Items
Details
Title
Puritan manuscript sermons and notes, ca. 1657-79 [manuscript].
Description
205 pages ; 12 cm
Associated name
Ward, Ralph, 1629-1691, author.
Note
From dealer's description: "Though in poor condition and difficult to decipher, this manuscript rewards perseverance. Written in an intriguing, aphoristic style, it embodies the theological considerations of one of the founders of the first Nonconformist congregations in England. Covering the period circa 1657-1679, it is situated against great personal and social upheaval. It covers the period leading up to Ward’s arrest in 1684 and spans the change from the Commonwealth to the Restoration of the Monarchy, and the entailed rise and fall of Puritan dominance in England. His use of aphorisms creates a striking style, having been educated at both Oxford and Cambridge it is perhaps not surprising that he has been exposed to more unusual forms of exposition, it is nonetheless a point of interest to consider how this particular idiom fits in to the wider context of puritan preaching. Ward was born in Denby, West Riding of Yorkshire. He took his BA at Sidney Sussex, Cambridge (1650), before taking a combined MA at Oxford and Cambridge in 1654. He began his religious career as a minister in Denby, then served as a regimental chaplain at Leith in Scotland. In 1653 he was ordained as ‘a Preaching Presbyter’ at Wolsingham in County Durham before being invited to serve the parish of Hartburn, Northumberland. This he did until 1660 when, upon the Restoration of the monarchy and the Church of England as the national church, Puritan dominance of English religious life was swiftly undermined. The previous incumbent of Hartburn returned from exile after Charles II’s coronation and took over Ward’s position. The Restoration marks the beginning of Ward’s Nonconformist period and a complete change in his fortunes as he experienced excommunication, arrest and exile. In 1672 the Declaration of Indulgence allowed him to obtain a licence as an independent teacher at a private house in York. He preached in several private houses, including that of Andrew Taylor, a merchant, in Micklegate (a figure mentioned in the manuscript: “at Mr Taylors Aug: 79” where Ward preached “Text Mat 10 14 15”). It is here the he is believed to have established the first Nonconformist congregation in York. Most significantly, in 1684 he was arrested, with Andrew Taylor and 12 others, on a charge of ‘riot’ (which was in fact simply preaching in a house). Brought before the infamous Judge Jeffreys, Ward was sentenced to a £50 fine and imprisonment, with Taylor, in the notorious prison on Ouse Bridge. After the death of Charles II in 1685 and the ascension of James II, Taylor was freed, but Ward remained a prisoner until 1686. Imprisonment marked the beginning of the end for Ward. The two years of confinement ruined his health and, despite continuing to preach both in and out of prison, his strength rapidly declined, and he died in 1691, aged 62. The sermons in this volume follow a Puritan style (plain language, a focus on specific sins and appeals to conscience, a fiery and passionate tone), but Ward’s writing is especially interesting for the structure of its arguments and his aphoristic style. “1 a state of perfect righteous not inherent but imputed to them by god: phil: 3:9:2 a state of absolution and discharge from the guilt and punishment of sin 2 cor 5 19:3 a state of reconciliation wth god Rom: 5 1:4 a sure and unalterable right and tytle to the glory that is to be revailed Rom: s 16 17.” Instead of employing persuasion or trying to combat counter-arguments, Ward arranges his ideas in a series of connected declarative statements as if he were presenting a series of axioms. It is as though Ward expects the self-evident truth of each statement to speak for itself and allow the listener to proceed logically from one to the next. The passage of time has accidentally rendered this manuscript as a physical manifestation of the religious upheaval and clandestine practices represented in its pages. The narrow hand and blurred script force the reader to almost ‘decode’ its secrets, evoking the furtive existence of Nonconformists following the Restoration. Its contents allow us to glimpse a momentous period of English history through the mind of someone whose fate is intimately tied to the occurrent changes. These features culminate in a fascinating artefact with a materiality that is vividly suggestive of its contents."
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.
This is a PRELIMINARY RECORD. It may contain incorrect information. Please email catalog@folger.edu for assistance.
Place of creation/publication
Great Britain -- England.
Item Details
Call number
FAST ACC 271298 (quarto)
Folger-specific note
Purchase made possible by The Eric and Mary Weinmann Acquisitions Fund.
Folger accession
271298