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The Failure of the Anglican-Prussian Ecumenical Effort of 1710–1714

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

R. Barry Levis
R. Barry Levis
Affiliation:
associate professor of hzstory inRollins College, Winter Park, Florida
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Extract

In 1710 Archbishop John Sharp of York of the Church of England and Daniel Ernst Jablonski of Prussia began a dialogue hoping for the possible union of their respective churches. They wanted to bring about a junction of the Reformed and Lutheran churches in Prussia through the adoption of the Anglican liturgy and episcopal polity and an organic union between this Prussian church and the Church of England, perhaps including other Protestant churches as well. The progress of this effort surprised even the men most dedicated to it, and it appeared likely that they could forge an association within a short time. Yet, in the end these churchmen were disappointed and their negotiations came to naught. The reasons, however, were not religious in nature; indeed, there seemed to be no religious impediment to the effort at all. Although the ministers of both Queen Anne and King Frederick expressed interest in the discussions, political considerations relating to the English exertions to end the war of Spanish Succession led to the failure.

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 47 , Issue 4 , December 1978 , pp. 381 - 399
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1978

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References

1. Sykes, Norman, From Sheldon to Sacker (Cambridge, 1959), pp. 116–125.Google Scholar

2. Burnet to Tenison, August 15, 1702, Gibson MSS. (Lambeth Palace Library), f. 930, 1.31.

3. Robert Harley to Thomas Wentworth, Lord Raby, July 4, 1704. (New Style [N.S.]), B[ritish] M[useum] Loan 29/160/6; idem, July 7, 1704 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, July 29, 1704 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, March 31, 1705 (N.S.), ibid.

4. Baron Spanheim to Harley, January 21, 1705 (N.S.), B.M. Loan 29/157/58; idem, January 24, 1705 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, January 25, 1705 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, March 14,1705 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, April 19, 1705 (N.S.), ibid.

5. Harley to Lord Raby, April 10, 1708 (N.S.), B.M. Loan 29/160/6.

6. Spanheim to Harley, April 8, 1706 (N.S.), ibid., Box 157, Bundle 58; idem, August 23,1707 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, September 21,1707 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, November 27, 1707 (N.S.), ibid.

7. Somers to Burnet, May 10, 1709, Bod[leian] Add[itional] MSS. A191, f. 123.

8. Sharp had written two pamphlets, A Discourse of Conscience (1683) and The Case of the Doubtful Conscience (1684), in support of comprehension during an effort in the 1680's to get such a plan passed by parliament (Sharp, Thomas, Life of Sharp [London, 1825] 1:57–59)Google Scholar. Later Sharp drafted the comprehension bill which Daniel Finch, earl of Nottingham, introduced in the House of Lords in 1689 (Finch MSS. Leicester Public Record Office, DG 7, Box 4958, P.P. 84). For the best summary of the efforts toward comprehension during this period, see Sykes, , From Sheldon to Sacker, pp 68–104.Google Scholar

9. William Nicolson's Diary (Tullie House, Carlisle), 1b, December 3, 1702; Thomas Caryl to Sharp, February 5, 1698, Sharp, MSS. (Lloyd-Baker Papers, Hardwicke Court, Gloucestershire), Box 3, Bundle P. 3Google Scholar; Sharp to Caryl, February 5, 1698, Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:174–178.Google Scholar

10. Sharp, , Life of Sharp 1:4001Google Scholar; Compton to Sharp, March 28, [1699], Sharp MSS., Box 3, Bundle O. 36; Tenison to same, May 29, 1699, ibid., Box 4, Bundle L. 60.

11. Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:400–401.Google Scholar

12. Dr. John Cockburn to Sharp, March 30, 1704 (N.S.), Sharp MSS., Box 3, Bundle G. 24.

13. Francis Atterbury to Sharp, May 27, 1704, ibid., Bundle N. 3; Sharp to Atterbury, May 31, 1704, quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:377–379.Google Scholar

14. Ibid., 369.

15. Sharp, to the Ministers and Churchwardens of the English Episcopal Church at Boston, 02 9, 1711Google Scholar, Lansdowne MSS. (British Museum) 1039, f. 134Google Scholar; Sharp to John Chamberlayne, June 22, 1713, B.M. Loan 29/144/24.

