260 The LIFE o f the World that we have always made it both "our Care and our Study, and have e- nough obferved what is moltlike tobring difadvantageto ir. And the . truth is, " we do think our felt themore competent to propofe, and with Gods afliftance todetermine many Things now in diffèrence, from the time . we have (pent, ` and the Experience we have had in molt of the Reformed Churches abroad ; in France, in the LowConntreys, and in Germany, where we have had frequent Con- ` ferences with the molt Learned Men, whohave unanimoufly lamented the great Reproach the ProteRant Religion undergoes, from the Diftempers and too noto- ` rious Schifms in Mattersof Religion in England. And as the molt Learned a- ` mongil them, have always with great Submiflion and Reverence , acknowledged and magnified the Eftablithed Government of the Church of England ,'and the great countenance and fhelter the ProteRant Religionreceived from it, before thefe unhappy times ;'fo many of them have with great ingenuity and forrow con- ` felled, That theywere too eafily miflead by mifinformation and prejudice, into fome difefteemof it, as if it had too much complyed with the Church of Rome; whereas they now acknowledge it to be the beftfence God bath yet raifed againit ` Popery in theWorld : And we are perfwaded they dowith great Zeal with itre- ` Cored to its old Dignity and Veneration. ` When we were in Holland, we wereattended by many Grave andLearned Mi- nifters front hence, who were looked upon as the moft able andprincipalAfrtors of the Presbyterian Opinions,with whom we had as much Conference as the multitude ` of Affairs, which were then upon us, would permit us to have : and to our great ` Satisfatlion andComfort, found them Perfoni fah ofAffection to us, of Zealfor the Peace of the Church and State ; and neither Enemies (as they have beengiven ene tobe) of ,E- ` pifcopacy or Liturgy; but modeflly to deßre fucbAlterations in either , as withoutfhaking Foundations, might beft allay the preferirDiffempers, which thelnd ofitionoftheTimes, and the Tenderneß aflame Mens Confciences had contrafled. For the better doing whereof, we intended upon our MR Arrival in this Kingdom, to call a Synod of Divines, as the molt proper Expedient to provide a proper Remedy for all thofe Differences and Diffatisfaetionswhich had or lhould arife inMatters ofReligion: and in the mean time we publifhedin our Declaration from Breda, A Liberty to tender Confciences,and that noman fhouldbe difquieted or called inqueftionfor differences of _ ` Opinion in Matters of Religion, which do not difturb the Peace of the Kingdom and that we shallbe ready to content to filch an Abt of Parliament as (hall upon ma- ' tore deliberationbe offered to us, for the fullgranting that Indulgence. ` Whilf we continued in this Temper of Mind and Refolution, and have fo far t complyed with the Perfwafon of particular Perfòns, and the Diftemper of the ` Time, as to be contented with the Exercifeof our Religion in our own Chappel, according to the confiant Praótice and Laws eltablilhed, without enjoyning that ` Pra&ice, and the Obfervationof thofe Laws in the Churches of the Kingdom, in which we have undergone the Cenfureof many, as if we were without that Zeal for the Church which we ought to have , and which by God's Grace we thall always retain ; we have found our felf not fo candidly dealt with as we '` have deferved, and that there are unquiet and reílefs Spirits, who without aba- ting any of their own Diflempers in recompence of the Moderation they find in us, continue their bitternefs againfi the Church, and endeavour to raifeJea- loufses of us,and to leffen our Reputation by their Reproaches ; as if we werenot true to the Profefiions we have made. And in order thereunto they have very unfeafonablycaufed to be printed, publilhed, and difperfed throughout the King- .' dom, a Declaration heretofore printed in our Name, during the timeOf our be. ing in Scotland; of which we !hallfay no more than that the Circumftancesby which wewere enforced to Sign that Declaration are enough known to theWorld: ` That we did from the moment it palled our Hand, askt God forgivenefs for our ` part in it, which we hope; hewill never layto our Charge ; and that the wor- ` thielt and greaten partof that Nation did even then deteft and abhor the ill ufage of us, in that particular, when the fame Tyranny was exercifed there, by '` the .power of a few ill Men, which at that time had fpread it felf over this King- ' dom : and therefore we hadno reafon to expeEt , that we fhould at this feafon, ` when we are doing all we can to wipe out the Memory of all that hath been done amifs by other Men, andwe thank God, have wiped it out ofour own re- ` membrance, have been our fell affauhed with thofe Reproaches, which we will likewife forget, "Since
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