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		rochester's resignation

		On the 4th April 1687, King James II issued a "Declaration of Indulgence", proclaiming full liberty of worship. It was republished with few changes in April 1688 and was required to be read in all Anglican churches in the following May and June. It was further decreed that any clergy who had not read the Declaration were to be tried before an Ecclesiastical Commission, then imprisoned. Thomas Sprat, Bishop of Rochester and a member of the Commission, wrote a letter of resignation on the grounds that he would "never be instrumental in punishing those my brethren that did not [read the Declaration.]". Upon receipt of the letter the Commission was "thrown into confusion for six months and their subsequent proceedings were of no interest". John Evelyn describes Sprat's letter in his diary as "a very honest and handsome letter". Later Lord Macauly praised it as "written with great propriety and dignity of style". This is the original draft of Sprat's letter, amended in his hand. We also have a contemporary copy of the full text of the final letter.
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