William Law, nonjuror and mystic : ... a sketch of his life, character, and opinions

Front matter

m

CORNELL

UNIVERSLTY

Preface

A. HUNDRED AND TWENTY YEARS have ekpsed since the death of Mr. Law ; but happily there are still living several of his name and lineage, without whose sanction and assistance this work could never have been written. I desire, therefore, to express my thanks to Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Law, of the Hall Yard, King's Cliffe, to Miss Law, also of King's Cliffe, and to Mr. Farmery Law, of Stamford, all lineal descendants of Mr. George Law, the eldest brother of the subject of the present biography ; to the Rev. Henry Law, Vicar of Clacton-on-Sea, a lineal descendant of Mr. Thomas Law, second brother of the same : in a word, to all the Law family, to whom I am indebted, not only for valuable information, but also for full permission to make use of all the private documents which bear upon my subject ; also to the Rev. Richard Massey, Curate in sole charge of King's Cliffe, who has helped me -in various ways in my researches at Cliffe; also to the Master (Dr. Phear) and the Librarian (Dr. Pearson) of Emmanuel College, Cambridge ; also to my late colleague, the Rev. Charles John Abbey, who might vi Preface.

fairly have claimed my subject as his own, inasmuch as William Law fell mainly to his province in our joint work on the Eighteenth Century, but who, with the courtesy and generosity which he has always shown, at once gave up the subject to me when I told him that I desired to write upon it. I have referred in my foot-notes to the late Mr. Walton's ' Notes and Materials for an adequate Biography of the celebrated Divine, William Law,' whenever I have made use of that most industriously compiled work ; but my obligations to the writer are so great that they require a special acknowledgment. I am still more indebted to the Chetham Society, whose useful labours have rendered accessible our best sources of information respecting Mr. Law's personal habits and conversation.

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE

I. Introductory' i

II. Law's Early Years 5

Chapter I. Introductory

The name of William Law is so unfamiliar to the present generation that it may be necessary to give some reasons why his life should be written at all. That he was one of the ablest of theological writers in a period remarkably fertile in theological literature ; that he lived a pure and conscientious life of Christian self-denial, at a time of great spiritual deadness ; that he influenced the generation in which he lived, indirectly but very really, as much or more than any man of his day ; that his whole character, moral, intellectual, and social, was a singularly taking one ; that he was, in his later years, almost the only notable representative in England of a phase of Christianity which has attracted and helped to form many saintly characters ; — these, in themselves might be insufficient reasons for introducing an almost forgotten man of genius to a public which is perhaps already bewildered by the multitude of claimants upon its attention.

■ But the life and writings of William Law are of so striking and suggestive a character that they really ought

B

Introductory.

not to be allowed to pass into oblivion. He would have been a remarkable man in any age, but he was doubly remarkable when we think of him as belonging to an age which took its philosophy from Locke, its theology from Tillotson, and its politics from Walpole : an age which had hardly any sympathy with any of the phases of his character. For he stood singularly apart from his contemporaries, though he influenced them so deeply. His Churchmanship differed from that of the typical Churchman of his day as light does from darkness ; it was not even like that of his non-juring contemporaries, who were as much concerned with politics as with theology. The life which he recommended in his practical treatises, and lived himself to the very letter, was about as different as one can conceive from the easy-going life of the eighteenth century ; while even those who were stirred to the inmost depths of their spiritual nature by the ' Serious Call,' did not, as a rule, become like-minded with the author. What in him took the form of a benevolent tranquillity, in them took the form of a benevolent activity. His later phase of so-called mysticism aroused, outside a very small coterie, an almost universal feeling of unmitigated disgust. In fact, Law was as one born out of due time ; he may be regarded as a relic of the past, or as an anticipation of the future, but of his own present he was an utterly abnormal specimen. To come across such a man in the midst of his surroundings is, to borrow the admirable simile of a writer of our own day,' like coming across an old Gothic cathedral with its air of calm grandeur and mellowed beauty in the midst of the staring red-brick buildings of a brand-new manufacturing town ; and, it may be added, the feeling with which he was regarded by many of his contemporaries was something like that with which some nouveau riche might regard such a

• Miss Julia Wedgwood.

Introductory.

building, grudging it the space it occupied, which, in his view, might be more advantageously occupied by a manufactory or a Mechanics' Institute.

