None the less he holds that the actual settlement was
marked by "extreme harshness to individuals, gross breach of public faith, and by a narrowness which was neither con- sistent with the traditions of the Church nor agreeable to the mind of the English people." The injustice of the treatment of the Nonconformists was freely admitted by the best men of the time, and impaired the credit of the Anglican hierarchy. In conclusion, " what the Marian persecution of Protestants was to the Reformed Church, that the Caroline persecution of Nonconformists was to Dissent. . . . The moral greatness of the men who suffered under the Caroline Code is not diminished by the fact that they represented an exhausted theology, and were committed to ecclesiastical ideals and methods which were irrecoverably obsolete. Modern Dissent has not perpetuated either the Puritan theology or the Puritan discipline, yet it finds in the dismal record of 'Black Bartholomew' its most effective and moving historical appeal." The appreciative comment of so militant a Nonconformist as Dr. Clifford on Canon Henson's " Retrospect," which we believe expresses the view of the majority of Churchmen, is a guarantee that no sectarian or controversial capital is likely to be made out of the commemoration.
Previous page
