Matthew Bryan otherwise Brian (died 10 March 1699) was an English clergyman, non-juror and Jacobite

preacher A preacher is a person who delivers sermons or homilies on religious topics to an assembly of people. Less common are preachers who Open-air preaching, preach on the street, or those whose message is not necessarily religious, but who preach com ...

Life

Bryan was the son of Robert Bryan of

Limington Limington, also archaically Lymington, is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Yeovilton and District, in Somerset, England, situated north of Yeovil. The parish has a population of 199. The parish included the Hamlet (place ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, sometime minister of St. Mary's, Newington, Surrey, and was born at Limington. He became a semi-commoner of

Magdalen Hall, Oxford Hertford College ( ), previously known as Magdalen Hall, is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. It is located on Catte Street in the centre of Oxford, directly opposite the main gate to the Bodleian Library. The colle ...

, in 1665, but left the university without taking a degree. After holding a benefice in the

Diocese of Bath and Wells The Diocese of Bath and Wells is a diocese in the Church of England Province of Canterbury in England. The diocese covers the county of Somerset and a small area of Dorset. The Episcopal seat of the Bishop of Bath and Wells is located in the ...

for about ten years, he was appointed to his father's old living, St. Mary's, Newington, and the afternoon lectureship at St. Michael's, Crooked Lane. His living was sequestered for debt in 1684. A sermon preached by him at Newington and at St. Michael's (26 October and 2 November of the same year) on

2 Corinthians The Second Epistle to the Corinthians is a Pauline epistle of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author named Timothy, and is addressed to the church in Corinth and Christians in ...

5:11 was said to contain reflections on the King's courts of justice, and an accusation was laid against him before the

Dean of Arches The Dean of the Arches is the judge who presides in the provincial ecclesiastical court of the Archbishop of Canterbury. This court is called the Arches Court of Canterbury. It hears appeals from consistory courts and bishop's disciplinary tribun ...

. In order to vindicate himself he printed this sermon, which certainly does not appear to contain any such reflections, with a dedication, dated 10 December 1684, to

Peter Mews Peter Mews (25 March 1619 – 9 November 1706) was an English Cavalier, Royalist theologian and bishop. He was a captain captured at Naseby and he later had discussions in Scotland for the Royalist cause. Later made a bishop he would report on ...

Bishop of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Winchester in the Church of England. The bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is at Winchester Cathedral in Hampshire. The Bishop of Winchester has always held ''ex officio'' the offic ...

, formerly his diocesan in Somerset. The archbishop was satisfied that the charge against him was groundless, and it was quashed accordingly. In July 1685 Bryan accumulated the degrees of civil law at

Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

. Refusing to take the oaths on the accession of William III and

Mary II Mary II (30 April 1662 – 28 December 1694) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England, List of Scottish monarchs, Scotland, and Monarchy of Ireland, Ireland with her husband, King William III and II, from 1689 until her death in 1694. Sh ...

, he lost his preferment. He became the minister of a Jacobite congregation meeting in St. Dunstan's Court,

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a street in Central London, England. It runs west to east from Temple Bar, London, Temple Bar at the boundary of the City of London, Cities of London and City of Westminster, Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the Lo ...

. This brought him into trouble several times. On 1 January 1693 his meeting was discovered, the names of his congregation, consisting of about a hundred persons, were taken, and he was arrested. He died on 10 March 1699, and was buried in St. Dunstan's-in-the-West.

Works

His works are: ''The Certainty of the future Judgment asserted and proved'' (the sermon referred to above), 168

'A Persuasion to the stricter Observance of the Lord's Day,' a sermon, 1686; 'St. Paul's Triumph in his Sufferings,' a sermon, 1692. In the dedication of this discourse he describes himself as M. B. Indignus έν τἣ θλ ίψει ὰξεφὸςλ κὰι σννγκοινωνός, probably in reference to his sufferings as a Jacobite preacher, the sermon itself being on

Ephesians The Epistle to the Ephesians is the tenth book of the New Testament. Traditionally believed to have been written by the Apostle Paul around AD 62 during his imprisonment in Rome, the Epistle to the Ephesians closely resembles Colossians ...

4:1. He also wrote two copies of verses printed in Ellis Waller's translation of the '' Encheiridion'' of

Epictetus Epictetus (, ; , ''Epíktētos''; 50 135 AD) was a Greek Stoic philosopher. He was born into slavery at Hierapolis, Phrygia (present-day Pamukkale, in western Turkey) and lived in Rome until his banishment, when he went to Nicopolis in ...

into English verse, 1702, and republished Humphrey Lynde's ''Account of Bertram the Priest,'' 1686.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bryan, Matthew Year of birth missing 1699 deaths People from South Somerset (district) English Jacobites 17th-century English Anglican priests