The present work has been undertaken, partly because the writer thinks that such a character as that of William Law will find more sympathisers now than it did in his own day ; but chiefly because he believes that Law's life and writings possess more than a mere historical interest. Law anticipated many of the difficulties which weigh upon the minds of thoughtful people nowadays, and answered' them, if not always satisfactorily, yet always in a way that deserves and will command the most careful attention. And his character is just such a one as it is important in the interests of Christianity to bring into prominence. When ■ Christianity is represented by some as adapted only for minds of the second order (except for the temporal advantages it may bring), it will be well to call attention to one whose intellect was undeniably of the highest order, and whose intense conviction of the truth of Christianity was obviously stimulated by no interested motive. When religion is assumed by others to be the special province of women and children, a Christian character of a singularly robust and masculine type may be a useful study.

It is strange that no adequate biography of so eminent a man as Law should have been written in the generation after his death. But it is by no means to be regretted that none was written ; for it could hardly have failed to be unsatisfactory. Law was one of those men of strong opinions and independent character who call forth vehement sympathy and vehement antipathy. It would have been all but impossible for a contemporary, or one who was nearly a contemporary, to take a calm and dispassionate estimate of such a man. Even if the writer's own views were not distorted by prejudice on one side or the other, he would

B 2

Introductory.

have found it difficult to obtain sufficient information from unbiassed sources to enable him to form a fair estimate of the real value of the man and his work. The time has now arrived, however, when Law can be viewed in the dry light of history ; when we ought to be misled neither by the glamour with which his friends surrounded him, nor by the prejudices which prevented his opponents from doing him justice ; when, in short, we ought to be able to take him for what he was— a thorough man, full of human infirmities, but a grand specimen of humanity, and a noble monument of the power of divine grace in the soul. If the following sketch of one of the finest minds and most interesting characters of the eighteenth century fail to prove both attractive and instructive, the fault will lie, not in the subject, but in the biographer.

Laws Parentage.

Chapter II

law's early years.

William Law was born, in 1686, at King's CHffe, a large village in the north of Northaniptonshire, about seven miles ifrom Stamford. His father, Thomas Law, was a grocer ; but his social standing was different from that of an ordinary village tradesman in the present day.* The Laws are a family of high respectability and of good means. We find the head of the family, so far back as three generations earlier than the subject of this biography, technically described as ' George Law, Gentleman.' Thomas Law married Margaret Farmery, a Lincolnshire lady. The name of Farmery was evidently much thought of in the Law family, for it reappears over and over again as a Christian name of various members. Eight sons and three daughters were the issue of this marriage, viz., George, Thomas, Giles, William, Nathaniel, Benjamin, Farmery, Christopher, Isabel, Margaret, and Ann. If there be any truth in the tradition that the ' Paternus ' of the ' Serious Call ' was William Law's own father, and the ' Eusebia ' his widowed mother, he must have been singularly blessed in his parents. At any rate, it is plain that they brought up their large family well, for none of them appear to have given their

' Professor Fowler, in his Life of Locke ('English Men of Letters') rightly remarks that there was not so marked a distinction between the lesser gentry and the tradesmen in the seventeenth century as there is at the present day. •

His Early Piety.

parents any trouble. William Law tells us himself that up to the time of his leaving Cambridge, he ' had hitherto enjoyed a large share of happiness,' and in a short account of his life prefixed to an American edition of the ' Serious Call ' we are told that ' his education and early years of his life were very serious.' That this was the case is evident from a document found among his papers in his own handwriting, which is entitled ' Rules for my Future Conduct,' and which was probably drawn up by him on entering the University.' As these rules throw light upon his character in his youth they are worth quoting : —

I. To fix it deep in my mind that I have but one business upon my hands^ — to seek for eternal happiness by doing the will of God.

II. To examine everything that relates to me in this view, as it serves or obstructs this only end of life.

III. To think nothing great or desirable because the world thinks it so ; but to form all my judgments of things from the infallible Word of God, and direct my life according to it

IV. To avoid all concerns with the world, or the ways of it, but where religion requires.

V. To remember frequently, and impress it upon my mind deeply, that no condition of this life is for enjoyment, but for trial ; and that every power, ability, or advantage we have, are all so many talents to be accounted for to the Judge of aU the world.

VI. That the greatness of human nature consists in nothing else but in imitating the divine nature. That therefore all the greatness of this world, which is not in good actions, is perfectly beside the point.

VII. To remember, often and seriously, how much of time is inevitably thrown away, from which I can expect nothing but the charge of guilt ; and how little there may be to come, on which an eternity depends.

VIII. To avoid all excess in eating and drinking.

IX. To spend as little time as I possibly can among such persons as can receive no benefit from me nor I from them.

' See Notes, dfc, for a Biography of William Law, printed for private circulation.

His Diligence at Cambridge.

