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Durham E-Theses John Tillotson: a reappraisal Facer, Peter How to cite: Facer, Peter (2000) John Tillotson: a reappraisal, Durham theses, Durham University. Available at Durham E-Theses Online: http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/4362/ Use policy The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that: • a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in Durham E-Theses • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. Please consult the full Durham E-Theses policy for further details. Academic Support Oce, Durham University, University Oce, Old Elvet, Durham DH1 3HP e-mail: [email protected] Tel: +44 0191 334 6107 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk JOHN TILLOTSON: A REAPPRAISAL by Peter Facer The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published in any form, including Electronic and the Internet, without the author's prior written consent. All information derived from this thesis must be acknowledged appropriately. A thesis presented in the Department of Theology of the Faculty of Arts in the University of Durham for the degree of Master of Letters, 2000 One Volume 6 APR 200 2. Peter Facer, John Tillotson: A Reappraisal University of Durham, Faculty of Arts, Department of Theology, Master of Letters, 2000 Abstract of Thesis John Tillotson (1630-94) was fellow of Clare, lecturer at St Lawrence Jewry, preacher at Lincoln's Inn, dean first of Canterbury and briefly of St Paul's, and archbishop of Canterbury (1691-4). This thesis seeks to review the career of a much-neglected and misrepresented clergyman, who lived and held office during the most turbulent phase of English history. The last attempt at a full-length biography was published in the eighteenth century. The judgements of Tillotson's enemies have often been uncritically repeated, and he has often been depicted as an enemy of the true Church of England and condemned as a Socinian and a rationalist, who preached nothing but morality. Reworking of old material and introducing new enables a more just appraisal to be made. The thesis describes and explains his rise from a humble background in Yorkshire to the see of Canterbury. The nature and content of his pamphleteering against atheism and Roman Catholicism is summarised. His part in the comprehension schemes of the period is discussed. The professionalism with which he approached his duties is revealed. Tillotson's involvement in political life is explained. Aspects of his pastoral work and personal life are described. From the large corpus of his printed sermons, the theological content of his preaching is examined. Tillotson emerges as a sincere, generous and tolerant Christian. He was a conscientious and hardworking clergyman. He was a convinced and campaigning, but never bigoted or a strident, protestant. His preaching reveals a concern for Christian commitment to, and growth of maturity in, the faith, which can be justified through reason. He was orthodox in theology and preached on all the main doctrines of the creed as well as stressing the ethical implications of faith. 3. CONTENTS Notes 4 Introduction 5 1. Progress 10 2. Pamphlets 34 3. Peacemaking 58 4. Professionalism 89 5. Politics 116 6. Pastor 140 7. Preaching 157 8. Personal 185 Conclusion 202 Tables 205 1. Tillotson's Income as Prebendary of Canterbury, 1671-2 205 2. Canterbury Chapter Meetings and Tillotson's Attendances 206 3. St Paul's Chapter Meetings and Tillotson's Attendances 207 4. Canterbury Chapter: Renewal of Leases 208 5. Canterbury Chapter: Seal Money 209 6. Tillotson's Income as Dean of Canterbury, 4 November 1672 to 19 November 1689 210 7. Tillotson's Attendances as Archbishop at the House of Lords and the Privy Council 214 8. Tillotson's Annual Income as Archbishop 216 9. Revenues of the Archbishop of Canterbury: 30 November 1690 to 11 July 1691 219 Bibliography 220 NOTES Abbreviations used throughout the footnotes Add.MSS.: Additional Manuscripts of the British Library Birch: Thomas Birch, The Works of Dr John Tillotson, (London 1752) as reprinted in 1820 in ten volumes DNB: Dictionary of National Biography, (London 1908-9) EHD: A. Browning (ed.), English Historical Documents, 1660-1714, (London 1953) PC: Privy Council Papers SP: State Papers (Domestic) T: State Papers (Treasury) HMC: Historical Manuscripts Commission The place of publication of books and articles is assumed to be London unless otherwise stated. Dates are given in Old Style, except that the year is taken to begin on 1 January. The copyright of this thesis rests with the author. No quotation from it should be published without his prior written consent and information derived from it should be acknowledged. 