16. Quoted from Sharp's diary (May 1, 1709) in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:401–402Google Scholar. Queen Anne followed Sharp's advice by appointing Robert Hales to such a mission (Wake's diary, Lambeth Palace Library MSS. 1770, February 4, 1710, f. 91).

17. Sykes, Norman, Daniel Ernst Jablonski and the Church of England: A Study of an Essay towards Protestant Union being the Albrecht Stumpff Memorial Lecture delivered at the Queen's College, Birmingham, on 1 05, 1950 (London, 1950), p. 7.Google Scholar

18. Jablonski to William Nichols, January 10, 1708, quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:153.Google Scholar

19. Ibid., 1:153–154.

20. Sykes, , Jablonsk, pp. 9–13.Google Scholar

21. Lord Raby to Mr.H. Davenaut, June 28, 1704, British Museum Additional MSS. (B.M. Add. MSS.) 4741, f. 171–172; Dr. Thomas Hobart, “Memorandum on the King of Prussia,” York Minister Library Collection (Hereafter, Yk. Mi Lib. Coll.), 1891/1. I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Sister M., John Aloyse, R.S.M., Chairman of the Language Department, Gwynedd-Mercy College, with the translation of some of the letters in this collection.

22. John Ernest Grabe to Atterbury, January 22, 1705, (Great Britain Historical Manuscript Commission [H.M.C.]), Portland MSS., 4:157–158; Bishop Williams to Charlett, May 8, 1707, Ballard (Bodleian), IX, f. 86.

23. Smalridge to Charlett, April 22, 1708, ibid., VII, f. 16.

24. William Nicolson to Jablonski, May 26, 1708, Tenison MSS. (Lambeth Palace Library) 676, Part 1, No. 4.

25. Hobart, “Memorandum on the King of Prussia,” Yk. Mi Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

26. Tenison was angered when the University of Helmstadt issued a declaration approving the conversion of the Princess of Wolfenbutle following her marriage to the Austrian claimant to the throne of Spain. Although Helmstadt was not in Prussia and no one in Prussia had endorsed the declaration, Tenison felt that to “propose a union with such persons as those and therefore until it proves a falsehood or the rest of the Lutherans disclaim it, it must forever be an obstacle to our meddling with anything of religion in Germany. I ask'd how that could concern the king of Prussia's subjects and it did concern the whole body of Lutherans with whom there might be no treaty till they have renounced such antiprotestantism.” (William Ayerst to Dr. Charlett, July 28, 1708, Ballard. MSS. (Bodleian Library, Oxford) 27, f. 48Google Scholar; also Roberts Watts to same, August 23, 1708, ibid., MSS. 25, f. 84; Ayerst to same, November 3, 1708, ibid., MSS. 27, f. 46.)

27. William Ayerst to Dr.Charlett, February 26, 1706 (N.S.), Ballard, MSS. 27, f. 22Google Scholar; same to same, December 22, 1706 (N.S.), ibid., ff. 26–7.

28. Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:411–412.Google Scholar

29. Hobart to Sharp, September 23 [1710] (N.S.), Yk. Mi Lib. CoIl. 1891/l.

30. Jablonski to Baron Printz, June 25, 1710 (N.S.), quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 2:156–164.Google Scholar

31. Same to Dr.William Ayerst, September 17, 1710 (N.S.), Yk. Mi Lib. Coil. 1891/1.

32. Hobart also wrote to Daniel Finch, earl of Nottingham, to intercede with Archbishop Sharp in favor of the project. Sharp had long been under the patronage of the Finch family and owed his elevation to the metropolitical see to Nottingham. Hobart therefore logically turned to the earl for support. See Hobart to Nottingham, December 26, [1710], Leicester Record Office, Finch MSS. DG7, Box 4950, Bundle 23.

