chap. VIII. 2'he HISTORY of the PURITANS. 683 " of church-officers, Eph. iv. I. whereof the three former are extra- K. Charles I. " ordinary, and are ceafed, there remains only the pallor and teacher, '° " which is the very fame with the presbyter. The bithop as he is more " than this, is no officer given by God ; and it is an encroachment upon " the kinglyoffice of Chrift, to admit other officers into the church than " he himfelf has appointed. " ° Seeing then epifcopacy may be taken away in all, wherein it exceeds .r the presbyters office, which is certainly June DivsNO, we ought to " rellore the presbyters to their rights which the bithops have taken from " them, as particularly to the right ofordination, excommunication; and " liberty to preach the whole counfel of God without refiraint from a bi- " fhop; they fhould have their (hare in the difcipliue and government of s` the church; and in a word, all fuperiority of order between bithops " and presbyters fhould be taken away." Mr. White is further ofopinion, that the bithops fhould be deprived of their baronies, and all inter- meddling with civil affairs; that inftitution and indu&ion, the jurifdic- tion of tithes, caufes matrimonial and teflamentary, and other ufurpa- tions of the eccleflaftical courts, fhould be reflored to the civil judicature, and be determined by the laws of the land. In order to take off the force of thefe arguments, in favour of the Root Speeches for and Branch petition, the friends of the hierarchy faid, that the very bell the miniliers things might be corrupted ; that to take away the order of bithops was to petition. change the whole conflitutionfor they knew not what; they thereforeur- ged the miners petitionfor reformation, and declaimed with vehemence egainfl the corruptions of the late times. Lord Falkland, who in the judgment of the noble hiflorian, was the moll extraordinaryperfon of his age, flood up and faid ; Mr. Speaker, " E is a great firanger in our Ifrael, who knows not that this La. Falk- " g -1 kingdom has long laboured under many and great oppreffions, land's fpeeeh " both in religion and liberty ; and that a principal caufeof both has beenfir reforma- "fome bithops and their adherents, who under pretence of uniformity t1enof tye have brought in firperftition and fcandal, under the title of decency ; t ufhw. " who have defiled our churches by adorning them, and flackened the Vol. IV. ftridtnefs of that union that was between us and thofe of our religion p' 584' " beyond fea; an adtion both unpoliticand ungodly. " They have been lefs eager on thofe who damn our church, than on thofe who on weak confcience, and perhaps as weak reafon, only ab- " fiain from it. Nay, it has been more dangerous for men to go to a " neighbouring parifh when they had no fermoñ in their own, than to 4 S 2 ....be
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