5. INTRODUCTION When, in 1752, Thomas Birch concluded his biography of John Tillotson, he commented that he had undertaken 'a task too long neglected by others, and now undertaken by me from a just apprehension, that most of the present materials for a life of him, would in all probability have been lost in a course of a few years more.'1 Unlike other contemporary senior clergy, Tillotson has been neglected by biographers ever since. For example, the nineteenth century saw biographies of William Sancroft, John Sharp and Thomas Ken. In the mid 1930s E.F. Carpenter began his series of books which covered the careers of Sherlock, Tenison and Compton. A. Tindal Hart wrote in the later 1940s and early 1950s on John Sharp and William Lloyd. Later in the second half of the twentieth century G.V. Bennett published a biography of White Kennett, H.A.L. Rice of Thomas Ken and W.M. Marshall of George Hooper. No biography of Tillotson was published, however. Interest in Tillotson since the 1950s has been focussed on special aspects of his career rather than on biography. John Mackay, who was appealing for material on Tillotson in Notes and Queries as early as 1947, presented his thesis five years later on Tillotson's contribution to the development of English prose. Nevertheless, over half the thesis was biographical. In 1954 L.G. Locke also produced a study of Tillotson's literary significance, though about a quarter of the work was biographical. Irene Simon in the 1960s and 1970s was concerned only with pulpit oratory. Alan C. Clifford, writing in 1990, was interested in evangelical theology in the works of John Owen, Richard Baxter, Tillotson and John Wesley, though he did 1. Birch, I, cclxii 2. G.D'Oyly, The Life of Archbishop Sancroft, (1821); T.Sharp, Life of John Sharp, (1825); E.H. Plumtree, Thomas Ken, (1891) 3. E.C. Carpenter, Thomas Sherlock, (1936), Thomas Tenison, (1948), The Protestant Bishop, 4. A. Tindal Hart, The Life and Times of John Sharp, (1949), William Lloyd, (1952) 5. G.V. Bennett, White Kennett, (1957); H.A.L.Rice, Thomas Ken, (1964); W.M. Marshall, George Hooper, (1976) 6. John Mackay, 'John Tillotson: a Study of his Life and of his Contribution to the Development of English Prose', unpublished Oxford D.Phil, thesis, 1952 7. L.G.Locke, 'Tillotson: A Study in Seventeenth-Century Literature' in Anglistica, vol.IV, (Copenhagen 1954) 8. Irene Simon, Three Restoration Divines: Barrow, South and Tillotson, (Paris 1967) 6. include a biographical summary of each.^ Isabel Rivers in her work of 1991 used two of Tillotson's sermons in her investigation of the language of religion and ethics between 1660 and 1780. Two years later, Gerard Reedy successfully challenged the view that Tillotson only preached morality. The reason for the absence of any recent biography of Tillotson and for the emphasis on specialist areas of his work is not because Thomas Birch had said all that could be said but simply because of the lack of any significant number of new primary sources. Birch's gloomy prophecy of 1752 has been fulfilled, and the material for further work has indeed disappeared. Consequently those who have included information on Tillotson in their work, whether as passing references or as biographical sketches, have relied most heavily on Birch and produced nothing that was new. No journals, large collections of correspondence or sets of business papers of Tillotson's have been discovered. Even the manuscripts of his sermons have not been found. It is not surprising, therefore, that biographers have avoided Tillotson as a suitable subject. Thomas Birch's work of 262 pages provides an invaluable narrative of Tillotson's career. He quoted a considerable number of documents verbatim, re-printed the two dozen pages of John Beardmore's Memorials of Tillotson and the six pages of John Jortin's remarks on some of the sermons. Birch's work was thorough and accurate as comparisons between the printed documents and the manuscripts show. However, Birch's work cannot now be considered to be adequate. The questions asked today of historical characters are different from those in the middle of the eighteenth century. The antiquarian collection of facts for simple narrative is no longer sufficient. Present-day concerns would include an analysis of how such a clergyman came to power, what was the full range of work attempted by him, how far was he successful in what he attempted, the importance of his political involvement, his theological emphases and his legacy to church and state. Even his personal life would be scrutinised to assess its effect upon his work. Above all, it would be asked how he fitted in to what is now known of the 1.