Leonard Busher (''fl''. 1614) was an English pioneer writer on

religious toleration Religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, mistaken, or harmful". ...

, known as an early advocate of full

liberty of conscience Freedom of thought (also called freedom of conscience) is the freedom of an individual to hold or consider a fact, viewpoint, or thought, independent of others' viewpoints. Overview Every person attempts to have a cognitive proficiency by ...

Life

He was apparently a Londoner who spent some time in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, where he was acquainted with John Robinson and probably John Smyth. He adopted in the main the principles of the

Brownists The Brownists were a group of English Dissenters or early Separatists from the Church of England. They were named after Robert Browne, who was born at Tolethorpe Hall in Rutland, England, in the 1550s. A majority of the Separatists aboard the ' ...

, and after his return to England Busher apparently became a member of the congregation of

Thomas Helwys Thomas Helwys (c. 1575 – c. 1616), an English minister, was one of the joint founders, with John Smyth, of the General Baptist denomination. In the early seventeenth century, Helwys was principal formulator of demand that the church and th ...

Works

Busher's only published work was entitled ''Religious Peace; or, a Plea for Liberty of Conscience, long since presented to King James and the High Court of Parliament then sitting, by L. B., Citizen of London, and printed in the year 1614''; no copy of this 1614 edition is known. His treatise advocates religious toleration, freedom to print, and to speak one’s mind about religion. It also calls for the resettlement of the Jews into England, although professor of Judaic studies, Mel Scult points out that this is motivated by the desire to convert them to Christianity. In it he speaks of his poverty, due to persecution, which prevented his publishing two other works he had written: ''A Scourge of small Cords wherewith Antichrist and his Ministers might be driven out of the Temple'' and ''A Declaration of certain False Translations in the New Testament''. Neither of these books appears to have been published, nor is any manuscript known to be extant. ''Religious Peace'' was reissued in 1646 (London), with an epistle ‘to the Presbyterian reader’ by H. B., probably

Henry Burton Henry Burton may refer to: * Henry Burton (Conservative politician) (1876–1947), British Conservative MP for Sudbury (1924–1945) * Henry Burton (physician) (1799–1849), English physician * Henry Burton (theologian) (1578–1648), English Puri ...

. This edition was licensed for the press by John Bachilor, who was on its account ferociously attacked by Thomas Edwards (''

Gangræna ''Gangraena'' is a book by English puritan clergyman Thomas Edwards, published in 1646. A notorious work of heresiography, it appeared the year after Ephraim Pagitt's ''Heresiography''. These two books attempted to catalogue the fissiparous Prot ...

'', iii. 102–5). A reprint of the 1646 edition, with an historical introduction by

Edward Bean Underhill Edward Bean Underhill (1813–1901) was an English missionary secretary, known as a Baptist historian and biographer. Life Born at St. Aldate's, Oxford, on 4 October 1813, he was one of seven children of Michael Underhill, a grocer in Oxford, by ...

, was issued by the Hanserd Knollys Society in 1846. According to

David Masson David Mather Masson LLD DLitt (2 December 18226 October 1907), was a Scottish academic, supporter of women's suffrage, literary critic and historian. Biography He was born in Aberdeen, the son of William Masson, a stone-cutter, and his wi ...

, Busher's book ‘is certainly the earliest known publication in which full liberty of conscience is openly advocated’ (Masson, ''Milton'', iii.102). It has been suggested that James I was influenced by it when he declared to parliament in 1614, ‘No state can evidence that any religion or heresy was ever extirpated by the sword or by violence, nor have I ever judged it a way of planting the truth.’

References

;Attribution {{DEFAULTSORT:Busher, Leonard 17th-century English writers 17th-century English male writers Year of birth missing Year of death missing