Lazarus Seaman

Lazarus Seaman (died 1675), was an English clergyman, supporter in the Westminster Assembly of the Presbyterian party, intruded Master of Peterhouse, Cambridge, and nonconformist minister.

Life He was a native of Leicester, where he was born of poor parents early in the seventeenth century. On 4 July 1623 he was entered as a sizar at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, where he graduated B.A. in 1627, M.A, in 1631. Lack of funds led him to leave Cambridge and teach a school, apparently in London.

He was chosen lecturer at St. Martin's, Ludgate, and became chaplain to Algernon Percy, 10th Earl of Northumberland. In 1642 he was presented by William Laud to the rectory of Allhallows, Bread Street; Laud made this presentation out of courtesy to Northumberland, and complained that, nonetheless, Henry Montagu, 1st Earl of Manchester, had written to pressure him, commanding him in the name of the House of Lords to give the benefice to Seaman. In 1643 he was nominated a member of the Westminster Assembly and he was a regular attendant, saying there on 18 February 1645, "In no institution did God go against nature."

On 6 November 1645 Seaman was placed on the committee of accommodation designed by parliament to arrange terms for the comprehension of the Independents; the project fell through, as the independents rejected the planned comprehension and insisted on religious toleration. He was one of the remonstrants (26 May 1646) against the toleration of 'separate congregations,' and maintained in the Westminster Assembly the divine right of the presbyterian discipline. At the second meeting (8 November 1647) of the provincial assembly of London, Seaman, a member of the first London classis, was moderator. In September–November 1648 he was one of the four presbyterian divines commissioned to the Isle of Wight to recommend their case to Charles I in discussion with the king, aided by episcopalian divines; Charles complimented Seaman on his ability. In January 1649 he signed the Vindication drawn up by Cornelius Burges, protesting against the king's trial.

He prefixed an address to A Glance of Heaven (1638), by Richard Sibbes.