X. To be always fearful of letting my time slip away without some fruit.

XI. To avoid all idleness.

XII. To call to mind the presence of God whenever I find myself under any temptation to sin, and to have immediate recourse to prayer.

XIII. To think humbly of myself, and with great charity of all others.

XIV. To forbear from all evil speaking.

XV. To think often of the life of Christ, and propose it as a pattern to myself.

XVI. To pray privately thrice a day, besides my morning and evening prayers.

XVII. To keep .from as much as I can without offence.

XVIII. To spend some time in giving an account of the day, previous to evening prayer : How have I spent the day ? What sin have I committed ? What temptations have I withstood ? Have I performed all my duty ?

With these excellent rules for his conduct, Law entered as a Sizar at Emnianuel College, Cambridge, in 1705. He took his B.A. degree in 1708, was elected Fellow of his College and received holy orders in 171 1, and took his M.A. in 17 1 2.' With his strong sense of duty, it is scarcely necessary to say that Law was a diligent student in his University days. He told his friend Dr. Byrom that ' he was very diligent in reading Horace &c. at Cambridge ; ' ^ and when Dr. Trap upbraided him for his want of taste for • his Virgil s, Horaces, and Terence's', he replied, ' I own when I was about eighteen, I was as fond of these books as the Doctor can well be now, and should then have been glad to have translated the Sublime Milton, if I had found myself able. But,' he adds, ' this ardour soon went off.' *

' The following is the register (not an original one) of Mr, Law's entry at Emmanuel, kindly supplied to me by the present librarian, Dr. Pearson ; 'June 7, I7QS. Lawe.Wm, S. (sizar). N. ton. Sqc; A,B. 1708, A.M. 1712; a celebrated enthusiast.'

2 Eyram's Journal, ii, 366,

« Atpeal to all that Danbt S^'c, Law's ' Works, ' vol. vi. p. 318,

His Studies.

The only other allusion, so far as I am aware, which Law ever made to his early days in his printed works, occurs in the sanie treatise, where, referring to the bigotry of party spirit, he says : ' When I was a young scholar at the University I heard a great religionist say in my father's house, that if he could believe the late King of France to be in heaven, he could not tell how to wish to go there himself This was exceeding shocking to all that heard it.' '

Besides the classics. Law appears to have studied philosophy and also the so-called mystic writers, of whom in later days he became so ardent an admirer.^ Law also possessed some knowledge of Hebrew, which he learnt at - the University ' from his Hebrew master, old Eagle,' ^ and his MSS. notes in the library at King's Cliife show that he had some knowledge of mathematics ; his acquaintance with the modern languages was probably made at a later date, with the exception of French, which he certainly learned in his youth. There is a tradition that he acted as curate of Fotheringhay for a short time, but there is no direct evidence of the fact ; while there is evidence that after his election to the Fellowship he resided at Cambridge and took pupils.*

Law's tenure of his Fellowship, however, was not destined to be of long duration. It is well known that the last four years of Queen Anne's reign (17 10-17 14) were marked by a vigorous revival of those doctrines which had led many conscientious men twenty years earlier to demur to the Revolution Settlement. The old watchwords of

' Appeal to all that Doubt &'c., Law's ' Works, ' vol. vi. p. 278.

•" See Byrom's Journal, vol. i. part i. p. 23, which shows Law's early acquaintance with the mystic philosopher Malebranche.

' Ibid, for January 31, 1730.

• Ibid. Letter from John Byrom to Mrs. Byrom, vol. i. part ii. p 512 ' I was to-day, -writes Byrom, ' to call on Dr. Rjchardson, the clergyman ■ be was pupil to Mr. Law at Cambridge.' '

His Tripos Speech.

' divine, hereditary, indefeasible right,' ' passive obedience/

and ' non-resistance,' began again to be heard. The logical

result of such doctrines was, of course, antagonistic to the

Protestant succession ; but all those who held them were

not prepared to follow out their principles to the logical

result. There were undoubtedly many, who, without ^oing

the whole length of the Vicar of Bray, were- inclined to

adopt the policy of a contemporary ballad : —

We moderate men do our judgment suspend

For God only knows where these matters will end.

For Sal'sbury, Burnett, and Kennet White show

That as the times vary so principles go :

And twenty years hence, for aught you or I know,

'Twill be Hoadly the high and Sacheverell the low.'

