GREENWOOD. 43 a knowledge of their situation from coming to the ears of the queen. Mr. Barrow, therefore, exposed his grace's behaviour, in the following smart language :--" The arch- " bishop," says he, " having sent so many men to divers " prisons, as Bridewell, Newgate, the two Compters, the " White-lion, and the Fleet, now posted these things to the " civil magistrate. He bath destined brother Greenwood " and myself to death, and others to close prison ; their " poor wives and children to be cast out, of the city, and " their goods to be confiscated. Is not this," says he, " a " Christian bishop ? Are these the virtues of him, who takes upon himself the care and government of the churches " in the land, to tear and devour God's poor sheep, to rend " off their flesh and break their bones, and chop them in " pieces as flesh for the cauldron ? Will he thus instruct " and convince gainsayers ? Surely he will persuade but " few, who fear God, to his religion, by this evil dealing. " Does he consult his own credit, or the honour of his " prince, by this tyrannical havock ? For our parts, our " lives are not dear unto us, so that we may finish our " testimony with joy. We are always ready, through the " grace of God, to be offered up upon the testimony of the " faith that we have made. "* When, therefore, their whole case is impartially considered, we think there was not much cause for Mr. Strype to call these passionate and angry expressions. These unhappy men undoubtedly fell a sacrifice to the resentment of an angry prelate ; who is, nevertheless, denominated " a very worthy man."+ In the mean time, while we condemn the severity with which these men were treated, we do not mean to palliate their errors. Their rigid and narrow sentiments concerning discipline ; their denying the church of England to be a true church; their maintaining that her government was so wholly popish and antichristian as to render all her ordinances and sacraments invalid ; and their not only renouncing communion with her, but with all other reformed churches, excepting such as were according to their own model, are sufficient proofs how strongly they were tinged with bigotry. The true grounds of religious freedom were, at this period, so little understood, that it is exceed- ingly probable, that, if the Brownists had risen in power, they would have exercised it in a very unjustifiable manner. The condemnation and execution of Mr. Barrow artd * Strype's Whitgift, p. 41&, 416. t Granger's Biog. Bist. vol. i. p. 206.
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