H E H I S T O R Y OF T H E P U R I T A N S O R Prote./tant Non- GonformíJts, FROM THE R E F O R M A T I O N U N D E R King Henry VIII. to the Ad of Toleration under King William and Queen Mary: W I T H An ACCOUNT of their principles, their attempts for a further reformation in the Church ; and the lives and characters of their moil: confiderable Divines. In T W O V O L U M E S . By DANIEL NEAL, M. fl. The SECOND EDITION Corre:ed. LONDON: Printed for J. BUCKLAND, at the Buck in Pater-Nofter Row, and J. WAUGH and W. FENNER, at the l'urk's-Head in Lombard-Street, MDCCLIV,
T H E H I S T O R Y OF THE P U R I T A N S O R ProteJtant Non-GonformíJts. In TWO VOLUMES, V O L. I. C O N T A I N I N G The Reigns of King Henry VIII. Edward VI. Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, King James I. and part of King Charles I. to the commencement of the Civil War. T O G E T H E R With a Review of the firft Part of the Hiilory, in Anfwer to the Vindication of the Church of England during the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, by the Right Reverend the Bithop of WORCESTER. By DANIEL NEAL, M.A. Now all there Things happened unto them for Enfamples ; and they are written for our Admonition r Cor. x. Ir. LONDON: Printed for J. BUCKLAND, at the Buck in Pater-Nofter-Row, and J. WAUGH and W. FE NNES, at the Turk's-Head in Lombard - Street, MDCCLIV.
T H E P R E F A C E TO T H E Ern Volume of the OCTAVO Edition. HE de, frgn of the following work, is to preferve the memo- ry of thole great and good men among the reformers, who loft their preferments in the church, for attempting n fur- ther reformation of its difcipline and ceremonies ; and to account for the rife and progrefs of that feparation from the nationaleflablUbment, whichfubfifls to this day. Tofet this in a proper light it wasnecefary to look back upon the fad /late ofreligion before the reformation, andto con fder the motives that induced king, HENRY VIII. to break with the pope, and to declare the church. of Eng- land an independent body, of which himfelf, under G'hrifi, was the fupreme head upon earth. This was a boldattempt, at a time when all the powers of the earth were againfl him; and could not have fucceeded without an over- ruling diret ion of divine providence : But as for any realamendment of the docTlrines, or fuperflitions of popery, any further than was neceáry to fecure his own fupremacy, and tbofe vafi revenues of the church which he had grafped into his hands, whatever his majefly might defign, he had not the honour to accompli/h. The reformation made a quick progrefs in the fbort reign of king ED- WARD VI. who had been educatedunder proteflant tutors, and was him- felf a prodigious genius for his age ; he fettled the dotrines of the church, and intendeda reformation of its government and laws; but his noble de- igns
vi P R E F A C E . figns were Qbfiru .led by fame temporizing b/ops, who having complied with the impoñitions of king Henry VIII. were willing to bring others un- der the fame yoke; and to keep up an alliance with the church of Rome, lß they /hould lofe the uninterrupted fuccefion of their charaelers from the apa/Iles. The contróverfy that gave r f to the SEPARATION began in this reign, on occafion of bUhop Hooper's refufing to be confecrated in the po- pifh habits : This may fiem an unrefonable fcruple in the opinion offame people, but was certainly an affair of great confequence to the reformation, when the habits were the known badges of popery ; and when the admi- niítrations of the pr s, were thought to receive their validityfrom the confecrated veftments ; as I am afraid many both of the clergy andcom- mon people are too inclinable to apprehend at this day. Had the refor- mers fixed upon other decent garments, as badges of the epifcopal or prieft- ly office, which had no relation to the fuperfiitions ofpopery, this controver- fy hadbeen prevented. But the fame regard to the old religion was had, in reviling the liturgy, and tranflating it into the englifh language; the re- formers, inflead offraming a new one in the language of holy fcrip- tore, had recourfe to the offices of the church of Rome, leaving out fuch prayers andpa//ages as were ofenfve, and adding certain refponfes to en- gage the attention of the common people, who till this time had no concern sn the public devotions of the church, as being uttered in an unknown. tongue : This was thought a very con"derable advance, and as much as the times would bear, but was not defignedfor the laß /landard of the englifh reformation ; however, the immature deathof young kingEdward, put an end to all furtherprogref. Upon the acceion of queen MARY, popery revived, by the fupremacy's being lodged in a Jingle hand; andwithin the compafs of little more than a year, became a fcond time the eflablifhed religion of the church of Eng- land : The Matutes of king Edward were repealed, and the penal laws a- gain"? heretics were put in execution again/ the reformers ; many of whom, after a long imprifnment, and cruel trials of mockings and fcourgings, made a noble confeffon of their faith before many witne /s, and foaled it with their blood.' Great numbers fled into banijhment, and were enter- tained by the reformed /fates of Germany, Switzerland, and Geneva, with great humanity ; the magi"?ratesenfranchi/ng them, and appointing churches for their public worfhip. But here began the fatal divn ; fame of the exiles were far keeping to the liturgy of king Edward, as the religion of their country, while others con/dering that thofi laws were repealed, ap- prehended themfelves at full liberty, and having noprfpeEl of returning home, they refolved to /hake of the remains of antichri/, and to copy after the purer forms of thole churches among whom they lived. According- b, the congregation at Frankfort, by the defire of the magjrates, began upon
P R E F A C E . vii upon the Geneva model, with an additional prayer for the afflibledflate of the church of England at that time ; but when Dr. Cox, afterwards bi- fhop of Ely, came with a new detachment from England, he interrupted the public fervice by anfwering aloud after the Minifter, which occajiened fach a dfurbance and divifion as could never be healed. Mr. Knox and Mr. Whittingham, with onehalf of the congregation, being obliged to re- move to Geneva, Dr. Cox and his friends kept pfelon of the church at Frankfort, till there arofè fach quarrels and contentions among themfèlves, as made them- a reproach to the (rangers among whom they lived. Thus the feparation began. When the exiles, upon the accefon of queen ELIZABETH, returned to England,, eachparty were for advancing the reformation according to their own /landard. The queen, with thofe who had weathered the florin at home, were only for king Edward's liturgy, but the majority of the exiles *were for the worfhip and difcipline of the foreign churches, and refufed' to comply with the old f ablifhment, declaiming loudly againfl thepop6(h ha- bits and ceremonies. The new