Henry Burton (Puritan)
Encyclopedia
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
puritan
Puritan
The Puritans were a significant grouping of English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries. Puritanism in this sense was founded by some Marian exiles from the clergy shortly after the accession of Elizabeth I of England in 1558, as an activist movement within the Church of England...
. Along with John Bastwick
John Bastwick
John Bastwick was an English Puritan physician and controversial writer.-Life:He was born at Writtle, Essex. He entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on 19 May 1614, but remained there only a very short time, and left the university without a degree. He travelled and served for a time as a soldier,...
and William Prynne
William Prynne
William Prynne was an English lawyer, author, polemicist, and political figure. He was a prominent Puritan opponent of the church policy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. Although his views on church polity were presbyterian, he became known in the 1640s as an Erastian, arguing for...
, Burton's ears were cut off in 1637 for writing pamphlets attacking the views of Archbishop Laud.
Early life
He was born at Birstall, a small parish in the West Riding of Yorkshire, in the latter part of 1578 as may be inferred from his writings. His father, William Burton, was married to Maryanne Homle [Humble] on 24 June 1577. He was educated at St. John's College, Cambridge, where he graduated M.A. in 1602. His favourite preachers were Laurence ChadertonLaurence Chaderton
Laurence Chaderton was an English Puritan divine, and one of the translators of the King James Version of the Bible.-Life:...
and William Perkins. On leaving the university he became tutor to two sons of Sir Robert Carey
Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth
Robert Carey, 1st Earl of Monmouth was an English nobleman and courtier. He was the youngest son of Henry Carey, 1st Baron Hunsdon and Anne Morgan, daughter of Sir Thomas Morgan and Anne Whitney.As a young man he accompanied several diplomatic missions abroad and took part in military expeditions...
.
Under James I
Through the Carey interest, Burton obtained the post of clerk of the closet to Henry Frederick, Prince of WalesHenry Frederick, Prince of Wales
Henry Frederick Stuart, Prince of Wales was the elder son of King James I & VI and Anne of Denmark. His name derives from his grandfathers: Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley and Frederick II of Denmark. Prince Henry was widely seen as a bright and promising heir to his father's throne...
; while acting in this capacity he composed a treatise on Antichrist
Antichrist
The term or title antichrist, in Christian theology, refers to a leader who fulfills Biblical prophecies concerning an adversary of Christ, while resembling him in a deceptive manner...
, the manuscript of which was placed by the prince in his library at St. James's. He complains that Richard Neile
Richard Neile
Richard Neile was an English churchman, bishop of several English dioceses and Archbishop of York from 1631 until his death.-Early life:...
, who was clerk of the closet
Clerk of the Closet
The College of Chaplains of the Ecclesiastical Household of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom is under the Clerk of the Closet, an office dating from 1437. It is normally held by a diocesan bishop, who may however remain in office after leaving his see...
to King James, opposed his advancement; however, on Prince Henry's death (6 November 1612) Burton was appointed clerk of the closet to Prince Charles
Charles I of England
Charles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
. On 14 July 1612 he had been incorporated M.A. at Oxford, and was again incorporated on 15 July 1617. He tells us that at the age of thirty (i.e. in 1618) he resolved to enter the ministry. Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
says that he was to have attended Prince Charles to Spain (17 February 1623) for the Spanish Match
Spanish Match
The Spanish Match was a proposed marriage between Prince Charles, the son of King James I of England, and Infanta Maria Anna of Spain, the daughter of Philip III of Spain...
, and that for some unknown reason the appointment was countermanded. Burton does not mention this, but says that he could not get a license for a book which he wrote in 1623 against the Converted Jew by John Piercy
John Piercy
John Piercy is an English former football midfielder.-References:*...
alias Fisher the Jesuit, to refute Arminianism
Arminianism
Arminianism is a school of soteriological thought within Protestant Christianity based on the theological ideas of the Dutch Reformed theologian Jacobus Arminius and his historic followers, the Remonstrants...
and prove the Pope to be Antichrist. He had, in fact, thrust himself into a discussion then going on between Fisher and George Walker
George Walker (Puritan)
George Walker was an English clergyman, known for strong Puritan views. He was imprisoned in 1638 by William Laud, Archbishop of Canterbury, an affair that was raised later against Laud at his trial...
