835 



WESTMINSTER ASSEMBLY OF DIVINES. 



WHALEBONE. 



(or president) of the General Assembly, and, having been adopted by a 

 unanimous vote of that body on the 17th of August, was then for- 

 warded to the English Parliament and the Assembly of Divines at 

 Westminster for their consideration. 



The meeting of the Assembly of Divines had been forbidden by the 

 king in a proclamation dated the 22nd of June. The only effect how- 

 ever of that prohibition had been to induce the greater number of the 

 members of episcopalian principles to refrain from attending. On 

 Saturday, the 1st of July, the day named in the ordinance, sixty-nine 

 clerical members assembled in Henry the Seventh's chapel, in West- 

 minster Abbey. They appeared, it is recorded, not hi their canonical 

 habits, but mostly, after the fashion of foreign Protestant clergymen, 

 in black coats and bands. At subsequent sittings the attendance 

 appears to have ranged between sixty and eighty. About twenty-five 

 of the persona who had been nominated members of the Assembly 

 (including one or two who had died) never took their seats ; and even 

 of the sixty or seventy who attended pretty regularly, only from twelve 

 to twenty were frequent speakers. 



In theological doctrine the divines of the Westminster Assembly 

 were almost to a man of one mind. They were all, or nearly all, Cal- 

 vinistic or anti-Arminian. But upon the subject of church govern- 

 ment they were dividrd into several violently hostile sections. Episco- 

 pacy, even of the most mitigated kind, could scarcely be said to have 

 any representative in the synod as actually constituted; the great 

 majority were Presbyterians ; but there was a small party who passed 

 under the name of Krastians ; and there was a more numerous and 

 also a more active body of Independents, or, as they called themselves, 

 Congregationalisto, who, formidable from the perseverance and ability 

 of thi till more go from the ascendancy which their 



principles were fast acquiring in the Parliament, in the army, and 

 throughout the nation. The chiefs of the Independent party in the 

 Assembly were Dr. Thomas Goodwill, Philip Nye, Jeremiah Burroughs, 

 William Bridge, and Sidrach Simpson, often spoken of as the Five 

 Dissenting Brethren : their followers might amount to about as many 

 more. The heads of the Erastian party were Selden, and the two 

 divines, Lightfoot and Thomas Coleman ; the only other steady mem- 

 i the sect being the laymen Whitelock and St. John. In the 

 Parliament however Erastiauism waa nearly as strong as Independency : 

 indeed, however much the two systems might differ in the grounds on 

 which they professed to stand, they came practically to very nearly 

 the same thing, or at least were easily reconcileable ; and some persons 

 were probably to be classed as adherents of both. 



This position of parties explains and makes intelligible the history 

 of the proceedings of the Westminster Assembly, and the results of its 

 deliberations. The ordinance of the Lords and Commons by which 

 the Assembly was constituted only authorised the members, until 

 further order should be taken by the two houses, " to confer and treat 

 among themselves of such matters and things touching and concerning 

 the Liturgy, discipline, and government of the Church of England, or 

 the vindicating and clearing of the doctrine of the same," &c. as should 

 be " proposed to 'them by both or either of the said houses of 

 Parliament, and no other," and to deliver then- opinions and advices to 

 the said houses from time to time in such manner and sort as by the 

 said houses should be required. They were not empowered to enact or 

 nettle anything. It was expressly provided that the Assembly should 

 not assume to exercise any jurisdiction, power, or authority eccle- 

 siastical whatsoever, or any other power except merely this right of 

 delivering their opinion and advice upon the matters submitted to it. 

 As its discussions proceeded, a discordance of principles and views upon 

 various points between the ruling Presbyterian party in the Assembly 

 and the growing Independent or Eraetian majority in the Parliament 

 became more and more evident; while the progress of events also 

 tended to separate the two bodies more widely every day, and at last 

 to place them almost in opposition and hostility to each other. The 

 Assembly of Divines continued to sit under that name till the 22nd of 

 February, VA'J, having existed five years, six months, and twenty two 

 days, during which time it had met 1103 times. The Scottish com- 

 missioners had left above a year and a half before. Those of the 

 members who remained in town were then changed by an ordinance of 

 the Parliament into a committee for trying and examining ministers, 

 and continued to hold meetings for this purpose every Thursday 

 ninniing till Cromwell's dissolution of the Long Parliament, 25th of 

 March, 1652, after which they never met again. 



All the important work of the Assembly was performed in the first 

 three or four years of its existence. On the 12th of October, 1643, the 

 Parliament sent them an order directing that they should "forthwith 

 and treat among themselves of such a discipline and government 

 as may be most agreeable to God's holy word, and most apt to procure 

 and preserve the peace of the church at home, and nearer agreement 

 with the Church of Scotland and other Reformed churches abroad, to 

 be settled in this church in stead and place of the present church 

 government by archbishops, bishops, &c., which is resolved to be taken 

 away; and touching and concerning the directory of worship or 

 Liturgy hereafter to be in the church." This order produced the 

 :ibly's Directory for Public Worship, which was submitted to 

 parliament on the 20th of April, 1644 ; and their Confession of Faith, 

 the first part of which was laid before Parliament in the beginning of 

 October, 164$, and the remainder on the 26th of November in the 



same year. Their Shorter Catechism was presented to the House of 

 Commons on the 5th of November, 1647 ; their Larger Catechism on 

 the 15th of September, 1648. The other publications of the Assembly 

 were only of temporary importance, such as admonitory addresses to 

 the Parliament and the nation, letters to foreign churches, and some 

 controversial tracts. What are called their Annotations on the Bible 

 did not proceed from the Assembly at all, but from several members 

 of the Assembly and other clergymen nominated by a committee of 

 Parliament, to whom the business had been entrusted. 