bilbops, mo/t of whom had been their com- panions abroad, endeavoured to foften them for the prefent, declaring they would ufe all their inter f s at court, to make them eafy in a little time: The queen alto connivedat their non-conformity, till her government was fet- tled, but then declared roundly, that the had fixedher /tandard, and would have all her fubjetlo conform to it ; upon which the bops ffend in their behaviour, explained away their promifes, andbecame toofevere again/t their denting brethren. In the year Is6¢, their lord/hips began to thew their authority, by urging the clergy of their feveral diocefès to fubfcribe the liturgy, cere- monies and difcipline of the church ; when thole that refufed were fir/t` called PURITANS, a name of reproach derived from the Cathari, or Pu- ritani of the third century after Chri/I, but proper enough to exprefs their (Wires of a more pure form of worjhip and difcipline in the church. When the doctrines of Arminius took place, in the latter endof the reign of king James I. theft who adhered to Calvin's explication of the five difputed points, were calleddoétrinal puritans; and at 'length (lays Mr. Fuller,) theCh. bi/fary, name was improved to fligmatize all thole who endeavoured in their devo- B. IX. p. 97. tions to accompany the minifter with a pure heart, and who were remark- B. X' p.Ioo. ably holy in their converfations. Al PURITAN therefore was a man of fe- vere morals, a Calvinift in doarine, and a non conformift to the cere- monies and difcipline of the church, though he did not totally feparate from it. The 9ueen having conceived a ftrong averfion to theft people, pointed all her artillery againft them ; for befides the ordinary courts of the bifhops, ber májefty trotteda new tribunal, called the court of HIGH' COMMISSION, which
viii P R E F A C E . whichfufpended and deprived men of their livings, not by the verdie? of twelve men upon oath, but by the fovereign determination of three com- infoners of' her majfy's own nomination, founded not upon the ftatute laws of the realm, but upon the bottomlefs deep of the canon law; and in- f?ead of producing witnefes in open court to prove the charge, they affumed a-power of adminifiring an oath EX. OFF I CIO, whereby theprifoner was obliged to an fiver allque/lions the court fhouldput to him, though never fo prejudicial to his own defence r If he refufed to (wear, he was imprifon, d for contempt; andif he took the oath, he was convicted upon his own con- feon. The reader will meet withmany examples of the high proceedings f ,this court, in the courfe of this hfory; of their fending their purfuevants to bring min/lersout of the country, and keeping them in town at excefive charges; of their interrogatories upon oath, which were almoft equal to the ipanifh inqufition ; of their examinations and long imprfonments of minif- ters without bail, or bringing them to a trial; and all this not for infuf- fzciency, or immorality, or negle5 of their cures, but for not wearing a white furplice, for not baptizing with the fign of the crofs, or not fub- fcribing to certain articles that had no foundation in law. Afourth part of allthe preachers in England were under fufpen/ion, from one or other of theft courts, at a time when not one beneficed clergyman in fix was capable ofcompofing a fermon. The edge of all thofe laws which were made againf popifh reculants, who were continually plotting againft the queen, was turned againfl proteflant non-conformifts; nay, in many cafes they had not Vot.I. Syo the benefit of the law ; for as lord Clarendon rightly obferves, queen Eliza- p,'2, beth carried her prerogative as highas in the wo f times ofking Charles Ir " They who look back upon the council books f theft times (fays his lord- " fhip), and upon the ass of the Star- chamber then, (hall find as high in- " fiances of power and fovereignty upon the liberty andproperty of the fub- " jeît, as can be Jnce given. But the art, order and gravity of thole " proceedings, (where fhort, fevere, conjiant rules, were fit, and fmartly purfued, and the party felt only the weight of the judgment, not the pillion of his judges) made them lefs taken notice of, andfo lef grievous " to thepublic, though as intolerable to the perfon." Theft feverities, in/?ead of reconciling the puritans to the church, drove them further from it ; for men don't care to be beat from their principles by the artillery of canons, injunEtions, and penal laws ; nor can they be in love with a church that ufis fesch methods of converfaon. Agreat deal` of ill blood was bred in the nation by theft proceedings; the bifhops loft their fteem with the people, and the number of puritans was not really lfend though they lay concealed, till in the next age theygot the power into their hands, and (hook of theyoke. The
P R E F A C E . iac The refutation of the church of England has been very much advanced of late years, by the fufpenfion of the penal laws, and the legal indulgence granted to protefiant difenters. Long experience has taught us, that uni- formity in ds5Irine andwor/hip, enforced by penal laws, is not the way to the church's peace ; that there may be a feparation from a true church without fchifm; and fchifn within a church without feparation ; that the indulgence grantedby law to proteftant non-conformifis, which has now fubfi/led above fortyyears, has not been prejudicial to church or Bate, but rather advantageous to both ; for the revenues of the ellablifhed church have not been leened ; a number of poor have been maintained by the Diffenters, which muß otherwife have come to thepari/h ; the feparation has kept up an emulation among the clergy ; quickened them to their paftoral duty, and been acheck upon their moral behaviour ; and Iwill venture to fay, when- ever the feparate a/mblier of proteftant non-conformßs /hall eeaf and all men be obliged to worfhip at their parifh churches, that ignorance and lazi- nefs will prevail among the clergy; and that the laity an many parts of the country, will degenerate into füperftition, prophanenefs, and downright atheifm. With regard to the STATE; it ought to be remembered that theproteftant d(enters have alwaysflood by the laws and conftitution of their country; that theyjoined heartily in the glorious revolution of king WIL- LIAM and queen.MARY, and fufferedfor their fteady adherence to the proteftant fucciffion in the illu/tràous pouf of his PRESENT MAJESTY, when great numbers who called themfelves churchmen, were looking another way; for this, the fchifm bill and other hardfhips were put upon them, andnot for their religious differences with the church ; for if they would have joined the adminiftration at that time, 'tis well known they might have made much better terms for them/elves ; but as long as there is a pro- teftant difrenter in England, therewill a friendof liberty, and of ourpre- fent happy conftitution. Inftead thereforeof crufhing them, or comprehend- ing themwithin the church, it muß be the intereft of all true lovers of their country, even upon political views, to eat their complaints, and to fupport and countenance their chrßian liberty. For though the church of .England is as freefrom perfecuting principles_ as any eablifhment in Europe, yet /till there are force grievances remain- ing, which wife and good men of all parties with might be reviewed; not to mention the fubfcriptions which affeel the clergy ; there is the atl of the 25th of king Charles U. for preventing dangers anfing from popilh re- enfants, commonly called the TEST ACT, which obliges, under very. " feverepenalties, all perfono, [of the laity] bearing any office, or place of " fruit or profit, (befades taking the oaths of allegiance and füpremacy,. and " fubfcribing a declaration againß tranfubftantiation ;) to receive thefa- " crament of ' the Lord's jupper according to the ufage of the church of VoL. I b " England,
