Chap. IX. The, HISTORY tfthe PuttiTANs. 715 the liturgy printed according to the new tranflation ; to expunge all apo. LCharlesI. cryphal lefï'ons; to alter certain paffages in the book of common prayer ; i8t 1 and Tome other things, with whichdivers of the prefbyterians Paid they were fatisfied, " That if the epifeopal men had made thefe concefiìons " when they were in full power, they had prevented the mifchiefs that " were coming upon them ; but as things were at prefent, neither fide appeared very well fatisfied." There were deep refentments in the breafts of both parties; the bi- Remarks. !hops Were incenfed at the bold attacks of the houle of commons upon theirpeerage and fpiritnal jurifdittion ; and the puritans had a quick fence of their former fufferings, which made them reftlefs till they had abridged their power. 'Tis very remarkable, and looks like an appearance of the divine difpleafure againft thefpirit ofthefe times, that archbithop Ufher's fcheme for the redu, ion of epfcopacy, which at this time would have fa- tisfied the chief body of the puritans, could not be obtained from the king and the bithops ; that afterwards when the king offered this very fcheme at the treaty of the I, fle of Wight, the parliament and puritan di- vines would not accept it, forfear of breaking with their f oos brethren. Again, when the prefbyterian miners at the reftoration of king Charles II. prefented it to his majefty as a model with which they were fatisfied, and which would comprehend in a manner their whole body, both the king and bithops rejedted it with contempt, and would not flit- ter it to be debated. It may not be improper in this place, to make a few remarks upon this Remarks up- part of Mr. RAPIN'S accurate and judicious hi7lory of England, who in P`5Mr. Ra- his account of thefe times Seems to reprefent the body of the puritans as prefbyterians, and as having formed a confpiracy againft the whole fabric of thechurch, from the very beginning of this parliament ; whereas the Rate ofthe controverfy between the church and puritans was pow chan- ged: In the reigns of queen Elizabeth and king fames I. the puritans were for the moll part prefbyterians, though even then there were many epfcopalians among them; but from the time that arminianifin prevailed in the church, and the whole body of the calvinifts came to be diftin- guilhed by the name of doëtrinal puritans, both parties Teemed to unite in a moderate epfcopacy, there being little or no mention of the old book of difCipline for twenty years before the commencement of the civil war, and all the controverfy turning upon points of calvinifm; opon a reduc- tion of the exorbitant power of the bifhops ;- or upon innovations (as they were called) and ceremonies. There were few either among the clergy or laity, who had a zeal for prefbytery, or defired any more than to be rid of their oppretlions. Mr. Rapin however is of opinion, that among Vol. Xf, the members of parliament there were real prefbyterians, who thought no P. 63, 65, 4 Y 2 doubt, 56°.
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