RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND AND WALES, 1689-1800 Edited by William Gibson Leicester University Press London and Washington CONTENTS Preface ix Acknowledgements xi Introduction 1 One: Religion before and after the Revolution of 1689 1. Tension in the last days of James H's reign 17 2. The Revolution seen by Mary Woodforde, 1688-89 18 3. Gilbert Burnet's account of the Glorious Revolution, 1689 19 4. Bishop Compton of London urges acceptance of the Revolution on his clergy 24 5. The Bill of Rights, 1689 24 6. Gilbert Burnet recounts the cause of the non-jurors and the passage of the Toleration Act, 1689 27 [From G. Burnet, History of His Own Time (London, 1724)] 7. The Toleration Act, 1689 31 8. Humphrey Prideaux reports the impact of the Glorious Revolution, 1692 33 9. The intellectual consequences of the Revolution: John Locke 35 10. The intellectual consequences of the Revolution: Charles Leslie 45 11. The religious consequences of the Revolution in foreign policy: William Ill's Address to Parliament, 1701 48 12. The longevity of the consequences of the Revolution: non-jurors question Bishop Hough in the 1740s 50 Two: The Church in the early eighteenth century 1. Josiah Woodward's account of the religious societies in London, 1697 ^ 53 2. The work of the Society for the Reformation of Manners 57 3. A tour of the religious groups of Kent, 1701 59 4. The work of the SPCK, 1700 60 VI RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND AND WALES, 1689—1800 5. Robert Nelson on feasts and festivals, 1703 62 6. Erasmus Saunders's bleak view of the Church in Wales, 1721 64 - Three: Controversies 1. The Lower House of Convocation addresses the bishops, 1705 69 2. The trial of Dr Sacheverell, 1710 71 3. The Occasional Conformity Act, 1711 75 4. The Schism Act, 1714 77 5. Bishop Hoadly's sermon: 'Christ's Kingdom is not of this world', 1717 79 6. William Law's response to Hoadly: Church authority is real but conditional, 1717 84 7. William Warburton's view of the alliance between Church and State, 1736 86 8. William Paley's view of an established church justified by utilitarian ideas, 1785 89 Four: Religion outside the Establishment 1. The concern of the Anglican clergy, 1692 and 1698 93 2. Numbers of dissenters in early eighteenth-century England and Wales: Dr Evans's list, 1715 95 3. Oxford students give an account of the early Methodists at Oxford, 1732 and 1734 100 4. John Wesley's conversion, 1738 106 5. John Wesley's defence, 1739 110 6. Wesley's sermon on salvation by faith 112 7. John Gambold bemoans the methods of preachers, 1743 114 8. Bishop Gibson of London's hostility to Methodism, 1744 116 9. Howell Harris's fears for the hostility evangelical ministers faced, 1748 117 10. Phillip Doddridge's accounts of nonconformity, 1740s 118 11. The debate on the Jewish Naturalisation Act, 1753 122 12. Samuel Davies's account of Presbyterianism in England, 1754 126 13. Oxford University expels six Methodists, 1768 127 14. The burial of a dissenting child, 1770 129 15. The Church's attitude to relief, 1779-81 130 16. John Wesley breaks from the Church of England, 1784 132 17. Silas Told's experiences as a Methodist convert, 1786 134 CONTENTS VII Five: Popular religion 1. The separation of the sexes in church, c. 1690 137 2. Irreverent behaviour in church: The Tatler, 1710 and The Guardian, 1713 137 3. A poorly-trained clergyman, 1734 140 4. A funeral wake, c. 1735 141 5. Music in church, and its difficulties, 1749-52 142 6. A dean resents the public nature of cathedral life, 1750 143 7. Religion and politeness, 1760 144 8. The Church and rates: extracts from Winchcombe vestry minute book, 1763-99 145 9. Religion and society at Bath, 1766 146 10. Northern contempt for religion, 1778 150 11. Sunday amusements, 1780s 150 12. The start of Sunday schools, 1783 152 13. Easter arrangements, 1786 154 14. Daily worship in the eighteenth century 155 15. Church courts, discipline and penance in the eighteenth century 160 Six: The Established Church 1. Thomas Wilson's duties as Bishop of Sodor and Man, 1697-1755 163 2. Bishop Edmund Gibson's proposals for church reform, 1724 166 3. Tithe collection, 1728, 1777 and 1802 170 4. A parson repairs his church, 1756 172 5. A squire records the demise of a parson, 1757 173 6. Henry Venn in Huddersfield, 1759 174 7. Irreligion and preaching, 1765 175 8. Archbishop Seeker, 1768 177 9. The incapacity of Bishop Thomas Newton of Bristol, 1776 178 10. Wiltshire visitation returns, 1783 179 11. A plea for preferment, 1786 186 12. A non-resident on non-residence, 1800 187 13. The neglect of country parsons in the century 190 VIII RELIGION AND SOCIETY IN ENGLAND AND WALES, I689-18OO Seven: Catholicism 1. The finances of the Catholic church in England, 1731 193 2. Edward Gibbon's path to Rome, 1752-53 194 3. Bishop Newton's attitude to Catholicism, 1764 196 4. The Catholic Relief Act, 1778 197 5. Berington describes Catholics in England, 1780 200 Eight: Religious continuity and change 1. Domestic chaplains and worship, 1689 201 2. Women's piety 202 3. Chester visitation records, 1778 203 4. Lancashire dissent, 1786 205 5. Sale of pews in Sheffield, 1792 and 1806 206 6. An enclosure at Blunham, 1792 207 7. John Venn in Clapham, 1793 208 Nine: Politics and religion 1. Bishop Compton asks clergy to support a candidate for parliament, 1701 211 2. Clergy appointed for electoral advantage, 1733 211 3. Dissenters seek access to political power, 1735 212 4. Bishop Gibson's public opposition to Quaker tithe relief, 1736 214 5. Thomas Ball declines preferment, 1741 215 6. Archbishop Herring defends the regime, 1745 216 Ten: Foreign views of English religion 1. Cesar de Saussure's account, 1729 221 2. Carl Moritz's account of Nettlebed, 1782 224 3. Francois de la Rochefoucauld's account of an Enghsh Sunday, 1784 227 Bibliography 235 Index 239.