STONE. 259 being sometimes chosen moderator. He united with his brethren in subscribing the " Book of Discipline;"* but was afterwards brought into trouble for nonconformity, and his concern to reform church discipline. July 27, 1590, he was apprehended and brought before Attorney-General Popham, and required to take the oath ex officio. The day following he was examined in the star-chamber, from six o'clock in the morning till seven at night ; and required upon his oath, to give his answer to thirty-three articles.÷ Some of the puritans thought, that when they were ex- amined before their spiritual judges, it was their duty to confess all they knew. This was Mr. Stone's opinion in the case before us. His examination chiefly related to the classical assemblies ; and though he could not give a direct answer to all the interrogatories, he gave an account of the greater and lesser assemblies ; where they met ; how often; and what persons officiated. He answered several questions concerning the authority by which they met together ; who were moderators ; upon what points they debated; and what censures were exercised. But, in order that this may appear to greater advantage, it will be proper to give those articles 'upon which he spoke explicitly, with the substance ofhis answers ' which were the following : 1. Who and howmany assembledat their classis ? where, and when, and how often were they held ? In answer to this article, he specified the names of about forty ministers f who attended these assemblies, thoughnot all at one time; and that they had held them in London, Cambridge, Northampton, and Kettering. 2. Who called these assemblies, by what authority, and in what manner ? I knownot, says Mr. Stone, by whom theywere called nor do I know any other authority therein, only that which was voluntary, by giving one another intelligence sometimes by letter, and sometimes by word of mouth, as occasion served. 3. Who were moderators in them, and what was their office ? I remember not who were moderators in any assembly particularly, excepting once at Northampton, when Mr. Neal's Puritans, vol. i. p. 423. + Fuller's Church Hist. b. ix. p. 206. t From a list of the ministers, now before me, who attended these assem- blies, there were, in all, upwards of eighty.-MS. Chronology, vol. ii. p. 435. (6.)
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