VANE, SIR HENRY, JR.: Statesman and religious enthusiast; b. at Hadlow (18 m. s.e. of London) 1613; beheaded on Tower Hill, -London, June 14, 1662. His father, of the same name, was a privy councilor of Charles I. About the age of fifteen the son was converted to Puritanism, and when, shortly after, he became a gentleman commoner of Magdar len Hall, Oxford, he refused to take the oath of supremacy and allegiance. After leaving the university he traveled on the continent, returning to England in 1632. As the son of a courtier and the possessor of great talents, he was naturally equipped for places of preferment, but his hostility to the doctrines sad ceremonies of the Church of England was unconquerable. To enjoy greater freedom of worship he emigrated to New England in 1635, and was enthusiastically received at Boston in consideration of his high birth and the sacrifices he was making for the sake of conscience. He became governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony the following year, but failed of reelection because of the religious disputes in which he became involved. Among other things he lent the protection of his position to Mrs. Anne Hutchinson (see Antinomianism and Antinomian Controversies, II., 2) in the controversy she occasioned by her energetic preaching concerning the " covenant of grace " and the " covenant of works." Apart from being an upholder of freedom of religious opinion, he naturally sympathized with the mystical teaching that the Holy Spirit dwells in a justified person and that the revelation of the Spirit in the soul of a believer is su-

perior to the ministry of the Word. Vane's interference in ecclesiastical affairs increased the discord, and the agitation which was fraught with real danger to the infant colony cost him his popularity. In Aug., 1637, he sailed for England to play a considerable part in the events that resulted in the overthrow of the monarchy.

In Jan., 1639, through his father's influence, Vane was made joint-treasurer of the navy with Sir W. Russell. He was also elected a member of parliament and soon forged to the front as a leader of the anti-court party. He procured the condemnation of Strafford . and carried up the impeachment of Laud from the commons, and on the breaking out of the Civil War was a zealous supporter of Parliament. He attended the Westminster Assembly of Divines (q.v.) and pleaded passionately for full liberty of conscience for all religions. When the English parliament became apprehensive of the security of its position by reason of the progress of the royal alms, Vane was one of the commissioners it dispatched in 1643 to Edinburgh for a closer union with the Scottish nation; and it was due to his force of persuasion that there was then framed the Solemn League and Covenant (see COVENANTERa, § 4). The covenant made ample provision for the preservation of Presbyterianism in Scotland. As far, however, as the establishment of religion in England and Ireland was concerned, the language of the document through an artifice of Vane's was so worded as to bear an interpretation to accord with the sentiments of the Independents. These were willing at first to take shelter under Presbyterianism, but as the victory of the parliamentary forces became assured, they appeared a distinct party. They held to the immediate operation of the Holy Spirit, rejecting any distinction between the laity and clergy they abolished all ceremonies and denying the right of interposition of the magistrate in religious concerns. Vane vainly attempted to bring about a compromise with the royalists. His opposition to a state church was unrelenting, and by it he lost his influence with the Presbyterians, who wished to have their system of doctrines enforced upon the nation and were able to defeat his attempts at compromise in parliament in 1646. Vane was also distrusted by the Levellers (q.v.) because, although no one strove more zealously to vindicate the privileges of paaliament against the encroachments of the crown, he did not consider it essential to freedom to overthrow the monarchy and constitution. He became a member of the council of state in 1649, but refused to take the oath approving of the king's execution, swearing only to be faithful to the new government. He directed the navy and took an active part in colonial and foreign affairs. Cromwell and Vane had been on terms of intimate friendship, but a permanent breach between them was caused when Cromwell forcibly dissolved the Long Parliament in 1653. Vane then withdrew from active participation in public affairs and in seclusion indulged those theological reveries which in their

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sonality of the author. The retired Man's Meditations, or the Mystery and Power of Godliness (1655) voices in its last chapter a belief in the coming of a real theocracy on earth, in which Christ will reign for a thousand years as a temporal sovereign and the saints will have the power of the keys. After this millennium Satan will again be let loose to war against human nature; at the end of the struggle, after the saints have been transported to the heavenly mansions, there will take place the final judgment. In 1656 Vane attacked the Commonwealth in His Question Propounded and Resolved as favoring the selfish interests of the army, and in consequence was imprisoned in the Isle of Wight for four months. After Cromwell's death Vane served again in parliament. At the Restoration Vane was excluded from the Act of Indemnity and imprisoned in the Tower. He was brought to trial in 1662 and condemned to death, his undaunted behavior on that occasion being represented to the king as a studied vindication of rebellion. Besides political and religious works other than those mentioned above, Vane also published a number of his speeches. His theory of civil government is set forth in a treatise, The People's Case Stated (printed in Trial of Sir H. Vane, 1662); and though his doctrine is democratic he does not go as far as writers like Milton, who claim that the best farm of government is necessarily a republic. Contrasted with the clearness of his political works is the almost unintelligible character of his religious writings. His followers were called "Seekers" (q.v.) because, besides being averse to forms and fixed opinions, they were waiting for some "new and clearer manifestation.'1

Bibliography: The earliest life (of comparatively little worth) was by G. Sikes, London, 1662. Later ones are by C. W. Upham, in J. Sparks, American Biography, 1 ser., vol. iv., Boston, 1834; J. Forster; London, 1840; and J. R. Hosmer, Boston, 1888. Consult further: A. i; Wood, Atlaen$ Oxonienaea, ed. P. Bliss, iii. 578, 4 vols., London, 1813-20; C. Dalton, Hist. of the Family of Wray, ii. 93137, ib. 1881; W. A. Shaw, Hist. of the English Church . 161f0-60, passim, 2 vols., ib. 1900; W. Walker, Ten New England Leaders, pp. 77-78, New York, 1901; DNB, hiii. 116-129.