, pminister of St. John's, Watling Street.
Under Charles I
On the accession of Charles, Burton took it as a matter of course that he would become clerk of the royal closet, but Neile was continued in that office. Burton lost the appointment through an indiscretion. On 23 April 1625, before James had been dead a month, Burton presented a letter to Charles, inveighing against the popish tendencies of Neile and William LaudWilliam Laud
William Laud was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1633 to 1645. One of the High Church Caroline divines, he opposed radical forms of Puritanism...
(who in Neile's illness was acting as clerk of the closet). Charles read the letter partly through, and told Burton 'not to attend more in his office till he should send for him.' He was not sent for, and did not reappear at court. He deplored the death of James, for the influence he saw the late king had had in regarding the nascent high-church movement.
He was almost immediately presented to the rectory of St. Matthew's, Friday Street, and used his city pulpit to campaign aggressively against episcopal practices. He began to deviate from the set ceremonies, and was cited before the Court of high commission
Court of High Commission
The Court of High Commission was the supreme ecclesiastic court in England. It was instituted by the crown during the Reformation and finally dissolved by parliament in 1641...
in 1626, but the proceedings were stopped. Bishop after bishop became the subject of his attack. For a publication which bore a frontispiece representing Charles in the act of assailing the pope's triple crown
Papal Tiara
The Papal Tiara, also known incorrectly as the Triple Tiara, or in Latin as the Triregnum, in Italian as the Triregno and as the Trirègne in French, is the three-tiered jewelled papal crown, supposedly of Byzantine and Persian origin, that is a prominent symbol of the papacy...
, he was summoned, in 1627, before the privy council, but again got off, in spite of Laud. His Babel no Bethel (1629) in reply to the Maschil of Robert Butterfield
Robert Butterfield
-Life:Butterfield received his education at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he proceeded B.A. in 1622-3, M.A. in 1626; and then took holy orders.-Works:...
, earned him a temporary suspension from his benefice, and a spell in the Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison
Fleet Prison was a notorious London prison by the side of the Fleet River in London. The prison was built in 1197 and was in use until 1844. It was demolished in 1846.- History :...
. More serious troubles were to come. On 5 November 1636 he preached two sermons in his own church on Proverbs xxiv. 21, 22, in which he charged the bishops with innovations amounting to a popish plot. His pulpit style was perhaps effective, but certainly not refined; he calls the bishops caterpillars instead of pillars, and 'antichristian mushrumps.' Next month he was summoned before Arthur Duck
Arthur Duck
Arthur Duck, LL.D., was an English lawyer and Member of Parliament.-Life:Born at Heavitree in Devon in 1580, the younger son of Richard Duck of Heavitree, by his wife, Joanna, and younger brother of Nicholas Duck, he was educated at Exeter College and Hart Hall, Oxford , and elected a fellow of...
, a commissioner for causes ecclesiastical, to answer on oath to articles charging him with sedition. He refused the oath, and appealed to the king. Fifteen days afterwards he was cited before a special high commission at Doctors' Commons
Doctors' Commons
Doctors' Commons, also called the College of Civilians, was a society of lawyers practising civil law in London. Like the Inns of Court of the common lawyers, the society had buildings with rooms where its members lived and worked, and a large library...
, did not appear, and was in his absence suspended and ordered to be apprehended.
He shut himself up in his house, and published his sermons, with the title, For God and the King (1636). On 1 February 1637 his doors were forced, his study ransacked, and he was taken into custody and sent next day to the Fleet. Peter Heylyn wrote a Briefe Answer to Burton's sermons.
Star Chamber conviction
In prison Burton was soon joined by William PrynneWilliam Prynne
William Prynne was an English lawyer, author, polemicist, and political figure. He was a prominent Puritan opponent of the church policy of the Archbishop of Canterbury, William Laud. Although his views on church polity were presbyterian, he became known in the 1640s as an Erastian, arguing for...
and John Bastwick
John Bastwick
John Bastwick was an English Puritan physician and controversial writer.-Life:He was born at Writtle, Essex. He entered Emmanuel College, Cambridge, on 19 May 1614, but remained there only a very short time, and left the university without a degree. He travelled and served for a time as a soldier,...