33. Hobart to Sharp, September 23, [1710] (N.S.), ibid. Henry Sacheverell had preached his inflammatory sermon, “In Peril Among False Brethren,” on 5 November 1709, at St. Paul's before the Lord Mayor. In it he had attacked the Revolutionary Settlement of 1688, toleration for dissenters and the Whig ministry. His trial for sedition resulted in the fall of the Godolphin Ministry and the rise of Robert Harley to power. (See Holmes, Geoffrey, The Trial of Doctor Sacheverell [London, 1973].)Google Scholar

34. Smalridge to Sharp, October 7, 1710; Sharp to Jablonski, October 14, 1710, ibid.

35. Hobart to Smalridge, [September, 1710], ibid.

36. Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:417–420.Google Scholar

37. Jablonski to Sharp, February 7, 1711 (N.S.), ibid., 2:167–170; William Ayerst to Dr.Charlett, February 7, 1711, Ballard, MSS. 27, f. 58.Google Scholar

38. Same to same, February 14, 1711 (N.S.), quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 2:171–173.Google Scholar

39. Baron Printz to Lord Raby, February 12, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Mm. Lib. Coil. 1891/1. This was not the first time that the Prussians had been concerned about the Silesian Lutherans. In 1707, the Prussians had solicited the English and the Swedes to exert pressure on the Austrians. It is very possible that John Robinson first became acquainted with Jablonski over these negotiations. (John Robinson to Lord Raby, October 28, 1707 (N.S.), B.M. Add. MSS. 22198, ff. 12–13.

40. St. John to Lord Raby, February 28, 1711, Public Record Office (P.R.O.), State Papers (S.P.) 104/52, f. 97.

41. Bonet to King Frederick, March 17, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Mm. Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

42. Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:423–424.Google Scholar

43. Dickinson, H. T., Bolingbroke (London, 1970), pp. 85–86.Google Scholar

44. William Ayerst to Dr.Charlett, April 21, 1711, Ballard, MSS. 27, f. 65.Google Scholar

45. St. John to Lord Raby, March 27, 1711, B. M. Add. MSS. 4163, f. 197; W. Stratford to Edward Harley, April 16, 1711, H.M.C., Portland MSS., 7:30. Stratford's fears may have been unfounded. In 1706, Stanyan wrote a number of letters to Bishop Compton of London regarding religious affairs in Switzerland and a possible union with the Church of England. See in particular Stanyan to Compton, June 19, 1706, Rawlinson MS. (Bodleian) c. 982, f. 67. Stanyan's official revocation from Switzerland to remove to Prussia was dated April 3, 1711 (PRO., S.P. 104/214, f. 169).

46. Abraham Stanyan to H. D'Avenant, February 23, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 4740; same to St. John, April 25, 1711, P.R.O., S.P. 96/13.

47. Idem, April 29, 1711, ibid.; idem, May 2, 1711, ibid.; idem, May 16, 1711, ibid.; idem, June 3, 1711, ibid.; idem, August 1, 1711, ibid.; St. John to Stanyan, August 10, 1711, P.R.O., S.P. 104/210.

48. Stanyan did leave Switzerland at the end of 1711 to act as mediator between the Emperor and the Duke of Savoy and did obtain the designation of plenipotentiary since all of the other nations involved had ambassadors of that rank there. Even then Stanyan complained that he was not receiving the increase in allowance until he reached Milan rather than when the appointment began. He also refused to leave Milan until his areas had been paid. It was only a temporary transfer, however; and Stanyan returned a year and a half later to his former position without the advancement he had so fervently desired. (Stanyan to Lord Dartmouth, November 14, 1711, P.R.O., S.P. 93/13; same to same, November 18, 1711, ibid.; same to same, December 21, 1711, ibid.; Horn, D. B., ed., British Diplomatic Representatives, 1689–1799 (London, 1932), p. 146.Google Scholar