Eachard's ch. Wary, ad ann. á672g. PREFACE, " England, in f me pari/h church on a Lord's day immediatlely after di- " vine fervice andfrmon, and to deliver a certificate of having fi re- " ceived it, under the the hands of the re/ßeLive miners and church- " ° wardens, proved by two credible witnes upon oath, to be recorded in " court." It appears by the title of this ad, and by the difpofitian of the parliament at that time, that it was not defagned againfl proteßant non- conformi/Ès ; but the diffenters in the houfe generoufly came into it to fave the nationfrom popery ; for when the court, in order to throw out the bill, put them upon moving for a claufe to except their friends, Mr. Love, who hadalready declared againft the d f ending power, flood up, and defred that the nation might firfi be fecured againft popery, by paffìng the bill without any amendment, and that then, if the houfe pleafed, force regard might be bad to proteflant dill- enters; in which (fays Mr. Eachard) he was feconded bymolt of his party. The bill was voted accordingly, and another brought in for the cafe of his majefty's proteftant diffenting fubjeâs, which payed the commons, but before it could get through the lords, the king came to the boufe andprorogued the parliament. Thus the proteftant non-conformifts, out of their abundant zeal for the proteftant religion, (hackled themfelves, and were left upon a level with popjh recufants. Something was necefary to fecure the nation againfe poperyat that time, 'when the prefumptive heir of the crown was of that religion ; but whether it ought not to have been done by a civil, rather than by a religious tat, I leave with the reader. The obliging all perfons in places of civil trufl to receive the holyfacrament of the Lord's fupper, feems to me a hardfhip upon thufegentlemen, whofe manner of life loudly declares their unfitnefs for f facred a folemnity, andwho would not run the hazardof eating and drink- ing unworthily, but that they fatisfy themfelves with throwing of the guilt upon the impofert. Great Britain midi not expedt an army offaints; nor is the time yet come, when all her officers (hall be peace, and her exactors righteoufnefs. It is no lefs a hardfhip upon'a great body of his =jelly's moll dutiful and loyal fubjedis, who are qualified to firve their king and country, in all ofaces of civil trujl, and wouldperform their duty with all chearfulnefs, did they not fcruple to receive the facrament after the ufage of the churchof England, or to pro/litute a facrecl and religious inftitution, as a qual/lcation for a civil employment. I can fie no inconvenience either to church or fiate, f HIS MAJESTY, as the common father of his people, fhould have the frvice of allhis fubjeöls who are willing to fwear allegiance to his royal perfon and government ; to renounce all foreign ju- rfdidlion, and to give all reafonable ficurity not to dJurb the church of England, or any of their fellow fubjeJs, an the peaceable enjoyment of their religious or civil rights and properties. Befides, the removing this ,grievance would do honour to the church f England ifelf,. by obviating the
P R E F A C E the charge of impftion, and by relieving the clergy, fson a part of their work, which has given f me of them very great uneafinefs : But I am chiefly concerned for the honour of religion and public virtue, which is wounded hereby in the houfe of its friends. If therefore (as fame conceive) the facramental teft be a national blemifh, I humbly conceive, with all due fubmifon, the removal of it would be a public bleying. The prote/lant non-conform f s obferve with pleafure the right reverend fathers of the church owning the caufe of religious liberty, " that private " judgment ought to be formed upon examination, and that religion is " a free and unforced thing." Andwe fincerely join with the lord bi- fhop of Litchfield and Coventry *, in the preface to his excellent vindica- tion of the miracles of our blfed Saviour, " in congratulating our coun-Ibid. II. p. " try on the enjoyment of their civil and eccleejaflical liberties within their 15. " juft and reafonable bounds, as the mog valuable blellings ;" though we are not fully fatified with the reafonablenefs of thofe bounds his lordjhip has fixed. Godforbid! that any among us fhould be patrons of open prophane- nef, irreligion, fcurrility, or ill manners to the egablilhed religion of the nation ; much lefi that we fhould countenance any who blafphemoufly revile the founder of it, or who deride whatfoever is facred. No, we have a fervent zeal for the honour of our Lord and matter, and are defirous to contend earnefily for the faith once delivered to the faints with all forts offpiritual weapons ; but we do not yet fie a necellity of flopping the mouths of the adverfaries of our holy religion with fines and imprifanments, even though to their own infamy and fhame they treat it with indecency: Let fcandal and ill manners be punt/bed as it deferues, but let not men be terrifiedfrom fpeaking out their doubts, or propo/ng their obje5lions a- gainfi thegofpel revelation, which we are fure will bear a thorough exami- nation; and though the late ungenerous attacks upon the miracles of our bleed Saviour, may have had an ill influence upon the giddy and unthink- ing youth of the age, they have given occafian to the publifhing fah a num- ber of incomparable defences of chrißianity, as have confirmed the faith of many, andmull fatisfy the minds of all reafonable enquirers after truth. Nor dowe think it right to fix the boundaries of religious liberty upon Pref. p. S. the degree of people's differing from the national efl:ablifhment, becaufe Enthufiafls or Jews have .an equal right with chriflians to worfhip God in their own way; to defend their own peculiar dotlrines; and to enjoy the public protection ; as long as they keep the peace, and maintain no principles manifeftly inconfiftent witb,tbe fafetyof the government they live under. But is lordfhip apprehends be has a chain of demonfrable propftions to Ibid. p.g. maintain his boundaries, he obferves, " a. That the true ends of govern- b a " ment Dr. Smallbrock.
