401 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. very heavy charges, and ought to be supported by very sub- stantial evidence. Though some of the nonconformist divines were zealous in the cause ofthe parliament, will any un- prejudiced person affirm, that they " encouraged tumults," any more than those who were conformable? No man who is conversant with the history of those distracted times, and is uninfluenced by a bigoted party spirit, I am persuaded will affirm any such thing. With respect to the "execrable rebel- lion," as it is called, it is well known to all parties to have originated in the arbitrary and cruel proceedings of the king and his tyrannical courtiers, which; after many years, led to all the horrors of a civil war. If, therefore, there was any rebellion, it is easy to see who was guilty. Mr. Ley became rector of Ashfield in Cheshire, and for a short time, rector of Astbury in the same county, chairman of the committee for the examination and approbation of ministers, one of the committee of printing, and one of the committee for the ordination of ministers. About the year 1645he was chosen president of Sion college, and about the same time, inducted into the rich living of Brightwell in Berkshire. In 1653 he was appointed one of the tryers of ministers, and, the year following, assistant to the com- missioners of Berkshire for ejecting ignorant and scandalous ministers and schoolmasters. After some time he resigned the living of Brightwell, and was presented to that of Solihull in Warwickshire. But by too much exertion and constant preaching, he broke a blood vessel ; and being disabled from attending to the duties of his office, he resigned Solihull, and retired to Sutton Colfield in the same county, where he lived privately the rest of his clays. He died May 16, 1662, aged seventy-nine years, and his remains were interred in the church at Sutton Colfield. He was accounted " an ex- cellent preacher, a person of great learning, deeply read in the fathers and councils, and one of the chief pillars of presbyterianism.". His Wonns.-1. An Apology in Defence of the Geneva Notes on the Bible, which were, in St. Mary's in Oxford, publicly and severely reflected on by Dr. John Howson. Written about 1612, and examined and approved by Bishop Usher.-2. A Pattern of Piety ; or. the religious Life and Death of Mrs. Jane Ratcliff of Chester, 1640.-3. Several occasional Sermons, 1640, &c., one of which is entitled, " The Fury of Warre, and Folly of Sinne, a Sermon before the Commons, April 26, 1643."--4. Sunday a Sabbath: or, a. a- Wood's Athenie Oxon. Vol. ii. p. 190-194.
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