HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, FROM THE EARLIEST PERIODS TO THE PRESENT TIME, BEING PRINCIPALLY AN ABRIDGEMENT OF GRANT'S. BY REV. EDWARD RUTLEDGE, A. M. MIDDLETOWN, (CONN.) PRINTED BY E. & H. CLARK. 1825. L. S. DISTRICT OF CONNECTICUT, ss. BE IT REMEMBERED, That on the twenty-sixth day of November, in the forty-ninth year of the Independence of the United States of America, EDWARD RUTLEDGE, of the said District, hath deposited in this Office, the title of a Book, the right whereof he claims as author, in the words following-to wit: "History of the Church of England, from the earliest periods to the present time, being principally an abridgement of Grant's. By Rev. Edward Rutledge, A. M. Rector of St. Thomas' Church, South Carolina." In conformity to the Act of the Congress of the United States, entitled, "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of Maps, Charts, and Books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned." CHA'S A. INGERSOLL, Clerk of the District of Connecticut. A true copy of Record, examined and sealed by me. Clerk of the District of Connecticut. PREFACE. THE Author of this Volume, presents it to the public, with the hope of its usefulness, to those who cannot procure the means and the opportunity of consulting the more extensive works, which have been written on the History of the Church of England. He is conscious that it possesses many errors and defects, both in matter and manner, and he wishes to assume the whole blame of these to himself; as he only is accountable to his readers, and not the respectable Author whose work he has in a great measure abridged. To have gone, however, into a strict examination of the facts recorded by Mr. Grant, would have demanded more time and labour than could well have been spared; and to have placed the materials collected, in a more flowing narrative, would have extended the work beyond reasonable limits. If any individual reader can be led to a greater |