Henry Sacheverell

Henry Sacheverell , 1674?-1724, English clergyman, the center of a religio-political incident in the reign of Queen Anne. In two sermons (1709) Dr. Sacheverell attacked the Whig government, lashing out especially against its toleration of religious dissenters. He was charged with seditious libel, tried, convicted, and sentenced (1710) to a three-year suspension from preaching. The trial created a furor, and the light sentence made Sacheverell the victor in the eyes of the public. The Whigs were severely humiliated by the trial.

Bibliography: See study by G. Holmes (1973).

Sacheverell, Henry (1674–1724), High Church cleric and pamphleteer. In 1705 he was elected chaplain of St Saviour's, Southwark (now Southwark Cathedral). He preached two sermons in 1709 upholding the doctrine of non-resistance and emphasizing the dangers to the Church of the Whig government's policy of toleration and allowing Occasional Conformity. The House of Commons condemned the sermons as seditious and Sacheverell was impeached, but the sentence imposed was so light as to be a triumph for the accused, and he became a popular hero.

Sacheverell, Henry (1674–1724) English divine and preacher. In 1709 he preached two sermons attacking the Whig government's policy of religious toleration, one of the principles of the GLORIOUS REVOLUTION. The House of Commons condemned the sermons as seditious and Sacheverell was impeached. He attracted a popular following, with crowds shouting “High Church and Sacheverell” in his support. Although his sentence was a nominal one (a temporary suspension from preaching), the Sacheverell episode was important within a political context; the Tories used the message of “The Church in danger” to attract support from the conservative Anglican squirearchy against the Whigs, thereby crucially weakening the Whig ministry, which fell in 1710.