xii P R E F AC E. " ment require the eflablifhmentoffome religion." By which, if no more be meant, than that civil government cannot fubf/t without religion, no reasonable man will dispute it. " z. That open impiety, or a public oppo- "Pion made to, and an avowed contempt of the eflablfed religion, which " ! is a considerable part of the conflitution, do greatly promote the d f ur- " bane of the public peace, and naturally tend to the fubverfion of the " whole conflitution." 'Tis here fuppofèd that one particular religion mull be incoporated into the conflitution, which is not necefjary to the ends of government ; for religion and civil government are diflinEI things, and And upon a feparate basis. Religion in general is the fupport of civil go- vernment, and 'tis the office of the civil magJrate to proteil all his dutiful and loyal fubjetls in the free exercise of their religion ; but to incorporate one particular religion into the conflitution, fo as to make it part of the Ibid. p. io. common law, and to conclude from thence, that the conflitution having a right topreserve itself, may make lawsfor the punishment of thole that publicly oppofe any one branch of it, is to put an efeölual flop to the pro= grefs of the reformation throughout the whole chriflian world ; for by this reafoning, our firfl reformers mull- be condemned; and if a fiibject of France, or the ecciefiaftical ftate, should at this time write againfi the ufurped power of the pope; or expofè the abfurclities of tranfubflantiation, adoration of the boll, worshipping of images, &c it would be laudablefor the legislative powers of thofe countries, to fend the wie I TER to the gallies, or Phut him up in a dungeon, as a d/urber of the public peace, becaufe popery is fupported by law, and is a very considerable part of their confli- tution. But to fupport the government's right to enaht penal laws againfl thof who oppose the eflablshed religion, his lordship is pleated to refer us to the ediëls of the first chrf1ian emperors, out of the codex Theodofianus, com- pofed in the 5th century, which acquaints us with the fentiments of that and the preceding age; but fays nothing of the dotirine of f fcripture, or of the prahtice of the church fir 30o years, before the empire became chrif- tian. His lord/hip then fubjoins fundry paffages out of a fermon of arch- hifhop Tillotfon, whom he jufly ranks among the greateft of the moderns. But it ought to be remembered, that this fermon was preached at court in the year 168o, when the nation was in imminent danger from the popish plot. His lordship fhould adfo have acquainted his readers with the arch- dip. Tillot. be/hop's cautious introdullion, which is this ; " .I cannot think (till 1 be works, " better informed, which I am always ready to be) that any pretence of Vol. 1. fol. as confcience warrants any man that cannot work miracles, to drawmen- p. 320, 3,20. is f from the eftablUbed religion of a nation, nor openly to make prole- " lytes to his own religion, in contempt ofthe,magiftrate and the law, ". though he is never fo fure be is in the right." This propftion, though pointed
P R E F A C E . pointed at the popifh mfonaries in England a that time, is not only in- confiftent with the proteftant reformation (as I obfirved before), but muff feelually prevent the propagating of chr f ianity among the idolatrous na- tions off the eaftern and weftern Indians, without a new power of working miracles, which we have no ground to expel ; and Imay venture to affure his lord(hip and the world, that the good archbfop lived to fie his.miftake; and could naine the learned perfon to whom he frankly conf fed it after force hours converfation upon the fubjel : But human authorities are of little weight in points of reafon and fpeculation. It was from this miflaken principle, that the government pried fo hard upon theft puritans, whofe h f ory is now before the reader ; in which he will obferve how the transfering the fupremacy from the pope to the king, . united the church andfiate into one body under one head, infomuch that 'writing againfl the church was conflrued by the judges in We(tminfter- Hall, a feditious libelling the queen's government, and was punifhed with exorbitant fines, imprifonment and death. He will obferve further, the rife and progrefs of the penal laws; the extent of the regal fupremacy in thfe times ; the deplorable ignorance of the clergy ; with the oppofite prin- ciples of our church reformers, andof the puritans, which I havefit in a true light, and have purfued the controverfy as an h f orian in its fe.- veral branches, to the endof the-long reign of queen ELIZABETH ; to all which Ihave added forno fhort remarks of my own, which the reader will receive according to their evidence. And becaufe the principles of the faits reformers were much the fame with thole of the englifh puritans, aitd the impofing a liturgy and b f ops upon them, gave rife to the confufions of the next age, Ihave inferted a fhort account of their religious meat; and have enlivened the whole with the lives and charaelers of the principalpuritans of thole times. A hiflory of this kindwas long expeeledfrom the late reverendand learn- ed Dr. John Evans, who had for Tome years been colletling materials for this purpofi, and had he lived to perfebl his dfgn, would have done it to much greater advantage ; but I have I fien none of his papers, and am, informed, that there is but a very fmall matter capable of being put in or- der for the pref. Upon his deceafe I found it.neceffary. to undertake this province, to bring the hiflory forward to thole times wben the puritans had the power in their own hands; in examining into which I have (pent my: leifure hours for fome years; but the publifhing thole. collelions will depend under God, upon the continuance of myhealth, and the acceptance this meets; with. in the world *. I r. This hHfòry was firít publithed in four volumesettava. Each volume was publiíhed: feparately at the diftance of a. year or two from each other. X111
