CHECKS AND DISASTERS.
THE death of Edward VI. (1553), and the accession of Queen Mary, who was a firm adherent of the Pope, gave a temporary check to the
Reformation.
She ordered the restoration in Churches of all that had been
abolished, and her order was in Eton, as else-where, complied with. The High
Altar was again set up in its old condition, and a canopy erected over it; some
of the other altars were restored, and the texts which had been painted upon
the walls were removed.
In most places, the clergy had become so little accustomed
to the reformed ritual that they thought best to conform to the Queen's
requirements. But the Provost and some of the Fellows had broken the College
Statutes by marrying; and on this account they were deprived of office and
others were appointed in their place.
The new Provost and Rector was in full sympathy with the
Queen, and shortly after was chosen to preach at Oxford, on the approaching
execution of Cranmer. He also took a prominent part in persecuting the
reforming clergy, and accordingly a year or two after (1558), on the accession
of Queen Elizabeth, he too got into trouble, and was deprived of his position.
These violent changes, and the bitter spirit excited by
them, left a sad legacy to this country.
From the year 705 or earlier until Queen Mary's death, the
unity and the continuous life of the Church of England had been preserved, and
the Church had practically included all professed Christians in England,1
but now there appear two rival parties, the Papists and the Puritans, both largely
reinforced by foreigners, and supported by foreign influence; both bent on
leavening the national Church with their notions, and both eventually seceding
and forming themselves into separate bodies of Non-conformists.
Queen Elizabeth on her accession had a difficult task before
her, but she did her best to check the evil effects of these two opposing
forces, and to restore peace and order.
She quietly undid the work of Mary and took her stand on the
policy of her father Henry VIII. and her step-brother Edward VI.
In this she was supported by at least two-thirds of her
subjects, and out of 9,400 clergy then in England, less than 300 refused to
accept the reforms introduced, and to take the oath of allegiance.
Her moderation however did not succeed in its object. The
persecutions in Mary's reign had stirred a bitter hatred of the Papacy, and of
all usages, however ancient and venerable, which were associated with the papal
dominion.
In their unreasoning zeal against all that appeared to them
to be of Roman origin, the Puritans had little regard for the links which bound
the historic Church of England with the Church of Christ in all lands and in
all ages. Had they been allowed their way, they would have broken the chain of
continuous life, and have started a brand-new society, fashioned after their
own interpretation of Biblical teaching. As it was, great havoc was done; many
beautiful monuments and ornaments in Churches were destroyed, and the services
were often reduced to the barest and coldest simplicity.
We find some signs of this in the history of Eton. In 1559
the High Altar was again removed, and in the next year the College barber was
paid "for wypinge oute the imagery work upon the Church walls," in
other words for smearing over valuable frescoes with a coating of whitewash. A
little later the chancel screen, made out of the rood-loft in the old Church,
was defaced; the figures on it were demolished, and the niches were filled up with
stone and plaster. But even this did not satisfy Puritan zeal. In 1569 the
whole of it was ruthlessly pulled down, and the division between the choir and
the nave obliterated.
Some notion may be formed of the size and solidity of this
structure from the fact that its destruction occupied twenty-one days of
carpenters' work besides the time spent in " joyninge ye weinscott and
repairinge and washinge ye walls where the rood-loft stoode, and pavinge ye
same place with grete stone and bricke."
A little later we hear of ‘pues’ being introduced into the
Church, and a sounding-board erected over the pulpit. This latter mention shows
that here, as elsewhere in England, more attention was being directed to
preaching, which had of late been grievously neglected. It may also show that
there was some kindly consideration paid to the townsfolk, who occupied the
nave, and who by the removal of the rood-loft would have a better chance of
hearing sermons. Whether, now that their altars in the nave were removed, the townspeople
were admitted into the choir for Communion, we are not informed.
A sermon preached in the Church by one of the Fellows about
this date contains some plain reproofs and warnings to all classes, and among
them tailors and drapers, butchers and bakers are personally rebuked for
dishonesty.
Another irregularity crept in during these unsettled times.
From the foundation of the College, for upwards of a hundred years, the
Provosts of Eton had also been Rectors of the parish, but now we meet with
occasional exceptions, owing to the appointments of laymen to the Provostship.
This abuse, although protested against, was not of such serious importance to
the parish as it might have been elsewhere, as there were always many resident
clergy among the Fellows able to discharge the clerical duties. Some of these,
however, appear to have given the Bishop of the Diocese no little trouble and
anxiety by their neglect to conform to the rules of the Church. They seem also
to have disturbed the minds of the Queen's chief advisers. A letter from Bishop
Grindal to Cecil, her Secretary of State, bids him in somewhat uncomplimentary
language “remember Eton and the hedge priests there.2”
In 1560, Queen Elizabeth took measures to restrain the
destruction of Church monuments, and to correct the negligence in religious
worship; and in 1566 she issued her ‘Advertisements’ to enforce a minimum of
decent ceremonial; but these measures were met by the Puritans with a counter
attempt to abolish episcopacy, and to reject the Prayer Book. On the other hand
the Pope issued a bull, pronouncing the Queen excommunicate for rejecting his
supremacy, and declaring her deposed from the throne of England. But the Queen
was popular, and held her ground, and the Church of England was pre-served from
being committed to the influence of either opposing party.
The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, and the banishment
of those who refused to conform to the national religion, led at least for a
brief space to quieter times, and to a better understanding of the real
principles at stake.
A slight indication of the turn of the tide in Eton is to be
seen in some attempted improvements in the Church. A new timber screen between
the choir and the nave was erected by one of the Fellows, Thomas Hever, in
1625, carved with the arms of the Founder, Queen Elizabeth, the two
Universities, and Eton College. The gilding of the Cross on it was paid for by
the College. Hever also presented a Communion chalice, and "sett up a
Communion table and gave foure strong formes to stand in the iles of ye Church
for the towne men to sitt on. "These are probably the seats which are
still existing in the Ante-Chapel.
About this period, there begins a fresh source of
information as to parish matters. The Parish Registers of baptisms, marriages
and burials date from 1598, and occasionally contain interesting notes, which
throw light on the events and customs of the day.3
Notes
I Nominally at least in those days every citizen was a
Christian, and every Christian a Churchman.
2 Domestic State Papers, August II, 1561.
3 Four volumes of the Parish Registers are preserved in the
College muniment room : Vol. I. contains baptisms, marriages and burials, 1598
to 1653 (also some marriages, 1693 to 1705) ; Vol. II., 1653 to 1716 ; Vol.
III., 1716 to 1747 ; Vol. IV., 1748 to 1779.
OLD DAYS OF ETON PARISH by The Rev. John Shephard, M.A. was published in 1908 by Spottiswoode and Co Ltd. The text is has been copied from the original book that is now out of copyright.