49. Lord Raby to St. John, May 26, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 22205, ff. 101–102.

50. St. John to Charles Whitworth, April 17, 1711, P.R.O., S.P., 104/52, f. 100; Lord Raby to St. John, April 14, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 22205, f. 10; idem, April 28, 1711, ibid., f. 36; Whitworth to St. John, April 17, 1711, P.R.O., S.P., 91/7; idem, April 24, 1711, ibid.; St. John to Whitworth, May 8, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 37358, ff. 193–195; Whitworth to Duke of Queensbury, May 12, 1711, P.R.O., S.P., 96/1, ff. 554–555; idem, May 26, 1711, ff. 558–559.

51. St. John to Lord Raby, February 13, 1711, P.R.O., S.P. 104/52, f.94; idem, February 23,1711, ibid., f. 96; idem, March 23, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 4163, f. 197; same to Charles Whitworth, B.M. Add. MSS. 37358, f. 175; Lord Raby to St. John, June 2, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 31, 135, f. 384; same to Duke of Marlborough, February 1, 1710, B.M. Add. MSS. 9108, ff. 41–42; St. John to Marlborough and Lord Townshend, December 26, 1710, B.M. Add. MSS. 9111, f. 114; same to same, January 23, 1711, ibid., f. 139; same to Lord Raby, May 18, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 31, 135, f. 361; same to same, June 5, 1711, B.M.Add. MSS. 22205, f. 132.

52. “Dr.Jablonsky's Reflections on a Letter of Mr. Bonet's, the King of Prussia's Resident at London, to the King his Master, dated London, the 17th of March, 1711; Which Reflections were presented to Baron Printz at Berlin, April 27, 1711,” quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 2:183–195.Google Scholar

53. Jablonski to Sharp, April 28, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Mm. Lib. Coll. 1891/1. Sharp forwarded a copy to St. John (P.R.O., S.P., 90/105).

54. Printz to Jablonski, May 3, 1711 (N.S.), quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:435–436Google Scholar; “Dr.Jablonsky's Project of introducing Episcopacy in the King of Prussia's Domain, presented to Baron Printz, Director of Ecclesiastical Affairs,” May 7, 1711, ibid., 2:196–207.

55. Jablonski to Sharp, May 5, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Mm. Lib. Coll. 1891/1; same to same, May 23, 1711 (N.S.), quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 2:181–183Google Scholar; same to Ayerst, May 23, 1711, Yk. Mi Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

56. Idem, June 20, 1711 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, July 25, 1711 (N.S.), ibid.

57. Smalridge to Sharp, June 5 [1711] (ibid.); Sharp to Smalridge, June 9, 1711, Gibson MSS., 930, f. 45; Smalridge to Sharp, June 28, 1711, Yk. Mi Lib. Coll. 1891/1; Sharp to Oxford, July 21, 1711, H.M.C., Portland MSS., 5:58; same to Hales, July [22–31], 1711, Yk. Mi Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

58. Jablonski to Ayerst, August 15, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Mm. Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

59. Leibnitz to Ayerst, May 3, 1711 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, June 28, 1711 (N.S.), ibid. Leibnitz firmly declared the Electress' great disbursement and pointed Out the considerable expense of founding a chaplaincy. He then suggested the English parliament vote the necessary funds. “You claim, Monsieur, that the thing has been placed on the parliamentary agenda, and that the considerable persons [the Tories] who at the last election had been put back again at the head of affairs had voted for [putting the expense on the Civil List]. It remains to be seen if they remain constant in that sentiment, and if they will carry things to the point where they are able to do something about it.” Like most other Hanoverians, Leibnitz did not trust the Tories.

