ELIZABETHAN NON-CONFORMIST TEXTS
ELIZABETHAN NON-CONFORMIST TEXTS
VOLUME I
Cartwrightiana
Edited by Albert Peel and Leland H.Carlson
VOLUME II
The writings of Robert Harrison and Robert Browne
Edited by Leland H.Carlson and Albert Peel
VOLUME III
The writings of Henry Barrow 15871590
Edited by Leland H.Carlson
VOLUME IV
The writings of John Greenwood 15871590
Edited by Leland H.Carlson
VOLUME V
The writings of Henry Barrow 15901591
Edited by Leland H.Carlson
VOLUME VI
The writings of John Greenwood and Henry Barrow 15911593
Edited by Leland H.Carlson
ELIZABETHAN NON-CONFORMIST TEXTS
VOLUME V
The writings of Henry Barrow 15901591
Edited by Leland H.Carlson
First published 1966
by George Allen & Unwin Ltd
This edition reprinted 2003
by Routledge
11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada
by Routledge
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This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2005.
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1966 George Allen & Unwin
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.
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ISBN 0-203-50082-2 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 0-203-57380-3 (Adobe eReader Format)
ISBN 0-415-31988-9 (Print Edition) (set)
ISBN 0-415-31993-5 (Print Edition) (volume V)
Publisher's note
The Publisher has gone to great lengths to ensure the quality of this reprint but points out that some imperfections in the original book may be apparent
THE WRITINGS OF HENRY BARROW 15901591
Edited by
LELAND H.CARLSON
PH. D.
Published for
THE SIR HALLEY STEWART TRUST
GEORGE ALLEN AND UNWIN LTD
RUSKIN HOUSE
MUSEUM STREET LONDON
THIS VOLUME IS DEDICATED TO
SIR JOHN ERNEST NEALE
ASTOR PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH HISTORY
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, UNIVERSITY OF LONDON 19271956
WITH GRATITUDE FOR AND PLEASANT MEMORIES OF
THOSE STIMULATING ELIZABETHAN SEMINARS
Preface
THIS is Volume V in the series on Elizabethan Nonconformist Texts. Volume I was issued in 1951 with the title, Cartwrightiana. In 1953 Volume II was published, The Writings of Robert Harrison and Robert Browne. In 1962 two volumes were issued, Volume III being The Writings of Henry Barrow, 15871590, and Volume IV being The Writings of John Greenwood, 15871590, together with the Joint Writings of Henry Barrow and John Greenwood, 15871590. Volume VI will be forthcoming in about a year, with the title, The Writings of John Greenwood and Henry Barrow, 15911593. Volume V has eleven items and Volume VI will have approximately thirty-five items. Also, a bibliography will be included in Volume VI for the four volumes on the works of Barrow and Greenwood.
The principles of editing in Volume V are the same as those enumerated in the preface of Volume III.
I feel a special debt of gratitude to Mrs. Orin Tramz for accurate and speedy typing of difficult Elizabethan material. For a much-appreciated sabbatical year I thank President E.C.Colwell. For the many keepers of books and custodians of precious manuscripts I have pleasant memories of efficient service. To Sir John Neale, Joel Hurstfield, and S.T.Bindoff I am grateful for discussions of Elizabethan problems and for long friendships. To R.B.Wernham I am indebted for a document location. And to the publisher, Sir Stanley Unwin of the firm, George Allen and Unwin Ltd., to Barbara Clapham and the trustees of the Sir Halley Stewart Trust, I express my sincere thanks.
LELAND H.CARLSON.
December 12, 1964.
School of Theology at Claremont
Claremont Graduate School
Claremont, California A*
CONTENTS
Introduction
Barrow begins his A Plaine Refutation by an appeal to Lord Burghley, to whom the book is dedicated. During the autumn of 1590 Barrow had written two letters to Burghley and had submitted his treatise, The First Part of the Platforme to him. But Burghley disliked the revolutionary programme presented in the Platforme and the second part was never written. Nevertheless, Barrow continued his appeal to the Lord Treasurer, who was distantly related by his marriage to Mildred Cooke. Burghley had the reputation of a moderate, disliked some of the policies of Archbishop Whitgift, possessed the full confidence of the Queen, and advocated a policy of caution, conservatism, and tolerant understanding.
Barrow complains of the malignant adversaries who have misrepresented the views of the Separatists. In two books written by Dr. Robert Some, and in two books written by George Gifford, the Separatists are denounced as Anabaptists, Donatists, sectaries, schismatics, and heretics, as seditious persons who seek the curtailment of the Queens prerogative. No opportunity has been given the Separatists to defend themselves from the clamours of pulpit and press. They have now been in prison for more than three years, without trial either by a civil court or by the word of God. In order that both sides may be heard, that equity may be done, that truth in all its simplicity may prevail, Barrow beseeches the Lord Treasurer to be a means to the Queen for the holding of a public conference for the settlement of all the issues that have arisen, so that the will of God may be known and practised.
Following his appeal to Lord Burghley, Barrow addresses himself to the reader. The time of apostasy and desolation foretold by John the Seer in the Book of Revelation is at hand. The falling away from the gospel is evident in the two books of Gifford whose eyes are bound and whose mind is impervious to reason. His shameless slanders and patent falsehoods are apparent to all. The Separatists neither believe nor teach any Anabaptistical doctrine of perfection in this life; man indeed is not immune from sin. Again, the Separatists cannot be charged with schism. Seeing that Gifford has defended the Church of England for its separation from the Roman church in its apostasy, may not the same right be accorded to the Separatists? Neither can Mr. Gifford charge his opponents with derogating from the Queens power. Did he not himself zealously seek the reformation of the church until the times changed? May not the Separatists seek a reformation, in season and out of season, not to minimize the Queens power but to maximize Gods word? Therefore, in accusing the Separatists of Anabaptism, Donatism, and Brownism, does not Mr. Gifford slander and deceive?
Gifford had argued that the Church of England suffered from some light imperfections, from a few faults in ecclesiastical government, with the implication that these could be corrected and that separation for trivial causes was not justified. Barrow replied that Gifford himself had spent fifteen years fighting these light imperfections. Was he merely tilting with windmills? Was he not aware of the difference between things fundamental and things indifferent?