, a parishioner who had also written books against the Church hierarchy, and the three were proceeded against in the Star-chamber (11 March) and included in a common indictment. An attempt was made on 6 June to get the judges to treat the publications of Bastwick and Burton (who had added to his offence by publishing, from his prison, An Apology for an Appeale, 1636 consisting of epistles to the king, the judges, and the nobility) as presenting a primâ facie
Prima facie
Prima facie is a Latin expression meaning on its first encounter, first blush, or at first sight. The literal translation would be "at first face", from the feminine form of primus and facies , both in the ablative case. It is used in modern legal English to signify that on first examination, a...
case of treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
, but this fell through. The defendants prepared answers to the indictment, but it was necessary that these should be signed by two counsel. Burton was the only one who got at length the signature of a counsel, one Holt, an aged bencher of Gray's Inn
Gray's Inn
The Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, commonly known as Gray's Inn, is one of the four Inns of Court in London. To be called to the Bar and practise as a barrister in England and Wales, an individual must belong to one of these Inns...
, and Holt drew back, until the court agreed to accept his single signature.
Burton's answer lay in court about three weeks, when on 19 May the attorney-general, Sir John Bankes, denouncing it as scandalous, referred it to the chief justices, Sir John Bramston and Sir John Finch. They made short work of it, striking out sixty-four sheets, and leaving no more than six lines at the beginning and twenty-four at the end. Thus mutilated, Burton, would not own it; he was not allowed to frame a new answer, and on 2 June it was ordered that he, like the rest, should be proceeded against pro confesso. Sentence was passed on 14 June, the defendants crying out for justice, and demanding that they should not be condemned without examination of their answers. Burton, when interrogated as to his plea by the lord keeper Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry
Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry
Thomas Coventry, 1st Baron Coventry was a prominent English lawyer, politician and judge during the early 17th century.-Education and early legal career:...
, maintained that 'a minister hath a larger liberty than always to go in a mild strain'. His defence was stopped. He was condemned to be deprived of his benefice, to be degraded from the ministry and from his academical degrees, to be fined £5,000, to be set in the pillory
Pillory
The pillory was a device made of a wooden or metal framework erected on a post, with holes for securing the head and hands, formerly used for punishment by public humiliation and often further physical abuse, sometimes lethal...
at Westminster and his ears to be cut off, and to be perpetually imprisoned in Lancaster Castle
Lancaster Castle
Lancaster Castle is a medieval castle located in Lancaster in the English county of Lancashire. Its early history is unclear, but may have been founded in the 11th century on the site of a Roman fort overlooking a crossing of the River Lune. In 1164, the Honour of Lancaster, including the...
, without access of his wife or any friends, or use of pen, ink, and paper. For this sentence Laud thanked the court.
Burton's parishioners signed a petition to the king for his pardon; the two who presented it committed to prison. His ears were cropped so close, according to Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller
Thomas Fuller was an English churchman and historian. He is now remembered for his writings, particularly his Worthies of England, published after his death...
, that the temporal artery was cut. When his wounds were healed, and he was conveyed northward on 28 July, people lined the road at Highgate
Highgate
Highgate is an area of North London on the north-eastern corner of Hampstead Heath.Highgate is one of the most expensive London suburbs in which to live. It has an active conservation body, the Highgate Society, to protect its character....
to take leave of him. His wife followed in a coach, and 500 on horseback accompanied him as far as St. Albans. At Lancaster, Burton was confined in a large smoky room without furniture; the gaps between the planks of the floor made it dangerous to walk, and underneath was a dark room in which were kept five witches. The allowance for diet was not paid. Dr. Augustine Wildbore, vicar of Lancaster, kept a watchful eye over Burton's reading; Lord Clarendon says that despite precautions, papers from Burton were circulated in London.
A pamphlet giving an account of his censure in the Star-chamber was published in 1637. On 1 November he was sent to Guernsey
Guernsey
Guernsey, officially the Bailiwick of Guernsey is a British Crown dependency in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy.The Bailiwick, as a governing entity, embraces not only all 10 parishes on the Island of Guernsey, but also the islands of Herm, Jethou, Burhou, and Lihou and their islet...