60. Smalridge to Sharp, July 18, 1711, Sharp MSS., Box 4, Bundle K. 26.

61. Leibnitz to Ayerst, September 18, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Min. Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

62. St. John to Lord Raby, June 8, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 4163, ff. 199–200.

63. William Ayerst to Dr.Charlett, November 6, [1711], Ballard MSS. 27, ff. 53–54. Ayerst felt that the Hanoverian negotiations should be particularly attractive to the clergy of the Church of England since enthusiasm for the project on the part of the clergy could set the minds of many Whigs at ease about the loyalty of the clergy.

64. Jabionski to Ayerst, September 22, 1711 (N.S.), Yk. Mim. Lib. Coll. 1891/1; idem, September 29, 1711 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, October 6, 1711 (N.S.), ibid.

65. Jablonski to Ayerst, February 6, 1712 (N.S.), ibid.

66. Ibid.

67. St. John to Lord Strafford, November 21, 1711, Parke, Gilbert, ed., Letters and Correspondence, Public and Private, of the Right Honourable Henry St. John, Lord Viscount Bolingbroke, during the Time he was Secretary of State to Queen Anne, with State Papers, Explanatory Notes, and a Translation of the Foreign Letters c. (London, 1798), 1:299Google Scholar; idem, November 30, 1711, ibid., 316; idem, November 27, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 31,136, f. 67; Stratford to St. John, December 2, 1711, B.M. Add. MSS. 22205, f. 182.

68. Jablonski to Ayerst, March 11, 1712 (N.S.), Yk. Mi Lib. Coll. 1891/1; idem, June 11,1712 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, June 18, 1712 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, December 17, 1712 (N.S.), ibid.

69. Same to Sharp, September 13, 1712 (N.S.), ibid.; idem, November 26, 1712 (N.S.), ibid.

70. “You are not only as occasion offers, to signify our approbation of that matter, and our willingness to contribute towards the good issue of this work, but you are to declare yourself ready in pursuance of our orders, to enter into a consideration with such as shall be appointed to that purpose of the necessary means of carrying on so pious a design.”. (Colonel Breton's Instructions, March 1, 1712, P.R.O., S.P. 104/214, p. 319.).

71. St. John to Bishop Robinson, February 6, 1712, Parke, , Bolingbroke Correspondence, 1:404Google Scholar; same to same, April 22, 1712, ibid. 466–467.

72. Jablonski to Sharp, January 14, 1713 (N.S.), Yk. Min. Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

73. The earl of Strafford to the earl of Oxford, January 13, 1713 (N.S.), H.M.C., Portland MSS., 9:363; Bolingbroke to Stratford, February 13, 1713, Parke, Bolingbroke Correspondence, 1:417.Google Scholar

74. Bolingbroke to Breton, May 17, 1712, ibid., 507–508; idem, June 27, 1712, PRO., S.P. 104/52, f. 111; Breton to Stratford, July 1, 1712, B.M. Add. MSS. 22219, f. 1.

75. Stratford to Bolingbroke, July 15, 1712 (N.S.), B.M. Add. MSS. 31,137, ff. 35–36; Bolingbroke to Breton, July 11, 1712, P.R.O., S.P. 104/52, f. 115; Breton to Oxford, August 1, 1712, B.M. Add. MSS. 40621, f. 106.

76. Same to Stratford, August 13, 1712 (N.S.), B.M. Add. MSS. 22209, f. 6.

77. Jablonski to Sharp, January 14, 1713 (N.S.), Yk. Min. Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

78. Jablonski to Sharp, February 28, 1713 (N.S.), Yk. Min. Lib. Coll. 1891/1.

79. Same to Ayerst, April 8, 1713 (N.S.), ibid.

80. Idem, April 15, 1713 (N.S.), ibid.; Joblonski to Sharp, April 22, 1713, quoted in Sharp, , Life of Sharp, 1:214–215.Google Scholar

81. Breton to Strafford, February 28, 1713 (N.S.), B.M. Add. MSS. 22209, f. 19.

82. Sharp to John Chamberlain, June 22, 1713, B.M. Loan 29/156/7.