B I D 



386 



B I D 



ing into these the same freedom of inquiry which he had 

 hewn in his \. >l and orailrinic.il pursuits, he 



found the result of Ins investigation* so different from what 

 he bad expected, that he printed fur private circulation a 

 small tract, entitled ' Twelve Arguments, drawn out of the 

 Scripture, wherein the commonly received opinion touching 

 the deity of the Holy Spirit is clearly and fully refuted.' 

 Being as unreserved in expressing his doubts in conversa- 



as be was free in his inquiries, he did not scruple to 

 declare his sentiments openly, and to assign his reasons for 

 calling in question the truth of many doctrine* which v. , i.- 

 roraraonlT believed. This freedom of speech soon . 

 the cry of heresy against him. His printed tract wns sur- 

 reptitiously obtained for the parliamentary committee, then 

 sitting at Gloucester, and on the information of a piv 

 friend, he was summoned before a bench of magistrates, and 

 committed to the county gaol, Dec. 2, 1645, although suffer- 

 ing at the time from a dangerous fever. His release, on 

 bail, was not obtained without considerable difficulty. At 

 his examination before the magistrates, he delivered u 

 confession of faith,' which failed to satisfy them in r 

 to his opinions concerning a plurality of persons in the God- 

 liead. From the ambiguity of this document, it is evident 

 that Biddle's mind was then in a state of transition from 

 Trinitarianism to Uuitarianism, without being quite decided 

 either way. Six months afterwards, Archbishop Usher had 

 a conference with him on the doctrine of the Trinity, with- 

 out being able to convince him that it was founded in Scrip- 

 ture. About the same time he was summoned before the 

 parliament, at Westminster, who appointed a committee to 

 inquire into his case. The course pursued in this examina- 

 tion was intended to involve him in a denial of the Trinity ; 

 but on his refusing to make any admissions relative to the 

 nature of Christ, as being foreign to the point on which he 

 was accused, he was kept in a state of suspen.se and delay 

 for nearly eighteen months, at the end of which time he ad- 

 dressed a letter to Sir Harry Vane, whose friendly inter- 

 ference brought the matter before the house. But the termi- 

 nation of these proceedings was unfavourable to Biddle, 

 who was committed to the custody of one of the officers oi 

 the House of Comm >ns, and deprived of his liberty for five 

 years. In the meantime the case was referred to the as- 

 sembly of divines then sitting at Westminster, before whom 

 Biddle often appeared. Their answers to his doubts only 

 increased his conviction of their validity, and made him feel 

 the importance of giving them greater publicity. For this 

 purpose he resolved to publish the ' Twelve Arguments,' 

 &c., which had only been privately circulated. This ,is 

 no sooner done than it raised such a spirit of opposition, 

 that the book was immediately ordered to be burnt by the 

 common hangman. Undaunted by this proceeding, in the 



1C48, while yet in prison, he printed a ' Confession ol 

 Faith concerning the Holy Trinity according to the Scrip- 

 tures, with the Testimonies of several of the Fathers on this 

 head.' This was followed by another tract, entitled 'The 

 Testimonies of Ircntous, Justin Martyr, Novatianus, Tlieo- 

 phihis (who lived the two first centuries after Christ was 

 born, or thereabouts), as also Arnobiu*, Lactantiu-, 

 bins, Hilary, and Brightman, concerning that one God and 

 the persons of Holy Trinity.' The publication of these 

 works in succession alarmed the Westminster divines to 

 such a decree, that they determined upon the immediate 

 necessity of silencing his opinions. For this purpose they 

 prevailed upon the House of Commons to pass a measure 

 by which the punishment of death was awarded to the de- 

 nial of the Trinity, and to other doctrinal p >ints, besides 

 attaching severe penalties to minor offences. This ad, or 

 ordinance as it was styled, was especially aimed at Biddle; 

 and he must certainly have been the first victim to it bul 

 from an opposition which was raised to it in the army, and 

 this circumstance, aided by the dissensions in parliament 

 concerning it, caused the ordinance to remain inoperative. 



nfincment continued with unabated strictness, until, 

 after the death of Charles, the influence of the Independent! 

 gaine 1 ground, and with it, under tho auspices of Cr 

 and Fairfax, a relaxation of the penal laws relating : 

 gion. Favoured by these changes, Biddle was released from 

 prison under certain conditions, ami retired into Stafford- 

 shire, where he was hospitably received into tho house of a 

 justice of the peace, who not only made him his chaplain 



; rorurcd him a congregation, but at Ins death left him 



'.'fl li\ BivaKhaw, pro. 

 sident of the council, who being Informed of it, remanded 



iiim to prison. Tho loss of freedom, during his long con- 

 Ihicmenl, was hardly a greater hardship than t 



ads, who were alienated from him by the odium 

 upon him by the char. 



ept Dr. Gunning, a. 



