FRANCIS WILLUGHBY. 69 



for he was known to have frequently declared, 

 that he considered it an unlawful oath ; and in 

 the total absence of proof to the contrary, his 

 observations in the memorandum of his mother's 

 death, which will be hereafter quoted, and his 

 own avowal when on his deathbed to the Rev. 

 Mr Pyke, rector of Black Notley, his native 

 village, concur to prove that he had been, through- 

 out his whole life, and from principle, a sincere 

 and most cordial member of the Church of 

 England. But the Bartholomew act required of 

 him to sign a declaration that such persons as had 

 taken the oath of the Solemn League and Cove- 

 nant were " under no obligation to that oath." 

 " He feared they might be/' 1 * He consequently 

 was unable conscientiously to sign the declara- 

 tion, and his scruples cost him his fellowship ; 

 and as they never were removed, he was disabled 

 throughout the rest of his life from holding any 

 ecclesiastical office whatever. Thirteen fellows 

 of different colleges in Cambridge, and one 

 master of a college, along with upwards of two 

 thousand other divines in various parts of the 

 kingdom, were also ejected from their livings for 

 the same reason. 



It is not necessary to form any opinion of the 

 abstract question itself, in order to appreciate 

 the uprightness of Mr Ray's conduct on this 

 occasion. It is sufficient to know that he con- 

 sidered it an act of doubtful propriety to sign the 



* Derham's Life of Raj. 



