FIELD. 319 their numerous grievances in one view. This was drawn up by Mr. Field, assisted by Mr. Thomas Wilcocks, and was revised by several of the. brethren. The work was entitled 44 An Admonition to the Parliament ;" with Beza's letter to the Earl of Leicester, and Gualter's to. Bishop Parkhurst, for reformation of church discipline, annexed. It contains the platform of a church ; the manner of electing ministers ; with their several duties, and their equality in government. It then expos-s, with some sharp language, the corruptions of thehiera, coy, and the tyrannical proceed- ings of the bishops. The Admonition concludes with a petition to both houses, that discipline, more consonant to the word of God, and agreeable to the foreign reformed churches, may be established by law. Their attempt° to procure an establishment of their own opinions, Mr. Peirce justly observes, was the greatest fault in the book, or in any of the attempts which the puritans made. With: unan- swerable evidence they exposed the corruptions of the established ecclesiastical government, and particularly the persecution and tyranny by which it was upheld. But I fear, says he, could theyhave obtained their desire of the parliament, the platform which they proposed, must have been established by some persecuting laws ; which I cannot find that Christ ever appointedhis ministers to use for the advancement of his kingdom. All compulsion, and all enforcing of ecclesiastical discipline, by civil penalties, is quite contrary to the spirit of christianity.* Mr. Field and Mr. Wilcocks presented the Admonition themselves to the parliament ; for which, July 7,. 1572, they were sent to prison; and after examination, theywere, by the instigation of the bishops, committed to Newgate.+ Upon this, the book, already printed, was suffered to go abroad, and it passed through no less than four editions in about two years, notwithstanding all the vigilant endeavours of the bishops to suppress it, t The two prisoners were indicted, and sentenced to suffer imprisonment one whole year, which they did accordingly. After having suffered confinement some months in a most loathsome prison, by which their health was greatly impaired, they petitioned their noble friend, the Earl. of Leicester, to procure their removal to some other prison, where they should meet with better usage. Their wives and children also presented a petition to the same Peirce's Vindication, part i. p. 84, 85. t MS. Register, p.118. Strype's Parker, p. 347.
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