observe the ordinances of Jesus Christ in the ministration of his churches, in lieu of human constitutions." published by those who apprehended the church of England to be fast approaching towards the church of Rome. But all these endeavours proved ineffectual to obtain a further reformation of the church. Archbishop Bancroft died November 10, 1610, and was succeeded by Dr. George Abbot, an avowed enemy to all the superstitions of popery.+ King James, to shew his zeal against heresy, had now an opportunity of exercising it upon two of his own subjects; who, in the year 1611, were burnt alive for their heretical opinions. One was Bartholomew Legatt, a native of the county of Essex. He was a man of a bold spirit, a fluent tongue, well skilled in the scriptures, and of an unblameable conversation. He denied the divinity of Christ, and a plurality of persons in the Godhead. The king himself, and several of the bishops, conferred with him, and endeavoured to convince him of his errors.§ Having continued a long time prisoner in Newgate, he was at length brought before the king, many of the bishops, and many learned divines, in the consistory of St. Paul's; where he was declared a contumacious and obdurate heretic, and delivered over to the secular power. The king having signed a writ de heretico comburendo to the sheriff's of London, he was carried to Smithfield, March 18, and, before an immense number of spectators, was burnt to ashes. Pardon was offered him at the stake if he would have recanted, but he firmly refused. Mr. Edward Whiteman of Burton-upon-Trent, was, at *MS. Chronology, vol. ii. p. 619. (2.) The puritans were now oppressed by every means that could be devised. Mrs. Venables, a lady of great liberality and exemplary piety, being deeply concerned for the numerous persecuted servants of Christ, bequeathed in her last will £5000, to be distributed among the suffering nonconformist ministers. This was no sooner known at court, than the money was seized, and given to such ministers as were conformable. was the fraud and barbarity of the times!!-MS. Remarks, p. 585. Such Bishop Kennet styles Archbishop Bancroft "a sturdy piece," and says, "he proceeded with rigour, severity and wrath, against the puritans.” -Kennet's Hist. of Eng. vol. ii. p. 665. The attempt of the king to convince Legatt having utterly failed, he arose in a passion from his chair, and, giving him a kick with his royal foot, said: "Away, base fellow, it shall never be said, that one stayeth in my presence, that hath never prayed to our Saviour for seven years."— Fuller's Church Hist b. x. p. 62. He had a brother, called Thomas Legatt, who, at the same time, for holding certain heretical opinions, as they are called, was committed to Newgate, where he died under the pressures of his confiuement.—Jessop's Discovery of Anabaptists, p.77. Edit. 1623. the same time, convicted of heresy by Dr. Neile, bishop of Coventry and Lichfield, and burnt at Lichfield, April 11. In the king's warrant for his execution, he is charged with no less than sixteen distinct heresies, among which are those of the Ebionites, Corinthians, Arians, and Anabaptists, and other heretical, execrable, and unheard-of opinions. Some of the opinions imputed to him savoured of vanity, superstition, and enthusiasm; and he was certainly an object more deserving of compassion than of punishment.* But, to gratify the wishes of his enemies, he must pass through the fire.-There was another condemned to be burnt for similar heresies; but the constancy of the above sufferers having greatly moved the pity of the spectators, he was left to linger out a miserable life in Newgate.+ Many of the puritans being driven into exile, continued a number of years in a foreign land. They raised congregations and formed christian churches, according to their views of the New Testament. Mr. John Robinson, pastor of the church at Leyden, first struck out the congregational or independent form of church government. Afterwards, about a hundred of his church transplanted themselves to America, and laid the foundation of the colony of New England. But some of the worthy exiles ventured at length to return home. Mr. Henry Jacob having espoused the sentiments of the independents, returned about the year 1616; and communicating to his friends his design of forming a separate church, like those in Holland, they, seeing no prospect of any reformation of the national church, signified their approbation. They spent a day in solemn devotion, to implore the divine blessing upon the undertaking; and having made an open confession of their faith in Christ, they joined hands, and convenanted with each other to walk together in all the ordinances of God, as far as he had already made known to them, or should hereafter make known to them. Mr. Jacob was chosen pastor by the suffrage of the brotherhood, and others to the office of deacons. This was the first INDEPENDENT church in England. During this year, his majesty, by the advice of the bishops, issued his royal directions for a better conformity to the established church. He required "That all students who took their degrees, should subscribe to the thirty-sixth canon. That all scholars should wear their scholastical Narration of the burning of Legatt and Whiteman, Edit. 1651. habits. That no one be allowed to preach without perfect conformity. And that no preacher shall maintain any point of doctrine not allowed by the church of England." The distressed puritans felt the iron rod of their cruel persecutors in various parts of the country. Messrs. Ball, Nicholls, Paget, and many others, in the diocese of Chester, were often cited before the high commission, when attachments were issued to apprehend them, and commit them to prison. They were obliged to conceal themselves, and heavy fines were laid upon them for their nonappearance, and were aggravated from one court day to another; till their case was returned into the exchequer, when, to their unspeakable injury, they were obliged to compound. Mr. Bradshaw had his house searched by the bishops' pursuivants, and he was suspended. Mr. John Wilkinson was several times spoiled of his goods, and kept many years in prison by the furious prelates. Mr. Hildersham was suspended a fourth and a fifth time. He was afterwards summoned before the high commission, and, refusing the oath ex officio, committed first to the Fleet, then to the King's-bench, where he continued a long time. Having obtained his liberty, he was censured in the ecclesiastical court, upon the most glaring false witness, and fined £2,000, pronounced excommunicate, degraded from his ministry, ordered to be taken and cast into prison, required to make a public recantation in such form as the court should appoint, and condemned in costs of suit. His two friends, Mr. Dighton and Mr. Holt, being committed, one to the Fleet, the other to the Gatehouse, were fined £10,000 each, excommunicated, ordered to be publicly denounced, to make their submission in three different places, con demned in costs of suit, and sent back to prison. The learned Mr. John Selden, for publishing his "History of Tithes," was summoned before the high commission, and obliged to sign a recantation.