The Directory of Public Worship was approved of and ratified by 

 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland held at Edinburgh in 

 February, 1645 ; the Confession of Faith, by that held in August, 

 1647; the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, by that held in July, 1648; 

 and these formularies still continue to constitute the authorised 

 standards of that establishment. The Directory of Public Worship 

 was also ratified by both houses of the English Parliament on the 

 2nd of October, 1644 ; aud so was the doctrinal part of the Confession 

 of Faith, with some slight verbal alterations, in March, 1048. On the 

 13th of October, 1647, the House of Commons passed an order that 

 the Presbyterian form of church government should be tried for a 

 year ; but it was never conclusively established in England by legis- 

 lative authority ; and even what was done by the parliament in partial 

 confirmation of the proposals of the Westminster Assembly of Divines, 

 having been done without the royal assent, was all regarded as of no 

 validity at the Restoration, upon which event episcopacy resumed its 

 authority without any act being passed to that effect. 



It is remarkable that there" is not in existence, as far as is known, 

 any complete account of the proceedings of the Westminster Assembly 

 of Divines, either printed or in manuscript. The official record is 

 commonly supposed to have perished in the fire of London. Three 

 volumes of notes by Dr. Thomas Goodwin are preserved in Dr. Wil- 

 liams's Library, London ; and two volumes by George Gillespie in the 

 Advocates' Library, Edinburgh. Baillie's Letters, however, contain 

 very full details of what was done during the period of his attendance ; 

 and a Journal kept by Lightfoot has also been printed. Much in- 

 formation is to be found scattered in various works, such as Reid's 

 ' Memoirs of the Westminster Divines ; ' Orme's ' Life of Oweu ; ' and 

 especially Neal's ' History of the Puritans.' 



WESTPHALIA, TREATY OF. [TREATIES, CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE 



OF.] 



WEY. [WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.] 



WHALE FISHING. [FISHERIES.] 



WHALEBONE is the horny laminated substance found in the 

 mouth of the whale. It is not really whale-6oe, but bears a nearer 

 resemblance to horn in its structure : in commerce it is usually termed 

 whale-Jin. There are in the mouth of a whale two extensive rows, each 

 consisting of upwards of 300 blades or plates ; and each of these blades 

 is a piece of whalebone. The blades are on an average about 10 feet 

 long, but some attain a length of 15 feet. The substance is naturally of 

 a bluish or brownish-black ; but in some animals it is striped longitudi- 

 nally with white. Three principal kinds are known in commerce the 

 Greenland whalebone, from the North Atlantic and Icy Seas ; the South 

 Sea, or black fish ; and the North- West, from the North Pacific and 

 Behring's Straits. [CETACEA, cols. 895-98, hi NAT. HIST. Div.] Some- 

 times as much as 5,000,000 Ibs. have been imported hi one year ; but the 

 supply is generally from 2,000,000 to 3,000,000 Ibs. All the kinds of 

 whalebone are nearly alike in constitution. It consists chiefly of albu- 

 men hardened by a small proportion of phosphate of lime. The surface 

 of each blade is compact, and takes a high polish. The texture is lamellar 

 or fibrous hi the direction of its length, so that the substance easily 

 splits and divides. The middle of each blade is of looser texture than 

 the ends, presenting the appearance of coarse bristly hairs. When 

 whalebone has been boiled, it takes a harder texture aud deeper colour 

 than before. 



The peculiar structure of whalebone renders it applicable to many 

 useful purposes. It is cut into quadrangular sticks for the ribs or 

 stretchers of umbrellas and parasols, ranging in length from 20 to 40 

 inches. It is made into stay -bones, from &tbs to If inch in width, 

 and from 12 to 16 inches long. It is cut into lengths of what is 

 called bristle-bone, of different thicknesses, for making brashes and 

 brooms, chimney-sweeping machines, aud road-sweeping machines. It 

 is used in thin strips for covering whip-handles, walking-sticks, teles- 

 copes, and other articles. In thinner shavings it is plaited like straw 

 into light hats and bonnets ; while the waste shavings are employed 

 by upholsterers as a stuffing for cushions, for filling fire-grates in 

 summer, and for other purposes. Occasionally solid pieces of mixed 

 tints are twisted into walking-sticks. And when all the useful frag- 

 ments have been rendered available, the refuse sells as manure. 



The nature of whalebone, something midway between horn and 

 hah-, points to the mode in which it is worked. It cannot be 

 soldered or joined like tortoiseshell, but must be used in distinct 

 pieces. When boiled in water for several hours, it becomes soft 

 enough to be cut up into pieces of various sizes and shapes. With- 

 out being heated and softened, it is easily cut into strips and fibres 

 by means of a compound guarded knife. The different qualities in 

 different parts of each blade are closely examined by the workmen, 

 hi order to apply each part to the best use. Whalebone takes a 

 very good jet-black dye, but is not well fitted for dyeing in bright 