xfv P R E F AC E. Iam not f vain as to expel to efcape the cenfures of critics, nor the reproaches of angry men, who while they do nothing themfelves, take plea- fare in expfng the labours of others in pamphlets and news-papers; but as I fh-all be always thankful to any who will convince me of my miflakes itz a friendly manner, the others may be fecure of enjoying the fatisfaelion theirfatirical remarks, without any durbance fromme. I bave endeavoured to acquaint mfelf thoroughly with the times of which Iwrite ; and as I have no expectations from any party of chriftians, I am under no temptation to difgu f their conduel: I have cited my au- thorities in the margin, and flatter myfelf that I have bad the opportunity of bringing many things to light, relating to the fuferings of the Puritans, and the flate of the reformation in thole times, which have hitherto been unknown to the world, chiefly by the affiance of a large enanufcript collec- tion ej papers, faithfully tranfcribed from their originals in the univerfity of Cambridge, by aperfcn of character employedfor thatpurpofe, andge- neroulfy communicated to me by my ingenious and learnedfriend Dr. Ben- jamin Grofvenor ; for which I take this opportunity of returning him my own, and the thanks of the public. Anong the ecclefiafiical hiliorians of thefe times, Mr. Fuller, bifhop Burnet, and Mr. Strype are the chief; the lall of whom has fèarcbed into the records of the englifh reformation more than any man of the age ; Dr. Heylin andCollyer are of more fuf- peeled authority, not fo much for their party principles, as becaufe the former never gives us his vouchers, and yet the latter follows him blindly in all things. Upon the whole, I have endeavoured to keep in view the homy andgra- vity of an hforian, andhave Paid nothing with a deign to exaggerate or widen the dferences among chriflians ; for as .1 amafincere admirer of the doctrines of the new to/lament, I would have an equal regard to its moll excellent precepts, of which thefe are force of the capital, that we love one another; that we forgive offences; that we bear one anothers infirmities, and even biefs them that curie us, and pray for them that defpitefully ufe us and perfecute us. If this fpirit and temper were more prevalent, the lives of chri/lians would throw a bright tube upon the truth and ex- cellency of their divine faith, and convince the athefs and infidels of the age, more than all their arguments can do without it. Iwould earnefllyrecommend this temper to the proteftant non-conformifts of the prefènt age, together with an holy emulation of each other in un- d f mbled piety and farieiity of life, that while they are reading the heavy andgrievous fuferings of their ancfors from ecclefiîaffical commifíïono, fpiritual courts, and penal laws, for confcience fake, they may be excit- ed to an humble adoration of divine providence, which has delivered them fo
P R E F A C E . fo far from the yoke of oppreffion ; to a deteation of all perfecuting prin- ciples; and to a loyal and dutiful behaviour to the belt of kings, under whole mildand ju/t government they are fecure of their civil and religious liberties. And may protellants of all perfua /lons improve in the know- ledge and love of the truth, and in fentiments of chrßian charity and fòr- bearance towards each other, that being at peace among themfelves, they may with greater fuccefs bend their unitedforces againji the common ene- mies of chrßianity! London, Feb. ift. 173r-2. DANIEL NEAL. PRE- XV
T H E P R E F A C E T O T H E Second Volume of the OCTAVO Edition. THE favourable acceptance of the firft volume ofthis work has en- J couraged me to publifh a fecond, whichcarries the bßory forward to the beginning of the civil war, when the two bouts of parliament wr f ed the fpiritual fword out of the hands of the king and bithops, and affumed the fupremacy to themfelves. There had been a ceffat:on of controverfy for forre time before the death of queen ELIZABETH.; the puritans being in hopes, upon the acce//lon of a king that had been educated in their own principles, to obtain an eafy redrefs of their grievances; and certainly no prince ever had it fo much in his power to compromife the diffirences of the church, as king JAMES I. at the conference of Hampton-court ; but being an indolent and vainglo- rious monarch, he became a willing captive to the bifops, who flattered his vanity, and put that maxim into his head, no bifhop, no king. The creatures of the court, in lieu of the vaflfums of money they received out of the exchequer, gave him theflattering title of anABSOLUTE SOVEREIGN, and to fupply his extravagancies, broke through the conflitution, and laid the foundation of all the calamities of his fon's reign; while himfelf, funk into luxury and eafe, became the contempt of all the powers of Europe. If king James had anyprinciples of religion bfdes what be called seINcs- CRAFT, or diffimulation, he changed then with the climate; for from a rigid calvinift, he became a favourer of arminianifm in the latter part of his reign; from a protefiant of the pure/1 kirk upon earth, a dotïrinal pa- pift ; and from a difguifed puritan, the moll implacable enemy Beth t
F R E E A C E. xvii people, putting all the fprings of theprerogative in motion, to drive them out of both kingdoms. But in/leadof accomplifhing his defigns, the number of puritans increaf- ed prodigioufly in his reign, which was owing to one or other of theft caufes. Firfl, To their flanding firm by the conflitution and laws of their country ; which brought over to them all thofe gentlemen in the houfe of commons, and in the feveral counties of England, who found it necfary, for the prefervation of their properties, to oppofe the court, and to infijt upon being governed according to law; theft were called STATE PURI- TANS. Secondly, To their Heady adherence to the doarines of Calvin, and the fynod of Dort, in the points of predeftination and grace, againff the modern interpretation of ARMINIUS and his followers. The court divines fell in with the latter, andwere thought not only to deviate from the principles of the firft reformers, but to attempt a coalition with the church of Rome ;; while moll of the country clergybeing ft f in their old opinions, (though otherwife well enough ajébled to the difdpline and ceremo- nies of the church) were in a manner Phut out from all preferment, and branded with the name of DOCTRINAL PURITANS. Thirdly, To their pious and fevere manner of life, which was at this time very extraordinary. If a man kept the fabbath, and fre- quented fermons; f he maintained family religion, and would neither fwear, nor be drunk, nor comply with the fa/hionable vices of the times, he was called a puritan : This, by degrees, procured them the compafon of the fober part of the nation, who began to think it very hard, that a number offober, induftrious, and confcientious people, should be haraffed out of the land, for fcrupling to comply with a few indifferent ceremonies, which had no relation to the favour of God, or thepraelice of virtue. Fourthly, It has been thought by f me, that their increafe was owing to the mild and gentle government of archbifhop ABBOT. While BAN CROFT lived, thepuritans were ufed with the utmoft rigour, bat ABBOT having agreater concernfor thedobirines of the churchthanfor its ceremo- nies, relaxed thepenal laws, andconnived at their profelyting the people to calvinifm. ARMINIANISM was at this time both a church andfiate fallion ; the divines of this perfuafron apprehending their fintiments not very confident with the received fenfe of the thirty-nine articles, and being afraid of the cenfures of a parliament or convocation ; took fhelter under the prerogative, and went into all the /lavifhmeafures of the court to gain the royal favour, and tofecure to their friends the chiefprefer- meats VOL. I. c