+ To prevent the growth of puritanism, the king, in the year 1618, published his "Declaration for Sports on the Lord's-day," commonly called the Book of Sports. It was procured by the bishops, and all ministers were enjoined to approve of it, and read it in the public congregations; and those who refused were brought into the high commission, Heylin's Life of Laud, p. 72. + Mr. Selden was justly denominated the glory of England for his uncommon learning. Archbishop Usher used to say, "I am not worthy te carry his books after him." suspended and imprisoned. "It was designed," says Bishop Kennet, "as a trap to catch men of tender consciences, and as a means of promoting the ease, wealth and grandeur of the bishops."* The king, at the opening of the parliament in 1620, made this solemn declaration: "I mean," said he, “ not to compel any man's conscience; for I ever protested against it.+ But his majesty soon forgot his own declaration; and to increase the distress of the puritans, he set forth his directions to all the clergy, forbidding them to preach on the deep points of controversy betwixt the Arminians and Calvinists. The puritans had hitherto suffered only for refusing the ceremonies, but now their doctrine itself became an offence. Most Calvinists were now excluded from court preferments. The way to rise in the church, was to preach up the absolute power of the king, to declaim against the rigours of Calvinism, and to speak favourably of popery. Those who scrupled were neglected, and denominated doctrinal puritans; but having withstood all the arbitrary proceedings adopted both in church and state, they will be esteemed by posterity, as the glory of the English nation.‡ Many of the puritans now groaned under the oppressive measures of the prelates. Mr. Collins was cast into prison for nonconformity. Though he was not suffered to preach in the churches, he preached to the malefactors in prison, and there procured himself a subsistence by correcting the press. Mr. Knight of Pembroke college, Oxford, was cited up to London, and committed to the Gatehouse. Mr. Peck having catechised his family, and sung a psalm in his own house, when several of his neighbours were present, they were all required by Bishop Harsnet to do penance and recant. Those who refused were immediately excommunicated and condemned in heavy costs. The citizens of Norwich afterwards complained of this cruel oppression to parliament. The celebrated Mr. Dod was often cited before the bishops, and was four times suspended. Mr. Whately was convened before the high commission, and required to make a public recantation. Mr. Whiting was prosecuted by the Bishop of Norwich, and brought before the high commission, expecting to be deprived of considerable Several of the bishops, however, declared their opinion against the Book of Sports. And Archbishop Abbot being at Croydon the day on which it was ordered to be read in the churches, expressly forbad it to be read there.-Kennet's Hist. of Eng. vol. ii. p. 709. + MS. Chronology, vol. ii. p. 667.(13.) ‡ Neal's Puritans, vol. ii. p. 128. § Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. ii. p. 794. estates; but, happily, while the cause was pending, King James died, and the prosecution was dropped. The king finished his course March 27, 1625, not without suspicion of having been poisoned by the Duke of Buckingham. He was a mere pedant, without judgment, courage, or steadiness, being the very scorn of the age. His reign was a continued course of mean practices. He invaded the liberties of his subjects; endangered the religion of his country; was ever grasping at arbitrary power; and, in a word, liberty of conscience was totally suppressed.§|| SECT. IV. From the Death of King James I. to the Death of King Charles I. WHEN King CHARLES came to the crown, he was at first thought favourable to puritanism. His tutor, and all his court, were puritanically inclined. Dr. Preston, one of the leading puritans, came in a coach to London with the King and the Duke of Buckingham, which gave great offence to the contrary party. His majesty was so overcharged with grief for the death of his father, that he wanted the comfort of so wise and great a man. The puritans, however, soon found that no favour was to be expected. The unjust and inhuman proceedings of the cOUNCIL-TABLE, the STARCHAMBER, and the HIGH COMMISSION, during this reign, * Harris's Life of James I. p. 237. Edit. 1753. + Burnet's Hist. of his Times, vol. i. p. 17. Bennet's Mem. of Reformation, p. 147. Hume's Hist. of Eng. vol. vi. p. 116.- Bishop Laud observes of James, that the sweetness of his nature was scarcely to be paralleled, and little less than a miracle. Clemency, mercy, justice, and peace, were all eminent in him; and he was the most learned and religious prince that England ever knew. On the contrary, the learned Mosheim affirms, “that "as the desire of unlimited power and authority was the reigning passion "in the heart of this monarch, so all his measures, whether of a civil or "ecclesiastical nature, were calculated to answer the purposes of his "ambition. He was the bitterest enemy of the doctrine and discipline of "the puritans, to which he had been in his youth most warmly attached; "the most inflexible and ardent patron of the Arminians, in whose ruin "and condemnation in Holland he had been singularly instrumental; and "the most zealous defender of episcopal government, against which he had "more than once expressed himself in the strongest terms." Though he was no papist, he was certainly very much inclined to popery, and “ was "excessively addicted to hunting and drinking."-Breviate of Laud, p. 5. -Mosheim's Eccl. Hist. vol. v. p. 385, 391, 392.-Harris's Life of James I. p. 45, 66. 1 Burnet's Hist. of his Time, vol. i. p. 19. |