mation; wherein, after a recital of their grievances, they pray that the book hereunto annexed, entitled, a book of the form of Common Prayer, &c. and every thing therein contained, may be from henceforth authorized and put in use and practice, throughout all her majesty's dominions, any former law, custom, or statute to the contrary, in any wise notwithstanding. The book contained prayers before and after sermon, but left a liberty for variation, if it was thought proper.* The minister was to pray and give thanks in the words there prescribed, or such like. In the creed it leaves the article of Christ's descent into hell more at large. It omits three of the thirty-nine articles, viz. the 34th, 35th, and 36th. It takes the jurisdiction of the church out of the hands of the spiritual courts, and places it in an assembly of ministers and elders in every shire, who shall have power to examine, approve, and present ministers to the several parishes for their election, and even to depose them, with the consent of the bishop, upon their misbehavior.

At the same time a pamphlet was dispersed without doors, entitled, a request of all true christians to the honorable house of parliament. It prays, "That every parish church may have its preacher, and every city its superintendant, to live honestly but not pompously." And to provide for this, it prays, "That all cathedral churches may be put 'down, where the service of God is grievously abused by piping with organs, singing, ringing and trowling of psalms from one side of the choir to another, with the squeaking of chanting choristers, disguised (as are all the rest) in white surplices; some in corner caps and filthy it. He considers the House of Commons in a temper to have passed "a "bill for toleration." But he forgets, that the success of such a bill, or of any bill, did not depend on the temper of the House, but on the pleasure of the Queen. Besides, for the first twelve or fourteen years of her Majesty's reign the prayer of the petitions presented by the puritans was, if not for a toleration in a separation from the church, yet only for a dispensation for the use of the habits and three or four ceremonies, and a redress of a few notorious abuses. As the Queen and bishops continued unyielding, and grew more vigorous, new questions were started, and new burthens were felt, and new demands arose. See Mr. Neal's Review. ED.

*Life of Whitgift, p. 258.

copes, imitating the fashion and manner of antichrist the pope, that man of sin, and child of perdition, with his oth er rabble of miscreants and shavelings. These unprofit able drones, or rather caterpillars of the world, consume yearly some two thousand five hundred pounds, some three thousand pounds, some more, some less, whereof no profit cometh to the church of GOD. They are the dens of idle loitering lubbards; the harbors of time-serving hypocrites, whose prebends and livings belong some to gentlemen, some to boys, and some to serving-men and others. If the revenues of these houses were applied to augment the maintenance of poor, diligent, preaching par ish-ministers, or erecting schools, religion would then flourish in the land."*

Some bold speeches were made in parliament against the arbitrary proceedings of the bishops, by Mr. Wentworth and others for which those members were sent to the Tower; at which the house was so intimidated, that they would not suffer the bill to be read. Besides the Queen sent both for the bill and petition out of the house, and ordered the speaker to acquaint them, "That she was already settled in her religion, and would not begin again; that changes in religion were dangerous; that it was not reasonable for them to call in question the established religion, while others were endeavoring to overthrow it; that she had considered the objections, and looked upon them as frivolous; and that the platform itself was most prejudicial to her crown, and to the peace of her government."+ Nay, so incensed was the Queen with these attempts of the puritans, that in drawing up a general pardon to be passed in parliament, she ordered an exception to be made of such as committed any offence against the act of uniformity, or were publishers of seditious books or pamphlets.‡

The convocation, contrary to all custom and usage, continued sitting after the parliament, and gave the Queen & subsidy or benevolence. This precedent archbishop Land made use of in the year 1640, to prove the lawfulness of a convocation sitting without a parliament. All they did #Heyl. Aer. p. 269.

MS. p. 814. + Life of Whitgift, p. 259.

further, was to address the Queen with an offer to maintain by disputation, that the platform of the puritans was absurd in divinity, and dangerous to the state; which the non-conformists would willingly have debated, but the others knew the Queen and council would not admit it.