, where he arrived on 15 December and was shut up in a cell at Castle Cornet
Castle Cornet
Castle Cornet is a large island castle in Guernsey, and former tidal island, also known as Cornet Rock or Castle Rock, which has been part of one of the breakwaters of St Peter Port's harbour, the main one in the island, since 1859.- Geography :...
. Here he had no books except his bibles in Hebrew, Greek, Latin, and French, and an ecclesiastical history in Greek, but he managed to get pen, ink, and paper, and wrote two books, which were not printed. His wife was not allowed to see him, though his only daughter died during his imprisonment.
Release and later life
On 7 November 1640 his wife presented a petition to the House of Commons for his release, and on 10 November the house ordered him to be sent to London. The order arrived at Guernsey on Sunday, 15 November and Burton embarked on the 21st. At Dartmouth, on the 22nd, he met Prynne, and their journey to London was again a triumphal progress. They were escorted from Charing CrossCharing Cross
Charing Cross denotes the junction of Strand, Whitehall and Cockspur Street, just south of Trafalgar Square in central London, England. It is named after the now demolished Eleanor cross that stood there, in what was once the hamlet of Charing. The site of the cross is now occupied by an equestrian...
to the City of London
City of London
The City of London is a small area within Greater London, England. It is the historic core of London around which the modern conurbation grew and has held city status since time immemorial. The City’s boundaries have remained almost unchanged since the Middle Ages, and it is now only a tiny part of...
. On 30 November Burton appeared before the House, and on 5 December presented a petition; the House on 12 March 1641 declared the proceedings against him illegal, and cast Laud and others in damages. On 24 March his sentence was reversed, and his benefice ordered to be restored; on 20 April a sum of £6,000 was voted to him; on 8 June a further order for his restoration to his benefice was made out. He recovered his degrees, and received that of B.D. in addition. The money was not paid, nor did he get his benefice, to which Robert Chestlin had been regularly presented.
On 5 October 1642 his old parishioners petitioned the House that he might be appointed Sunday afternoon lecturer, and this was done. Chestlin, who resisted the appointment, was imprisoned at Colchester
Colchester
Colchester is an historic town and the largest settlement within the borough of Colchester in Essex, England.At the time of the census in 2001, it had a population of 104,390. However, the population is rapidly increasing, and has been named as one of Britain's fastest growing towns. As the...
for a seditious sermon; he escaped to the king at Oxford. Left thus in possession at St. Matthew's, Friday Street, Burton organised a church on the independent model. He preached before parliament, but did not approve the course which events subsequently took. He was for some time allowed to hold a catechetical lecture every Tuesday fortnight at St. Mary's, Aldermanbury, but on his introducing his independent views the churchwardens locked him out in September 1645. This led to an angry pamphlet war with Edmund Calamy
Edmund Calamy the Elder
Edmund Calamy was an English Presbyterian church leader and divine. Known as "the elder", he was the first of four generations of nonconformist ministers bearing the same name.-Early life:...
, rector of the parish. During his imprisonment he suffered from kidney disease
Kidney stone
A kidney stone, also known as a renal calculus is a solid concretion or crystal aggregation formed in the kidneys from dietary minerals in the urine...
, which was probably the cause of his death. He was buried on 7 January 1648.
Works
S. R. Gardiner says of Burton's Protestation Protested, published in July 1641, that it 'sketched out that plan of a national church, surrounded by voluntary churches, which was accepted at the revolution of 1688.' He published a Vindication of Churches commonly called Independent, 1644 (in answer to Prynne), and exercised a strict ecclesiastical discipline within his congregation.Burton's other main publications were:
- A Censvre of Simonie, 1624.
- A Plea to an Appeale, 1626.
- The Seven Vials; or a briefe Exposition upon the 15 and 16 chapters of the Revelation, 1628.
- A Tryall of Private Devotion, 1628.
- England's Bondage and Hope of Deliverance, 1641, sermon from Psalm liii 7, 8, before the parliament on 20 June).
- Truth still Truth, though shut out of doors, 1645, (distinct from Truth shut out of doores, a previous pamphlet of the same year).
- The Grand Impostor Unmasked, or a detection of the notorious hypocrisie and desperate impiety of the late Archbishop (so styled) of Canterbury, cunningly couched in that written copy which he read on the scaffold, &c. 4to, n.d.
- Conformities Deformity, 1646.