62 LIVES OF THE PURITANS. spiritual court's-men.' This man's railing,"he adds,' pleased the commons so, well, that they could think of no man fitter to prate when their wicked league and covenant was taken than he ; which accordingly he did to the purpose, tickling their filthy ears with the same strains of malice ; 'impudently affirming, That none but an atheist, papist; oppressor, rebel, or the guilty; desperate cavaliers, and light and empty men, can refuse the covenant :' and so concludes with reflec., tion upon the king's party, as idolaters. And for this stuff, Colonel Long must be ordered to give him thanks from the house.". Admitting the correctness of our author's extracts, there was certainly too much truth in many of Mr. Coleman's remarks, though some of them perhaps require a degree of limitation. It is, however, a certain fact, which many of our zealous historians seem willing to forget, that " their worships, the blades at Westminster," whose " filthy ears were tickled with the preacher's strains of malice," and who thanked him for his sermons, desiring him to print them; even the commons in parliament, as well as the lords, were, according .to Clarendon, all members of the established church.t Yet, such is the foul language of the above bigotted and peevish writer, that his prejudices and party feelings appear without restraint, while he pours forth his abundant slander and con- tempt upon men of the worthiest character. His WORKS.-1.The Christian'sCourse and Complaint, both in the pursuit of Happiness desired, and for Advantages slipped in that pursuit ; a Sermon preached to the Honourable House of Commons on the monthly Fast, Aug. 30, 1643; at St. Margaret's Westminster, 1643.-2. The Heart's Engagement, a Sermon preached at St. Mar- garet's Westniinster, atthe public entering into the Covenant, 1643.- 3. God's unusual Answer to a Solemn Fast, a Sermon preached to both Houses of Parliament, at their public Fast, Sep-12, 1644- 1644.-4. A Brotherly Examination Examined: or, a clear Justifica- tion of those Passages in a Sermon, against which Mr. Gillespie did preach and write, 1646.-5. A short Discovery of some Tenets which intrench upon the Honour and Power of Parliaments.-6. A Modell, &c. EPHRAIM PAGET was born in Northamptonshire, in the year 1575, and educated in Christ's college, Oxford. He was the son of Mr. Eusebius Paget, a celebrated puritan divine, and a great sufferer for nonconformity. He was so great a proficient in the knowledge of the languages, that Foulis's Hist. of Plots, p. 183, 184. 1- Clarendon's Hist. vol. i. p. 184.
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