Neal - Houston-Packer Collection BX9333 .N4 1754

IIO The 'HISTORY of thePuRITANS. VoL. II. K. Charles I. " prayers which no confcientious man can affent to; and be the minif– . ~ " ter never fo pious, it breaks in upon the uniformity of public fervice. • " And whereas this alteration is introduced by an ordinance of parliament, '" inflicting penalties on offenders, which was never pretended to be in '' their power without our confent: Now, leaft our filence iliould be " interpreted as a connivance in a matter fo highly concerning the " worlhip of God, and the eil:abliilied laws of the kingdom, we do " require and command all miniil:crs in all cathedrals and parilh churches, " and all other places of public woriliip, that the faid book of common– " prayer be kept and ufed in all churches, chapels, &c. according to the " il:atute primo Eliz. and that the directory be in no fort admitted, re– " ceived, or ufed; and whenfoever it £hall pleafe God to reil:ore us to " peace, and the laws to their due courfe, we iliall require a firiCl: ac– " count, and pro{ecution againft the breakers of the faid law. And in " the mean time, in fuch places where we lhall come and find the book " of common-prayer fupprelfed and laid afide, and the direCtory intra– " duced, we £hall account all thofe that are aiders, actors, or con– ,, trivers therein, to be perfons difaffeCl:ed to the religion and laws ell:– " abliilied." His majefty likewife ilfued out warrants under his own hand, to the heads of the univerjity, commnnding them to rea~ divine fervice as ufual, morning and evening; and alfured his peers at 04ord, that he was fiill de– termined to live and die for the privileges of his crown, his friends, and church government. RifoandproAbout this time the ANABAPTISTS began to make a confiderable fi– grefs a( tbe gure and fpread themfelves into feveral feparate congregations. We have ~:~::[\s~na· alrea'dy diil:inguiilied thegerman anabapti!ls from the englijb, who differed only from their proteil:ant brethren about the fubjeCl: and mode of baptifrn; thefe were divided intogeneral and particular, from their diffe– ren t fen timents upon the arminian controverfy; the former appeared in Holland, where Mr. Smith their leader publilhed a confeilion of f.lith in the year I b 1 1. which Mr. Robinjon the minifter of the independent con– gregation at Leyden anfwered in r614. but the feverity of th ofe times would not admit them to venture into England. The particular baptifts were il:riCl: cal-vinifts, and were fo called from their belief of the doctrines of particular elellion, redemption, &c. They feparated from the indepen– dent congregation about the year 1638. and fet up for themfelves under the pafl:oral care of Mr. J e/le, (as has been related) and having renounMS. penes ced their former bJptifm, they fent over one of their number, [Mr. Blunt] n1e. to be imrnerfed by one of the dutch anabaptifl:s of An!flerdam, that he might be qualified to baptize his friends rn England after the Jiune man– ner. A firange and unaccountable conduct ! for unlefs the dutch anabap- . till:s

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