'The printed Sermons of the late Archbishop Tillotson are well known and approved by all': Nelson's 'Life of Bull' and unity and accord amidst the Rage of Party

In July 1705, George Bull - consecrated bishop in April - arrived in his new Diocese of St Davids.  In his visitation charges, as he addressed "the principal Parts and Branches of [the] Pastoral Office", Bull made clear his expectations for the preaching ministry of the clergy.  Nelson, in his 1713 Life of Dr. George Bull, notes the Bishop's advice to his younger clergy, advice which might be surprising to contemporary Anglicans:

To qualifie them for Preaching, he pressed the Knowledge and Understanding of the holy Scriptures; and in order thereunto, some Skill in the learned Languages, with good Judgment and Discretion, and not without a tolerable Share of Elocution. He advised young Divines, not to trust at first to their own Compositions, but to furnish themselves with a Provision of the best Sermons, which the learned Divines of our Church have published; that by reading them often, and by endeavouring to imitate them, they may acquire a habit of good Preaching themselves.

This brings to mind words from Trollope, written over a century later:

There is a rule in our church which forbids the younger order of our clergymen to perform a certain portion of the service. The absolution must be read by a minister in priest's orders. If there be no such minister present, the congregation can have the benefit of no absolution but that which each may succeed in administering to himself. The rule may be a good one, though the necessity for it hardly comes home to the general understanding. But this forbearance on the part of youth would be much more appreciated if it were extended likewise to sermons. 

There is a wisdom in recommending to the newly-ordained and those preparing for ordination to drink deeply from the sermons of established preachers. It is a recognition that preaching is a craft, a practice to be learnt, as with any other craft, through an apprenticeship which involves learning from those who have been masters of the craft. As for the situation in the Diocese of St Davids under Bishop Bull, are we really to believe that the congregations of the diocese would not have been edified by younger clergy delivering sermons from divines of the Church of England, rather than immediately launching into their own compositions?

This, however, is not the focus of today's reading from Nelson. It is perhaps significant that Nelson's summary of Bull's advice is rather generic - "Sermons, which the learned Divines of our Church have published". Bull, by contrast, had particularly referenced two such divines in a charge to his clergy:

There are many learned Men, who have written full Treatises of this Subject; I mention only our excellent Bishop Wilkins, who hath published a Treatise entitled, Ecclesiastes, or the Preacher,  which I recommend to the Reading of younger Divines, and first Beginners in the Art of Preaching:  To whom also I give this farther Advice, That they should not at first trust to their own Compositions, but furnish themselves with Store of the best Sermons that have been publish'd by the learned Divines of our Church. These they should read often, and study to imitate them, and in time they will attain to a Habit of good Preaching themselves. Among the printed Sermons, those of the late Archbishop Tillotson are well known and approved by all.

What may be immediately surprising is that the High Church Tory Bull is recommending Wilkins and Tillotson, two of the leading Low Church divines, to his clergy. Wilkins, Bishop of Chester 1668-72, was the father-in-law of Tillotson. Upon Wilkins' death, Tillotson offered a tribute to him as exemplifying the virtues of the 'Latitude-men':

And I purposely mention his modera­tion, and likewise adventure to commend him for it; notwithstanding that this Virtue, so much esteemed and magnified by wise men in all Ages, hath of late been declaimed against with so much zeal and fierceness, and yet with that good grace and confidence, as if it were not only no Virtue but even the sum and abridgment of all Vices. I say, notwithstanding all this, I am still of the old opinion that moderation is a Virtue, and one of the peculiar ornaments and advantages of the excellent constitution of our Church, and must at last be the temper of her Members, especially the Clergy ...

As for Tillotson, Burnet's account in the New Preface to the Third Edition (1713) of his The Pastoral Care describes the hostility of the High Church movement directed at the Archbishop, amidst the intense partisanship in Church and State following the Revolution:

Our late Blessed Primate was persecuted by Malice to his Grave; and that has followed him ever since he was laid in the Dust. His great Concern at those black Efforts of Malice, that he was pursued with, was, because he saw they stood in the Way to defeat all the good Designs with which his Mind laboured. 

Despite this, Bull is heartily recommending Wilkins and Tillotson to his clergy in this charge of 1708. It is a rather significant example of how the 'Rage of Party' within the Church of England is best understood as the 'high politics' of the 1688-1715 Church of England, rather than shaping the live of parishes, parsons, and parishioners.

Why, then, does Nelson omit Bull's references to Wilkins and Tillotson? It is difficult not to speculate that Nelson, a Nonjuror who had reconciled to the Church of England in 1710 while yet retaining a Jacobite allegiance, baulked at the reference to Tillotson, appointed as Archbishop of Canterbury in 1693 in place of the Nonjuror William Sancroft. Oddly, however, Nelson does have the explicit reference to Wilkins and Tillotson in a 1715 publication which included Bull's visitation sermon and charge. Omitting the reference in this publication would have been awkward, as this would have been tampering with Bull's actual words. In The Life, by contrast, Nelson is summarising the charge. And, in doing so, it does seem as if the inclusion of Tillotson's name was too much for an only recently reconciled Nonjuror who remained a Jacobite.

This only emphasises the significance of Bull's recommendation of Wilkins and Tillotson. Not only does it indicate that Bull was accepting of the Revolution Settlement - and we should remember that this was the case with most High Churchmen and Tories - it also illustrates how the controversies of the 'Rage of Party', while generating much noise, were far removed from the realities of a bishop ministering to parson, parishes, and parishioners. Here 'unity and accord' was the normative experience. Here, as was the case with the Church of England throughout the 18th century, the "printed Sermons ... of the late Archbishop Tillotson are well known and approved by all".