was broken when he actually came into the country.[1] Among the rumours of the day one was, that he had positively renounced Popery, and that his chaplain performed divine service daily in his presence, according to the order of the Anglican Church.[2] The Queen's death, however, destroyed the hopes of his friends: but had she lived some years longer, and the Pretender had openly joined the Anglican Church, it is not possible to say, whether he would have been rejected by the people of England.
Several men of eminence among the Nonjurors were removed by death during the reign of Queen Anne. Nelson, no longer, however, a Nonjuror, died January 16th, 1714, leaving £200 by will to Hickes and Spinkes. By a codicil also he gave Mr. Hilt 20 per annum. It is unnecessary to enter upon a history of his life. His secession from the Nonjurors influenced many others, and was one of the first steps that weakened their body.[3]
Thomas Smith, another clergyman of celebrity, died in the year 1710. He was deprived of his fellowship in the University for refusing to take the Oath of Allegiance in 1692. Several of his works display much learning and great abilities. He was
- ↑ Life of Argyle, 153.
- ↑ Memoirs of Queen Anne, 239.
- ↑ Like all the Nonjurors, Nelson was exposed to the charge of Popery, though he did so much to oppose it. His circumstances were very peculiar and distressing: for his wife, to whom he was tenderly attached, was a member of the Church of Rome, a circumstance unknown to him at the time of the marriage. She even wrote in defence of Romanism, while he was engaged in the controversy on the opposite side. Subsequent to the Revolution, Nelson lived on the closest terms of intimacy with Tillotson, who actually expired in his arms. After his return to the communion of the National Church, he lived on the same friendly terms with the Nonjurors. Biog. Brit. Birch's Life of Tillotson.