.;d him a vi.-it while in prison. To Ins. 

 were now added the severest privations, in 

 his funds being exhausted ; but in tl. 



nexpectedly relieved by some pecuniary . 

 which he obtained for correcting the | 

 tuagint, then being printed \ ' 



mcnt for which he was singularly quahfii 



::it with the Scriptures that he could r. 

 im, not only in English but in Greek, as ! 

 the 4th chapter of the Revel, i 



In IGil an act of indemnity and oblivion was pu.-scd by 

 parliament, which included all heretical ofleiin . To this 

 measure Biddle was indebted for his liberty, after a con- 

 finement, with a short intermission, of se\en years. The 

 first use that he made of his freedom was t mind 



him those friends and adherents whom hi- \\ . 

 brought over to his opinions. They met on the I 

 for tiie purpose of expounding th iually 



formed themselves into a society on this leading 

 viz. that ' the unity ol'G ! is a unity of person as well as 

 nature.' The members of this society wv i.idel- 



md from their agreement in opinion Concerning the 

 unity of God and the humanity of Christ with the folio 

 of S'ocinus, they were sometimes denominated Sucinians. 

 The name which properly characterizes their fundament 1 

 opinion is that of Unitarian*. This was, indeed, the i 

 the English Unitarians. Among the early members of this 

 church was the celebrated Thomas Firmin, whose charities 

 are so highly extolled by Bishop Burnet. Another, who is 

 less-known, was Nathaniel Stuckey.a young man who pub- 

 lished a translation c,f Biddle's ' Scripture Catechi.-ms, for 

 the use of Foreigners.' The publication of the two 

 chisnis from which these translations wen ught 



the vengeance of government again upon their author. He 



.:imnoned to (lie bar of the House of Coimuoi.- 

 on his refusal to criminate himself, was roniinilud !< 

 confinement in the Gate-House, while h: It, in 



order t him effectually, had i that cruel 



ordinance which, never having received the force of a law, 

 had lain obsolete. While the House wa ..ig in 



this illegal mnnner, Cromwell dis.-ohcd the parliament, and 

 Biddle again obtained his liberty, after ten months mi.rc 

 imprisonment; but his buok shared the fate of his 1. 

 tract, being publicly burnt. Twelve m i- 

 elapsed after this release, when another dang 

 him. The doctrines advocated by Biddle bring cm' 

 by a considerable part of a Baptist congregation, their pas- 

 tor, Mr. Griffin, challenged Mr. Biddle to a public d; 

 sion, during which hi \ailing th( 



some declaration made by him. purporting; that i 

 not the Most High God, lodged an information against him, 

 and obtained his committal to the ( 



from which prison he was removed to Newgate, and triid 

 for his life on the ordl. nst blasphemy and h- 



.ducted witli such indeient h .sic and such 

 a total disregard to justice, that (.'rumwell himself inter- 

 fered, and, in order to bailie the malicious designs oft!. 

 secutors without seeming to jield too much to ll 

 lerant party, he banished Biddle 



one of the Scilly Isles, with an annual s;. t'a hundred 



crowns. In this state of exile he continued for ll 

 when the solicitation of his friends and change of circum- 

 stances induced the Protector to grant a writ uf / 

 pus, under which he returned, and no ch 



i against him. he was set at li'erly. He thin l.rcamu 

 the pastor of an Independent congregation in London, the 

 duties of which nllice he faithfully diseli ! the 



elevation of the Presbyterian party, liter the death .f Oliver 

 Cromwell, induced him to withdraw into the 

 the country. The sudden dissolution of that parliament 

 brought him again to London, wh-re he remained till the 

 II. The changes coiiscc(uent upon 



that event involved him in new difficulties, and made him 

 a sufl i -.111011 with many of those who had 



: >rs. Biddle tried to evade the tl -;orm 



which fell upon nil who dis-cnlcd from the Episcopalian 

 mode of worship, now re-established, by retiring from public 

 duty, but his tautiou was unavailing. The little assembly 



