Page:Dictionary of National Biography volume 09.djvu/235

 standing with the bishops (An Epitome, &c., p. 38). Nares (Life of Burghley, iii. 210) characterises the book as ‘greatly favouring the Genevan discipline.’

On his return to Antwerp, Cartwright accepted the pastorate of the English church in that city, and his labours were alleged by him as a reason for not accepting an invitation to a chair of theology in the university of St. Andrews, which, on the recommendation of King James, was sent to him in 1584 (Epist. ded. to Homiliæ in Lib. Sal. 3). The climate of the Low Countries did not, however, agree with him, and he earnestly petitioned that he might be permitted to return to England. His request was supported both by Burghley and by the Earl of Leicester, but Elizabeth refused her assent. Early in 1585 he ventured to return without having obtained the royal permission, and was forthwith committed to the Fleet by Aylmer, bishop of London. The bishop alleged the royal warrant in justification, but this he had not actually received, and, Elizabeth deeming it prudent to disavow the proceeding, Cartwright obtained his release. His views at this time appear to have remained unaltered, and in a letter (September 1585) addressed to Dudley Fenner he begs his friend to pray that he may be enabled to pursue ‘the path of sincerity’ to the end (Epist. prefixed to Sac. Theol.)

Shortly after he was appointed by the Earl of Leicester master of a hospital which the earl had founded in the town of Warwick for the reception of twelve indigent men, to which the bishop of Worcester was appointed visitor. At the same time Leicester settled upon him an annuity of 50l. for life (Lansdowne MSS. lxiv. art. 5). Cartwright did not, however, restrict himself altogether to his duties at the hospital, but frequently preached in the town and neighbourhood, and is said to have been the first among the clergy of the church of England to introduce extemporary prayer into the services.

In the suspicions attaching to the publication of the Marprelate tracts Cartwright did not escape, although it is affirmed that ‘he was able to prove by sufficient witness that from the beginning of Martin he had on every occasion testified his dislike and sorrow for such kind of disorderly doings’ (ib. lxiv. art. 20–6). The death of the Earl of Warwick (1589–90), and that of the Earl of Leicester (1588), also deprived him of his two most powerful protectors, and at one time the revenues of the hospital were in danger of alienation; but through the influence of Burghley its possession was confirmed by the House of Commons.

The position of Cartwright in relation to religious parties was in some measure that of an eclectic. By Martin he is taxed with ‘seeking the peace of our church no otherwise than his platform may stand’ (An Epitome, p. 28). He appears to have treated Barrow and Greenwood with contemptuous indifference, and in 1590 he saw fit to sever himself distinctly from the Brownists; and in a letter to his sister-in-law (Mrs. Stubbe) dissuaded her from the doctrines of the new sect, arguing that admitted abuses in the church did not justify separation from its communion. This conduct did not avail, however, to prevent his being in some measure included in the persecution which was now directed against the puritanically inclined ministers of Northamptonshire and Warwickshire by Whitgift, and it seems that he occasionally afforded some justification for such suspicion by his participation in certain ‘secret conclaves’ of these ministers which assembled from time to time at Cambridge. On 1 Sept. 1590 he was summoned before the court of high commission, and eventually committed to the Fleet; and in 1591, having refused the oath ex officio, was remanded. Among his companions in prison were Udal and other eminent members of the puritan party (, Mem. of Eliz. p. 61), but, according to Sutcliffe (Examination, &c., p. 45), Cartwright's confinement was mitigated by unusual indulgences. Powerful influence, including that of King James himself, was employed to procure his release (Epist. pref. in Lib. Sal.), which he eventually obtained through the efforts of Burghley, to whom (21 May 1592) he addressed a letter of thanks. He shortly after visited Cambridge, and preached there on a weekday before a crowded audience. In 1595 Lord Zouch, having been appointed governor of Guernsey, invited Cartwright to accompany him thither, and the latter remained in the island until 1598. His last years appear to have been spent in Warwick, where, according to Harington (Briefe View, p. 8), he ‘grew rich and had great maintenance to live upon, and was honoured as a patriarch by many of that profession.’

Sir Henry Yelverton (Epist. prefixed to Episcopacy Justified) affirms that Cartwright's last words were expressive of contrition at the unnecessary troubles he had caused the church, and of a wish that he could begin life again so as ‘to testify to the world the dislike he had of his former ways;’ and it would appear that he and Whitgift were on terms of amity before his death. That he renounced the views he had so long advocated is, however, rendered