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A Glimpse of Syons Glory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 July 2009

John F. Wilson
John F. Wilson
Affiliation:
Princeton University
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Extract

Among the numerous tracts which were published during the early and hectic days of the Long Parliament (1641) one anonymous sermon has fascinated historians and assumed some importance in the interpretation of Puritanism during those years. It represents in brief compass a significant facet of Civil War Puritanism. It has served to indicate how radical if latent ideas later developed within the broader movement. Professor Woodhouse reprinted sections of A Glimpse of Syons Glory to illustrate “The Priviledges of the Saints” in their anticipation of the impending inauguration of the Millennium. In Professor Haller's words it reveals “the vital excitement which gave … meaning” to the apocalyptic poetry of Daniel and Revelation, “dreams [which] were warmly cherished among the London populace on the eve of the revolution.”

Type
Research Article
Information
Church History , Volume 31 , Issue 1 , March 1962 , pp. 66 - 73
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of Church History 1962

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References

1 Woodhouse, A. S. P., Puritanism and Liberty (London, 1938), pp. 223–241.Google Scholar

2 Haller, W., The Rise of Puritanism (N. Y., 1938), p. 270.Google Scholar

3 A Glimpse of Syons Glory (London, 1641), p. 2.

4 The ms. is in the Congregational Library, London. It has been published as edited by Orme, as “Remarkable Passages in the Life of William Kiffin,” 1823.

5 These contributions to the Catalogue are at the end of the Index, (Vol. V) p. 681.

5a. Bradford, Wm., Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620–47, ed. by Morison, S. E. (N. Y., 1952), p. 284.Google Scholar

6 H. M. Dexter, Congregationalism as seen through its Literature (N. Y., 1880). The copy is in the Congregational Library, Boston. I have not seen it.

7 London, 1654, p. 53.

8 Op. cit., p. 396, note 32.

9 Volume I (1922), p. 116.

10 Op. cit., p. 396.

11 So A. Gordon reconstructs the case in the DNB. Apparently this interpretation rests on the following reference in the Lords Journal, Vol. IV, p. 494, 29 December 1641:

“Ordered, That Mr. Knowles and Mr. Guy, who have lately preached seditious Sermons in the City of London, shall be proceeded against by His Majesty's Attorney General, according to Law.”

N.B. Even if Knollys had been preaching seditious sermons in London for some time, in order to sustain the attribution to him it must be posited that he had also been preaching in Holland previous to that.

12 R. Baillie, A Dissuasive from the Errors (London, 1645), pp. 79f.

13 Op. cit., p. 397.

14 Ibid.

15 Private communication from Dr. S. W. Carruthers.

16 The following note was placed on the Emmanuel College copy and is included in the microfilm of that copy in the McAlpin Collection:

There is a copy in the B.M. E175 (5), which is from the same type as this, except the title-page, which is from different type and omits the words “Briefly layd open in a Sermon, at a generall Fast day in Holland. By T. G. And Now” S. W. Carruthers.

17 E.g., pp. 4, 5, & 7.

18 T. Goodwin, A Sermon of the Fifth Monarchy (London, 1654). T. Goodwin, The World to Come, or, The Kingdome of Christ asserted In two Expository Lectures on Ephes. 1.21, 22 (London, 1655).

19 Op. cit., p. 7.

20 Ibid., p. 3.

22 Ibid., p. 32.

23 Ibid., p. 33.

24 Ibid., p. 8.

25 Ibid., p. 11.

26 Ibid., pp. 13 ff.

27 Ibid., p. 26.

28 Ibid., p. 13.

29 Ibid., pp. 31 ff.

30 Incriminating evidence about Burroughes was treasured for many more years before it was published as:

Jerusalems Glory Breaking forth into the World, Being a Scripture-Discovery of the New Testament Church, In the Latter Days Immediately before the Second Coming of Christ (London, 1675).

31 Op. cit., p. 397.

32 Cf. his Autobiography, pp. 4 ff.

33 Thomas Edwards, Antapologia (London, 1644), pp. 242 ff. This agreement between the Independents and the Presbyterians is one of the more significant events in the fragmentation of Puritanism during the Civil War period. I know of only one attempt to interpret this report of Edwards', otherwise it appears to have been disregarded by historians. J. F. Maclear refers to it in his Ph.D. dissertation for the University of Chicago Divinity School, 1947, “The Puritan Party, 1603–1643,” pp. 162 f.