S. MORE-R. BERNARD. 459 , matters, and with preaching in separate congregations, where the Common Prayer was not used, contrary to the slat ate of the 35th of Elizabeth. The latter charge they confessed : and as to the former, they declared to the house, 44 That they could acknowledge no other head of the church besides .Jesus Christ ; that they apprehended no prince on earth had power to make laws_ to bind the con- science; and that such laws as were contrary to the laws of God., ought not to be obeyed; but they disowned all foreign power and jurisdiction. " Such a bold declaration, a twelvemonth before, would have sent them to a close, filthy prison, or cost them their ears. The house, however, instead of remitting them to the ecelesia:stical courts, or inflicting any penalty upon them, treated them with great civility and respect, and Some ofthe lords inquired where was their place of meeting, intimating that they would come and hear them. Accordingly, three or four of the peers went to the meeting the next Lord's day, to the great wonder of many. The good people, not intimidated with their presence, conducted their worship in their usual method : having two serrnons, in each of which the preacher discussed those principles for which they had been accused, founding his discourses on the words of onr Saviour: Allpower is given untome in heaven and in earth. In the conclusion the Lord's supper was administered, and a collection made for the poor, in which the lords contri- buted liberally with them. Upon their departure, they signified their satisfaction in what they had heard and seen, and their inclination to come again, But this made so great a noise, it is said, that they durst not venture a second time.t It does not appear how long Mr. More continued pastor of this church, nor how long he lived after the above troubles ; but the church divided by mutual consent, most probably at his death, when just one half chose Mr. Praise- God Barebone, and the other half Mr. Henry Jessey, to the office of pastor.t RICHARD BERNARD.-This excellent divinewas born in the year in 1567, and educated in Christ's college, Cam- bridge. He was a young man of good natural parts ; and, having raised the expectations of his friends, the Countess of Warwick took him under her patronage, and sent hira * Neal's Puritans, vol. ii. p. 375, 376. f Crosby's Baptists, vol. i. p. 163. t Ibid. vol. iii. p. 41.
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