William Law, however, was not one of these ' moderate men, whose principles went as the times varied,' and, as he was the last man in the world to conceal his principles, they brought him into trouble. In the first mention which Byrom, in his amusing 'Journal,' makes of his future mentor, he tells us, 'there is one Law, a M.A.and Fellow of Emmanuel, has" this last week been degraded to a Soph., for a speech that he spoke on a public occasion, reflecting, as is reported, on the Government. All I could learn of the .matter is of some queries that he asked the lads in the middle, of his speech, to such effect as these, viz. : Whether good and evil be obnoxious to revolution ? Whether, when the earth interposes between the sun and the moon, the moon may be said to advocate herself .? Whether, when the children of Israel had made the golden calf the object of their worship, they ought to keep to their God de facto, or return to their God dejure ? and such like. He is much blamed by some and defended by others ; has the character of a vain, conceited fellow.' ' Byrom wrote this, April 27,

> Quoted in Mr. Wordsworth's interesting work on University Life in the Eighteenth Century, p. 34-

2 Byrom's yournal, vol. i. part ii. p. 20, 21.

lo His ' Degradation^

17 1 3, to his 'honoured mother, dear brother, and sisters,' and three days later, repeating to another correspondent the story of Law, he added, ' On account of a speech that he made at the Trypos, a public meeting of the University.' The account of Byrom (who is generally pretty accurate) is confirmed by the following entry in the annals of the Tripos speeches : 'April 17, 17 13, Mr. Will. Law was suspended for " his speech in the public schooles at the latter act." ' ' This same event is evidently alluded to by Hearne, though the news appears to have been somewhat late in reaching him, for it is dated July 30, 1713 : ' One Mr. Lawes, A.M., of Cambridge, was lately degraded by the means of Dr. Adams, head of King's College, who complained to the present lord-treasurer (who was zealous for his degradation) upon account of some queries in his speech called tripos speech, such as, Whether the sun shines when it is in an eclipse .' Whether a controverted son be not better than a controverted successor } Whether a dubious successor be not in danger of being set aside ? With other things of the same nature,'^

Soon after his ' degradation ' Law preached the one and only sermon of his which is still extant. As the single specimen we possess of his pulpit powers, it is worthy of attention, but for this reason only. The sermon itself is in no way remarkable. Many a pulpit rang with the same sentiments on the same day. It is simply an energetic and vehement defence of the Peace of Utrecht which the Tory Government had lately concluded, and is about as unspiritual a composition as one can well conceive ; in fact, there is not one word of what we should call religion in it from beginning to end. It is entitled, ' A Sermon preach'd at Hazelingfield in the county of Cambridge, on Tuesday,

' See Wordsworth's Unwemiy life in the Eighieei^k Century, p. 231. ' Hearne's Diary, i, 38?.

His Sermon on the Peace of Utrecht. i i

July 7, 17 1 3, being the day appointed by Her Majesty's Royal Proclamation for Public Thanksgiving for Her Majesty's General Peace, by W. Law, M.A., Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge.' The text is Titus iii. i, and prefixed to the printed sermon is this very suggestive motto : ' A modest man would never meddle with another's business ; a prudent man would never interpose in things above his reach ; but least of all would any loyal subject entrench upon Caesar's rights ' (Mr. Chiswell's Sermon at Hertford Assizes). The sermon is mainly directed against those audacious Whigs who ventured to find fault with ' a Peace which nothing but the most consummate wisdom and laborious care, blessed with Providence, could have procured us,' instead of * giving God thanks and praise for as glorious an affair as ever befel these nations.' ' Man,' says the preacher, ' is equally averse to the government of God and his vicegerents. Our duty to government in most cases must be active, but in all passive.' He divides his subject into four heads : ' (i) That every good Christian and loyal subject must have a care of examining too nicely the affairs of his Prince. (2) That if a wise man was pretty sure that some parts of the Public Administration would admit of better management, yet should he be very careful how he expressed such sentiments ; and in such cases never suffer the wisdom or care of government to be common topicks of Reflexion. (3) The Reason why this Duty is now so much transgressed by us. (4) The application to the Happy Occasion.' The sermon reminds one of the strain in which Queen Elizabeth used to address her Parliaments. We are to ' have a care of examining too nicely the affairs of our Prince, (i) because of the danger of becoming too wise in our own conceits to be thankful, (2) because of our ignorance, (3) because of our passions, (4) because of our party spirit.' Then follows some violent abuse of those who railed at the ministry :

1 2 He becomes a Nonjttror.

