506 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. account, for any one to leave or lose his ministerial func- tion.. Dr. Calamy, having mentioned Mr. Sprint's " Cas- sander Anglicanus, ' adds, " I think it not improper to communicate to theworld apaper concerning it, which was written by the hand of his own son ; a copy of whichwas sent me by the grandsonof the author, with assurance that it was drawn up by his father, Mr. Samuel Sprint of Tidworth." The paper was as follows : 1. " This book meddles not with subscription, but dis- claims it, p. 237. 2. " In all the arguments, it supposeth, that the ceremo- nies imposed are inconveniencies, and the church's burdens. 3. " By the quotations, p. 194, 196, and elsewhere, he adviseth us to bear witness against them, and to express our dissent from them, and then conform : Which is not to assent; and much less, to declare our unfeigned assent, as well as consent to them. 4. "Bishop Laud said, It had been no great matter, if this book and the author had been burnt together.' 5. " This book is not fully comprehensiveofthe author's judgment : for, besides what is extant of his in print, (viz, his Helium Ceremoniale,' printed by another,) and what he hath left in manuscript, this book, as he bath acknow- ledged to his acquaintance, bath suffered much by the hands of the bishop's chaplain, who was appointed the reviser of books to be printed."+ From this account, and even from the words of Fuller, as cited above, it appears that Mr. Sprint was a puritan in principle and a nonconformist in practice ; only he would conform, and recommended others to conform, rather than suffer deprivation. "To speak myfree thoughts," observes Calamyl." I take that book of Mr. Sprint's to be a defence of occasional conformity to the church, in evidence of charity, while a testimony is publicly borne against its remaining corruptions; rather than a plea for entire con formity. 't He was a man of excellent wisdom and great moderation. He died in London, May 7, 1623, and his remains were interred at St. Ann's, Blackfriars, where he appears to have been for some time minister. Mr. Samuel Sprint and Mr. John Sprint, jun. both ejected in 1662, were his sons-§ His Wolms.-1. Propositions tending to prove the necessaryUse of the Christian Sabbath, or Lord's Day, 1607.-2. The practice of * Wood's Athence, vol. i. p. 406.-Fuller's Worthies, part i, p. 860. Calamy's Account, vol. ii. p. 343. -4.* Moderate Nonconformity, vol. i. p. 27. Edit. ITOS. Palmer's Noncon. Mem. vol. ii. p. 282, 456.
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