xviii PREFACE. ments in the church. They perfuaded his majfy to fiJle the predfind- rian controverfy, both in the pulpit and prep, and would, no doubt, in a fewyears, havegot the balance of numbers on their fide, ifby grafting at too much, :they had not precipitated both church andflate into confufìon. It was no advantage to theft divines, that they were linked with the ROMAN CATHOLICS,for thefe latter being fèn/ible they could not be protetled by law, cried up the prerogative, andjoined their forces with the court divines, to fupport the difen/ingpower; they declared for the unlimited authority of the fovereign on the one hand, and the abfolute obedience ofthe fubjeht on the other; fo that though there is no real cbmsetiion between arminianifm and popery ; the two parties were unhappily combinedat this time, to de/!roy the puritans, and to Jobvert the confiitution and laws of their country. iieylin's life But if ABBOT was too remfi, his Jioccefr LAUD was as much too fu- of Laud, rious, for in the firLl year of his government, he introduced as many changes, p 5o6. as a wife and prudent flatefman would have attempted in (even; he pre- vailedwith his majßy to fit up the englifh fervice at Edinburgh, and laid the foundationof the foots liturgy; he obtained the revival of the Book of Sports; he turned the communion tables into altars; he Jent out injunc- tions which broke up the french and dutch churches; and procured the re- peal of the irifh articles, and thofè of England to be received in their place. Such was his rigorous profecutiou ofthe puritans, that he would nei- ther fuller them to live peaceably in the land, nor remove quietly out of it ! His GRACE was alto the chief mover in all thole unbounded ads of power which werefubverfiveof the rights and liberties of the people : And while be had the reins in his hands drove fo near the precipices ofpopery and ty- ranny, that the hearts of the m f relayed Prot f ants turned again/t him, and alm ji all England became PURITAN. I am fenfsble that no part of modern h f ory has been examined with fo muchcritical exalJnefs, as that part of the reign of king CHARLES I. which relates to the rife and progrefs of the civil war ; here the writers on both fides have blown up their pogions into a flame, and infteadof hif tory, have given as little elfe but panegyric or fatyr. I have endeavoured to avoid extremes, and have reprefented things as they appeared to me, with mode/ly, and without any perfonal refetlions. The charabler I have given of the religious principles of the LONG PARLIAMENT, was de- /gnedly taken out of the earl of Clarendon's hiflory of the GRAND RE BELL ION, that it might be without exception : And I am of opinion, that the want of a due acquaintance with the principles of the two houfes with regard to church dífcipli,ne, has milled our bell h. forians, who have reprefentedfume of them as zealous prelatifts, and others as cunning pref-
P R E F A C E . xix prefbyterians, independents, fedaries, &c. whereas in truth they had thefe matters very little at heart. The king was hampered with notions of the divine right of diocefan epifcopacy, but the two houfes [excepting the bfops] were almoli to a man, of the principles of ERASTUS, who maintained, that Chrift and his apoftles had prefcribed no particular form of difcipline for his church in after ages, but had left the KEYS in the hands of the civil magiftrate, who had the foie power of pu- nifhing tranfgrefíbrs, and of appointing fuch particular forms of church . government from time to time, as were molt fubfervient to the peace and welfare of the commonwealth. Indeed, thefe were the fentiments of our church reformers, from archbi/hop Cranmer, down to Bancroft. And though the puritans, in the reign of queen Elizabeth, writ with great eagern f for the divine right of their book of difcipline, their pofterity in the next reigns were more cool upon that head, declaring their fatisfac tion, if the prefent epifcopacy might be reduced to a more primitive fland- ard. This was the fubflance of the minifters petition in the year 1641, figned with feven hundred hands. And even thole who were for ROOT and BRANCH, were willing to fubmit to a parliamentary reformation,, till the fcots revived the notion of divine right in the affembly of divines. However, 'tis certain, the TWO HOUSES had no attachment to prefbyte- ry or independency, but would have compromifed matters with the king upon the epifcopal fcheme, as long as his ntaje/iy was in the Aid, but when viblory had declared on their fide, they complied in force meafure with their northernfriends, whohad affï/led them in the war ; but would never part with the power of the KEYS out of their own bands. If the rea- der will keep this in mind, be will eafily account for the feveral revolutions of church government in th f unfettled times. 'Tis not to be expeeled, that the moll dfntere/led writer of thefe afairs fhould efcape the cenfures of dforent parties ; I thought 1 had alreadyfuf- ficiently explainedmy intentions in publ f ing the hiftory of the puritans ; Expof:t. let- but becaufe it has been infanuated in a late pamphlet, that it looked like a ter, p. 29, plot againfl the ecclfaflical conflitution, 1 think it proper to affure the 30. world once for all, that what I have written is with no ill fpirit, or de- ign again/i the peace of the church or nation; that I have no private or party views; nopatron; no a/ociates ; nor other profpett of reward, than the pleafure f jetting the englifh reformation in a true light, and of beating down force of thefences and inclofisres confcience. Nor can there be any inconvenience in remembering the m f tikes of our ancHors, when all the parties concerned are gone of the Rage, and their families reconciled by inter-marriages ; but it may be of Tome of and benefit to c 2 mankind
