OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND FROM THE ACCESSION OF HENRY VIII. TO THE SILENCING OF CONTAINING A SKETCH OF THE HISTORY OF THE PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL Br J. A. SPENCER, S. T.D. EDITOR OF "THE NEW TESTAMENT IN GREEK, WITH NOTES ON THE HISTORICAL BOOKS, ETC. AMIL SONTEZ NEW YORK HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS FRANKLIN SQUARE Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1878, by HARPER & BROTHERS, In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. PREFACE. In this volume an attempt is made to set forth the history of the Church of England, during its reformed period, in a concise form, but without the omission of any essential points. At present there is no such work accessible for students. Many Histories of the Reformation, of more or less value, exist; but these all stop short of the Stuart times, when the Church was so sorely tried by evil influences from various quarters. Bishop Short's History extends over a larger area, but scarcely at all enters into details. It is hoped, therefore, that this volume may supply a manifest want. The volume concludes with the silencing of Convocation, as from that point the action of the Church was to a certain extent in abeyance. A short sketch of the remainder of the Eighteenth Century is added. CLEVEDON, Christmas, 1877. In order to render the present volume as useful as possible to American readers, there is appended to the History of the Church of England a tolerably full sketch of the history of the Church of England in America, and its successor, the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States. NEW YORK, July 25, 1878. J. A. S. |