' Men are resty and unruly, bold and disloyal in their expressions.' They ' condemn an authority that has no superior but that of Heaven.' It is 'hard to say whether this practice be more common or more abominable.' The ' meanest Mechanick pretends to be wiser than his Governor and censure the Proceeding of Crown'd Heads.' Then comes what in this day we should consider fulsome praise of the Queen for her fostering care as a nursing mother of the Church. ' Whilst the State thrives and triumphs under her Protection how does our Church rejoyce in her -true Defender, whilst she sees her faithful sons encouraged to be good, whilst to defend her rights is to secure Anna's favour ; whilst she sees the Princely heart eager in the cause of God, firm to the Faith as the undaunted martyr's, zealous in devotion, and both in Principle and Practice unchangeably good,' Then the preacher apostrophises her : ' Thou great, dear offspring of great Charles, how do his Royal Virtues shine in thee ! Glorious in every excellence that can grace a Christian, adorn Government, and bless a nation ! Shame that we should murmur ! Let us cast out this evil spirit of discontent, and be thankful to the best of Queens for this happy and honourable Peace !' After some further diatribes against ' our rude, disloyal behaviour to Government,' the preacher concludes by urging his hearers to ' profess' with boldness those good old principles of our Religion, concerning the Divinity of our Sovereign's authority and the absolute passive obedience we owe to her.' This sort of language was common enough at the time when it was uttered, but within a few months of the preaching of the sermon ' the best of Queens ' was no more. And then how were such extravagant assertions of the divine right and so forth to be reconciled with the recognition of a Sovereign who had obviously no other than a Parliament tary title to the vacant, throne .? Law hesitated not one

His Letter to his Brother on the Oath. \ 3

moment in answering the question. The two positions were absolutely irreconcileable. His intellect was far too clear-sighted to be satisfied with the flimsy arguments which many of the late assertors of the old High Church doctrines adopted to justify their adherence to the new dynasty ; and his moral sense was far too acute to allow him to adopt a course in which his conscience would be sacrificed to his interest. He at once determined to refuse the oaths of allegiance to the new Government and abjuration of the so-called Pretender.' The letter which he wrote to his elder brother George announcing his determination is very characteristic, and therefore worth quoting : ' Dear Brother, — If your affairs will permit you to peruse the intent of this letter, you will oblige the affectionate writer. I have sent my mother such news as I am afraid she will be too much concerned at, which is the only trouble for what I have done. I beg of you, therefore, to relieve her from such thoughts, and contribute what you can to satisfy her about my affairs. It is a business that I know you love, and therefore don't doubt -but you will engage in it. My prospect, indeed, is melancholy enough, but had I done what was required of me to avoid it, I should have thought my condition much worse. The benefits of my education seem partly at an end, but that same education had been more miserably lost if I had not learnt to fear something more than misfortunes. As to the multitude of swearers, that

• There is, of course, a marked distinction between the oath of allegiance and the oath of abjuration. Many persons could have conscientiously taken the former who could not with any consistency take the latter ; that is, they could tolerate the king de facto without altering their opinion as to who was •the king de jure. I doubt, however, whether Law would have been among the number ; his sensitiveness of conscience was almost morbid, and even if the very unnecessary and injudicious oath of abjuration of the Pretender had not teen imposed, the mere fact that he tacitly abjured his right by recognising: King George as his sovereign would probably have been sufficient to deter Law from doing so ; at the same time an expression in his letter to his brother 'Indicates that the abjuration oath was his great Vroj;.

14 His Letter to his Brother.

has no influence upon me ; their reasons are only to be considered, and everyone knows no good on^s can be given for people swearing the direct contrary to what they believe. Would my conscience have permitted me to have done •this, I should stick at nothing where my interest was concerned, for what can be more heinously wicked than heattily to wish the success of a person upon the account of his right, and at the same time in the most solemn manner, in the presence of God, and as you hope for mercy, swear that he has no right at all ? If any hardships of our own, or the example of almost all people can persuade us to such practice, we have only the happiness to be in the broad way. I expected to have had a greater share of worldly advantages than what I am now likely to enjoy ; but am fully persuaded, that if I am not happier for this trial it will be my own fault. Had I brought myself into troubles by my own folly, they would have been very trying, but I thank God I can think of these without dejection. Your kindness for me, may perhaps incline you to wish I had done otherwise ; but as I think I have consulted my best interest by what I have done, I hope, upon second thoughts, you will think so too. I have hitherto enjoyed a large share of happiness ; and if the time to come be not so pleasant, the niemory of what is past shall make me thankful. Our lot is fallen in an age that will not be without more trials than this, God's judgments seem' now to be upon us, and I pray God they may have their proper effect. I am heartily glad your education does not expose you to the same hardships that mine does, that ydu may provide for your family without expense of conscience, or at least what you think so ; for whether you are of the same opinion with me or not, I know not. I shall conclude as I began, with desiring you to say as many comfortable things as you can to my m other, and persuade her to think with satisfaction upon yohn Byrom on the Oath. 15