xx P R E F A C E. mankind, by enabling them to avoid thofe rocks on which their forefathers have fplit. When I am convinced of any mi/lakes, or unfair reprefenta- tiens, I (hall not be afhamed to retrae them before the world but FACTS are /lubborn things, and will not bend to the humours and inclinations 'of artfuland angry men ; if thefe have been difguifedor nu/reported, let them be fit right in a decent manner, without the mean furmifes of plots and confederacies, and whoever does it, /hall have mine, as well as the thanks of the public. I have no controverfy with the prefent church of England, which has renounced, in a great meafure, the perfecuting principlesof former times ; for though I am not unacquainted with the nature and defetis of religious e tablifhments, yet neither my principles nor inclinations will allow me to give them the leaft d/urbane, any further than they impofe upon con- fcience, or intrench upon the rights of civil fociety. If the prefbyterians or independents have been guilty offuchpractices in their turns, I /hall Ibid. p. t2, freely bear my teflimony agasnfl them, and think Imay do it with a GOOD GRACE, fence I have always declared againflreftraints upon confcience, among all parties of chrißians; but if men will vindicate the ju/lice and, equity of oaths ex officio, and of exorbitant fines, imprifonment and ba -. nifhment, for things in their own nature indifferent; if they will call a relation of the illegal feverities of council tables, fiar chambers, and high commiffions, a SATYR AGAINST THE PRESENT ESTABLISH- MENT, they muli ufe their liberty, as I ¡hall mine, in appearingagainji eccleifaflical opprejion, fromwhat quarter foever it comes. I have freely cenfured the nu/lakes of the puritans in queen ELIZA- BETH's reign; nor will I be their advocate any longer than they have fcripture, realn, and fame' degree of good manners on their fade. If it ¡hall at any time appear, that the body of them lived in contempt of all lawful authority, or bid defiance to the laws-of their country, except in 'itch cafes wherein their confciences told them, it was their duty to obey God rather than man ; if they were guilty of rebellion, fedition, or of aban- doning the queen and the proteftant religion, when it was in danger, let them bear their own reproach; but as yet Imug be of opinion, that they were the bell friends of the con/litution and liberties of their country ; that they were neither unquiet or reftlefs, unlef again/t tyranny in the Rate, and oppreffion upon the confcience ; that they made ufe of no other weapons, during a courfi offourfcore years, but prayers to God, and pe- titions to the leg for redrefs of their grievances, it being an article of their belief, that abfolute fubmiflion was due to the fupreme magic trate in all things lawful, as will fuficiently appear by their ,protefiations in
P R E F A C E . xxi in the beginning of the reign of king James I. I save admitted, that the puritans might be too Ai. and rigid in their behaviour ; that they were unacquainted with the rights of confcience; and, that their language to their fuperiors, the bithops, was not always decent and mannerly : Oppref- fion maketh wife men mad. But furely, the depriving, impri%oning and putting men to death for theft things, will not be vindicated in our times. In the preface to the fir/t volume of this hiflory, Imentioned with plea- fire the growing fentiments of religious liberty in the church of England, but complained of the burden of fubfcriptious upon the clergy ; and of the corporation and tell aas ; as prejudicial to the caufe of religion and vir- tue, among the laity ; for which reafons theprotPlant dlinters throughout England, intended topetitionfor a repeal or amendment oftheft a ls, the then enfuing fefìon of parliament, if they had met with any encouragement from their fuperiors, or had the lea/l profpebt of fucc f .' The SACRAMENTAL TEST is, no doubt, a di/linguing mark of reproach which they have not deferved ; and, I humbly conceive, no very great fecurity to the church of England, unlefi it can be fuppofed, that one tangle at? of occafional con- formity, can take of the edge of all their imagined averfion to the hierar- chy, who worfhip all the re/t of theyear among non-conform f s. Nor can the repeal of theft ails be of any confiderable advantage to the body of diffenters, becaufe not one in five hundred can expeEt to reap any private benefit by it to himfelf or family ; their zeal therefore in this caufe muuft . arife principally, from a regard to the libertiesof their country, and a de- fire of refcuing one of the molt facred rites of chriftianity, from the pro- fanation to which it is expofed. But it feems this will not be believed, till the diffenters propofe force FT:ft. tJl. other pledge and fecurity, by which the end and intent of the facra- p 16,23, mental teft may be equally attained ; for (fags a late writer), the le- 25' giflature never intended them any (hare of truft or power in the govern- ment ; and he hopes never will, till they fee better reafons for it than have hitherto appeared. Mull the diffenters then furnifh the church with a law to exclude themfelvesfrom ferving their king and country? Let the &Agreeable work be undertaken by men who are better 'killed in fuch une- qual feverities. Iwill not examine into the intent of the legijlature in this place; but ifprotfant non-confirm/Is are to have no (hare of truf or power in the government, why are they chofen into fuch offices, andfa.- Jed to fines and penalties for declining them? Is it fir not ferving? This, it feetas, is what the legfature never intended. Is it then for not quali- fying? Surely this is a penalty upon confcience. I would aft the warmß advocate
