Chap. IL. The HISTORY of tLJe PURITANS. 475 Lord's day, at the defire of the bifhep of Down, and his curate admi- KingJamesl. niftered the íàcrament to them the fame day; fo that there was a fort of. comprehenfion between the two parties, by the countenance and appro.: bation of the great archbifhop Ufér, who encouraged the minifters in this good work. And thus things continued till the adminiftration ofarch- bifhop Laud, who by dividing the proteftants weakened them, and made way for that enormousgrowth of popery, which ended in the maffacre of almon all the proteftants in the kingdom. It appears from hence, that the reformation of Ireland was built upon Article of a puritanfoundation, though epifcopacy was the legal eCtablifltment ; but tbechurch of it was impoffible to make any confiderable progrefs in the converfion of Ireland, the natives, becaufe of their bigotry and prejudice againft the Englifh na- tion, whole language they could not be perfnaded to learn. The proteftant religion being now pretty well eftablifhed, it was thought advifeable to frame fome articles of their common faith, according to the cuftom of other churches: Some moved in convocation to adopt the ar- ticles of the Englifh church, but this was over-ruled, as not fo honourable to themfelves, who were as much a national church as England, nor fo confrílent with their independency; it was therefore voted to draw up a new confefiîon of their own ; the draught was referred to the conduct of Dr. Panes Ufher, provoft of Dublin College, and afterwards lord primate ; it afterwards paffed both houles of convocation and parliament with great unanimity, and being Pent over to the Englifh court was approved in council, and ratified by the lord lieutenant Chichßer this year in the king's name. Thefe articles being rarely to be met with, I have given them a place Rema,re in the Appendix, being in a manner the fame which the puritans reque(led, APPcrdxs at the Hampton-Court conference ; for Ali, the nine articles of Lambeth N°' I; are incorporated into this confeffion. Secondly, the morality of the Lord's day is ftrongly afferted, and the fpending it wholly in religious exercifes is required [Art. 25.]. Thirdly, the obfervation of Lent is declared not to be a religious fa/t, but grounded merely on political con fiderations, for provifion of things tending to the better prefervation of the commonwealth [Art so]. Fourthly, all clergy-men are Paid to be lawfully called and fent, who are chofen and called to this work, by men who have pub- lick authoritygiven them in the church to call and fend milliners into the Lord's vineyard [Art. 71.] which is an acknowledgment of the validity of the ordinations of thofe churches which have no bithops. Fifthly, the power of the keys is laid to be only declarative [Art. 74.] Sixt,ay, the pope is declared to be antichrift, or that man of fin whom the Lord (hall confume with the fpirit of his mouth, and abolith with the brightnefs of his coming [f1rt. So.] Seventhly, the cootcrati:en of arch bifhops, bim fhops, &c. is not fo much as mentioned, as if done on purpofe (lays Ppp 2 Mr. Col-
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