61 and this-they call'd the spiritt of wi'sedome, and so magnified him, so falsely flatter'd him, that he could not endure the words of truth and soundnesse, but rewarded the.se base, wicked, unfaithfull fawners- with rich preferments, attended wiLh pom'ps and titles, which heav'd them up. above a. humane heighth: with their pride their envie swell'd against the people of God, '~hom they began to proiect how they might roote out of the land;. and when they had once g iven them a name, . whatever was· odious or dreadful to the king that they fixt upon the .Puritane;. which, according to thei1' charac-- ter, was nothing but a factious hipocri.te.. The king had upon his heart the dealings both of England· and; Scotland with his mother, and harbour'd a secret desire of revenge· upon the godly in both nations, yet had not courage enough to as- ~ert his resentment like a prince, but employ'd a wicked cunning he· was master of, and called king-craft, to undermine what he durst not openly oppose, the true· religion: this was fenc'd with the liberty of the people, and so link'cl together, that 'twas impossible to make them slaves, till they were brought to be idolaters of royaJty and glorious Just, and as impossible to make them adore these gods while they continued loyall to the government of Jesus Christ. The payment of civill obedience to the king and the lawes of the land satisfied not; if any dmst dispute his impositions in the worship of God, he was presently reckon'd among the seditious and: disturbers of the publick peace, and accordingly persecuted;_if any were griev'd.at the dishonol' of the kingdome or the griping.of the poore,.or the unjust oppressionsof the subiect, by a thousand- waycs, invented to maintaine the · riotts of the courtiers and the swarms of needy Scots,. the king had. brought in to devoure like locusts the plen ty of this land, . he was a Puritane: if any, , out of mere morallity and . civil! honesty, . discountenanc'd the abominations of those days, he was a Puritane, however ·he conform'd to their superstitious worship: if any shew'd fa-- v.our to any godly honest person, kept them company, reliev'd them,
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