The press was in the hands of the archbishop, who took all possible care to stifle the writings of the puritans, while he gave licence† to Ascanio an Italian merchant, and bookseller in London, to import what popish books he thought fit, upon this very odd pretence, that the adversaries arguments being better known by learned men, might be more easily confuted. But was it not a shorter way to confute them in the high commission? Or might not the same reason have served for licensing the books of the puritans? But his grace seems to have been in no fear of popery, though this very year another assassination plot was discovered, for which Ballard a priest, and about 12 or 14 more, were executed. Remarkable are the words of this Ballard, who declared upon examination to Sir Francis Knollys, treasurer of the Queen's household, and a privy counsellor, "That he would desire no better books to prove his doctrine of popery, than the archbishop's writings a'gainst Ctwright, and his injunctions set forth in her ma'jesty's name. That if any men among the protestants lived virtuously, they were the puritans, who renounced their ceremonies, and would not be corrupted with pluralities. That unlearned and reading ministers were rather a furtherance than a hindrance to the catholic cause. That though the bishops owned her majesty to be supreme governor in causes ecclesiastical, yet they did not keep their

†This licence was not absolute and unlimited, but restrained the importation to a few copies of every such sort of books, and on this condition only, that any of them be not shewed or dispersed abroad: but a delivery of them was to be made to one of the privy council, or to such only as they or some of them should judge meet to have the perusal of them. Ascanio was obliged to enter into strict bonds to perform these conditions. This method of licensing popish books was not so inconsistent with the restraint laid on the liberty of the press, and on the circulation of the books of the puritans, as our author represents it, and appears to have conceived of it. Maddox's Vindication, p. 350. ED.

• Life of Whitgift, p. 268.

#Ibid.

P. 263.

1

courts in her majesty's name: and that though the names and authority of archbishops and bishops, &c. were in use in the primitive church, they forgot that they were then lords or magistrates of order only, made by the prince, and not lords of absolute power, ruling without appeal." This was written by Mr. Treasurer himself, Oct. 15, 1586, upon which Sir Francis advised in council, "That special 'care should be taken of popish recusants; and that the absolute authority of private bishops, without appeal, 'should be restrained; that they might not condemn zeal. ous preachers against the pope's supremacy, for refusing to subscribe unlawful articles, nor without the assembly ' of a synodical council of preachers, forasmuch as the ab'solute authority of the bishops, and their ambition and 'covetousness, had a tendency to lead people back to po'pery." But how much truth soever there was in these observations, the Queen and archbishop were not to be convinced.

The puritans being wearied out with repeated applications to their superiors for relief, began to despair, and in one of their assemblies came to this conclusion; that since the magistrate could not be induced to reform the discipline of the church, by so many petitions and supplications, (which we all confess in the liturgy is to be wished) that therefore, after so many years waiting, it was lawful to act without him, and introduce a reformation in the best manner they could. We have mentioned their private classes in Essex, Warwickshire, Northamptonshire, and other parts, in which their book, entitled, The holy discipline of the church, described in the word of God, being revised, was subscribed by the several members in these words, according to Mr. Strype, which are something different from the form at the end of the book in the appendix. " We ' acknowledge and confess the same, agreeable to God's 'most holy word, so far as we are able to judge or dis'cern of it, excepting some few points, [which they sent to their reverend brethren in some assembly of them, for their further resolution] and we affirm it to be the same 'which we desire to be established in this church, by daily prayer to God, which we profess (as GoD shall offer 'opportunity, and gives us to discern it so expedient)

by humble suit to her majesty's most honorable privy council and parliament, and by all other lawful means to further and advance, so far as the law and peace of the 'present state of our church will suffer it, and not to en'force the contrary. We promise to guide ourselves ac'cording to it, and follow the directions set down in the chapter of the office of the ministers of the word. We 'promise to frequent our appointed assemblies, that is, every six weeks classical conferences, every half year pro'vincial assemblies, and general assemblies every year."†

† Among those that subscribed or declared their approbation of the book of discipline, were the reverend

Mr. Perkins
Mr. Allen

Mr. Cartwright

Dr. Sparkes

Mr. Travers

Mr. Ward

and others, to the number of above 500, all beneficed in the church of England, useful preachers, of unspotted lives and characters, and many of them of the university of Cambridge, where they had a strong and powerful interest.

Bishop Maddox triumphs in the representation of Mr. Neal that 500 who subscribed the holy discipline were all beneficed in the church, as a proof of the lenity of government. Mr. Neal, in his reply, adds, "that there were more than twice five hundred clergymen who made a "shift to keep their places in the church." But, when at the same time, they were continually exposed to suffer from the rigor of government; when, as Dr. Bridges declared, a third part of the ministers of England were covered with a cloud of suspensions;—when many smarted severely for attempting a reformation, for which they all wished and prayed; when Cartwright, Travers, Field, Johnson, Cawdrey, Udall, and other leaders of the puritans, were suspended, imprisoned, and frequently in trouble, not to say dying under the hand of power; the reader will judge with what propriety his lordship exults over our author. See Mr. Neal's Review, p. 872, 873. ED.