xxii P R E F A C E. advocate for the facramental tell, whether the appointing proteftant diffen- ters for sheriffs of counties, and obliging them to qualify againft their confciences, under the penalties of a premunire, without the liberty of ferving by a deputy, or of commuting by a fine, is confrftent with fo FULL A TOLERATION, and exemption from penal laws, as this writer Hft. te. fays they enjoy? 'Tis true, a good government may take no advantage of P. 5' this power, but in a bad one men mull qualify, or their liberties and Oates be at the king's mercy; it feems therefòre but reafonable, (whatever the intent of the legfature may be), that proteflant di//enters jhould be ad- mitted to ferve their country with a good confcience in offices of truft, as well as of burden, or be exempted from all pains and penalties for not doing it. Ibid. p. 22. 'Dsnow prettygenerally agreed, that receiving the holy facrament merely as a qualification for a place of civil profit or truft, is contrary to the ends of its inflitution, and a fnare to the confciences of men ;for though the law is open, and " theywho obtain offices in the fiate, know beforehand the con- " ditions of keeping them," yet when the bread of a numerous family de- pends upon a qualification which a man cannot be fatisfied to comply with, 'tis certainly a 'hare. And though I agree with our author, that " if the minds offach perföns are wicked, the law does not make them fo," yet I am afraid it hardens them, and makes them a great deal werfe. How many thoufands come to the facrament of the Lord's flipper with relullance ! and, perhaps, eat and drink judgment to themfelves; the guilt off which muff be chargeable either upon the impofers or receivers, or upon both. Methinks therefore charity to the fouls of men, as well as a concern for the purity of our holy religion, lhould engage allferious chrfians to endeavour the removal of this grievance ; andfine we are told, that the appearing of the diffenters at this time is unfeafonable, and will be in.. eetlual ; Iwould humbly move our right reverend fathers the bithops, not to think it below their highßations and dignities, to confider offome expedient to roll away this reproach from the church and nation, and agree upon force fecurity for the former (if needful), of a civil nature, that may leave room (as king William expres it in his fpeech to his firjl par- liament), FOR THE ADMISSION OF ALL PROTESTANTS THAT ARE ABLE AND WILLING TO SERVE THEIR COUNTRY. The honour of Chrß, and the caufe of public virtue, Teem to require it. And for as much as the influence of theft ails afebls great numbers of the laity in a very tender part, I fhould think it no dfonour for the leverai corporations. in England, as well as for the officers of the army, navy, cufloms, and excife, who are more peculiarly concerned, to join their interfs in peti- tioning
P R E F A C E . xxiii tinning the legiflature for filch relief. And I flatter myfelf, that the wife and temperate behaviour of the proteflant diffenters in their late general afiembly in London ; with the dutiful regard that they have always(hewn to the peace and welfare of his madolly's perfon, family, and government, will not fail to recommend them to the royal proteEtion andfavour; and that HIS MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY, in imitation of his glorious predece/Tor, king WILLIAM III. will in a proper time recommend it to his parliament, to /Irengthen his adminiflration, by taking of thof re- flraints, whichat prefent difable his proteftant diffenting fubjeáts, from'hew- ing their zeal in the fervice of their king and country. London, March6. i732 -3. DANIEL NEAL. H E
T H E H I S T O R Y O F T H E P U R I T A N S . C H A P T E R I. ire Reign of King HENRY' VIII. I N G William the Conqueror having got pofl'eßïon of State ofroll- the crown of England, by the afli(tance of the fee ofg'oneforethe reformation. Rome, and King fohn having afterwards fold it in his wars with the Barons ; the rights and privileges of the Englifh clergy were delivered up into the hands of the Pope ; who taxed them at his pleafure, and in procefs of time drained the kingdom of immenfe treafures : for befides all his other dues, arifing from annates, fir/ifruits, peter pence &c. he extorted large fums of money from the clergy for their preferments in the church. He advanced foreigners to the richeft bifhopricks, who never refided in their VOL, I. B diocefes,
2 The H I S TORY of the PURITANS., Chap. I. diocefes, nor fo much as fet foot upon Englifh ground, but fent for all their profits to a foreign country nay, fo covetous was his holinefi, that before livings became void, he fold them provitonally among his Italians, infomuch, that neither the king nor the clergy, had any thing to difpofe Barnet's of, but every thing was 'bargained for before-hand at Rome. This awa- Hy?.Ref. kened the refentments of the legifature, who in the 25th year of King Vo1.Lp.107 Edward III. paffed an act, called the flatute of provifor's, whereby it is Statute of enaéted, " That the king, and other lords, (hall prefent unto benefices p ovfor's " of their own, or their anceflors foundation, and not the bifhop of An, zgso. « Rome. That all foreftalling of benefices to foreigners (hall ceafe; and " that the free eleftions, prefentments, and collations of benefices, (hall " ftand in right of the crown, or of any of his majefty's fubjedts, as " they had formerly enjoyed them, notwithftanding any provi /ions from " Rome." But ftill the power of the court of Rome ran veryhigh, for they removed all the trialsof titles to advowfons, into their own courts beyond fea ; and though by the 7th of Richard H. the power of nomination to benefices, without the king's.licence, was taken from them, they ftill claimed the benefit of confirmations, the tranflations of bifhops, and of excommuni- cations; the Archbifhops of Canterbury and York might ftill by virtue of bulls from Rome, affemble the clergy of their feveral provinces, at what time and place they thought fit, without leave obtained from the crown ; and all the canons and conftitutions concluded upon in thofe fynods were binding, without any farther ratification from the king ; fo that the power of thechurch was independant of the civil government. This being re- prefented to the parliament of the 16th of Richard II. they palled the Statute of flatute commonly called PRÆMUNIRE, by which it was enadted, " that Lmunire, " if any of the clergy did purchafe tranflations to benefices, proceffes, . 1393 " fentences of excommunication, bulls, or other inflruments from the sap. . ii court of Rome, againft the king or his crown, or whoever brought " ° them into England, or did receive or execute them ; they were declared " to be out of the king's proteftion, and fhould forfeit their goods and ii chattels to the king, and their perlons be imprifoned." From this Fuller's Ch. time the archbifhops called no more convocations by their foie authority, H?JIory, but by licenfe from the king ; their fynods being formed by a writ or P. 19°' precept from the crown, direfled to the archbifhops, to affemble their clergy, in order to confult upon fuch affairs as his majefty fhould lay be- fore them. But ftill their canons were binding, though confirmed by no authority except their own, till the ad of fupremacy took place. Life and About this time flourifhed the famous )ohnWicklfe, the morning-flar wrin tings of Wck- of the reformation. He was born at Wickliÿè, near Richmond in Tork- Joh ;We. fhire,
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