person In the Clarendon State Papers.

appointed should be acceptable, or at least not obnoxious to the party which favoured, or the party which opposed the jesuits. In answer to the second question he mentions Dr. Kellison, Dr. Smith, and some others as persons excellently qualified for the office. Paul the fifth filled at this time the papal chair: he rejected the application.

Blackwell having held the dignity of archpriest during ten years, was deposed in 1608, chiefly, it is supposed, for his advocation of the oath of allegiance, proposed by James the first. On his decease, the same title and jurisdiction were conferred on Mr. George Birkett, a clergyman of wise and moderate councils, and of conciliating manners; "studious," says Dodd," of the reputation of the "clergy, yet not inclinable to lessen that of others." He died in 1614; and Dr. Harrison, by an instrument dated the 11th of July 1615, was substituted in his place. From a manuscript, which belonged to the late Dr. Macro of Cambridge, it appears, that, by a formal injunction, Dr. Harrison forbad his clergy "to go to plays, acted by common players " in common stages, under pain of being deprived ipso facto of their faculties." Against this injunction, three priests, of the names of Like, Thules, and Canon, protested: Dr. Harrison justified his proceeding by a long and well-written letter.-He mentions in it, that from tenderness for the three priests, he had made the inhibition general; but that, in fact, it had been particularly occasioned by them, as they were the only clergymen, under his jurisdiction, who frequented stage entertainments.

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The form of government by an archpriest still