P R E F A C E. fire qj London, but I ha~e given a large. and jzijl account if their pro– ceedings, from a manujcnpt qf one of thezr members, and.fome ~ther pa_– pers that have fallen into my hands, and have entered as far znto th~zr debates with the eraftians, independents, and others, as was conf!ftent wrth tbe life and jpirit of the hijlorr . . Whatever views the {cots mzght have from the begmmng of the war, the parliament would certainly have agreed with the king upon the foot of a limited epifcopacy, till the calling the qffembly if divines, after which· the folemn league and covenant became the /tandard of all their treaties, and 1vas dejigned to introduce the prejbyterian government in its .full ex– tent, as the eflablijhed religion of both kingdoms. This tied up the parlia– ment's hands, from yielding in time to the king's mofl reafonab/e concqjions at Newport, and rendered an accommodation impracticable; 1 have there– fore tranfcribed the covenant at large, with the reafomfir and againjl it; ~vhether .fuch obligations upon the conJCimces if men are jzijlijiable from the neceffity of affairs, or binding in all events and revolutions qf govern– ment, I ]hall not determine; but the impq/ing t.bem upon others 'was certain– ly a very great hardjhip. 'The remarkable trial of arcbbijhop Laud, in which the antiquity and ufl if the ftveral innovations, complained of by the puritans, are jlated and argued, has never been publijhed entire to the world. 'The archbijhop· left in his diary a fummary if his mif~ver to the charge of the commons, and Mr. Prynne in his Canterbury's doom, has pub!ijhed the firjl part qf. his grace's trial, relating principally to points if religion ; but all is im– perfect and immethodical. 1 have therefore compared both accounts toge– ther, and Jupplied the dijects of one 'With the other ; the 1vhole is brought· into a narrow compa(s, and thro~vn into fuch a method, as will give the reader a clear and dijtinct view if the equity if the charge, and how far· the archbijhop deferved the z!fage he met with. · I have drawn out abftracts q/ the feveral ordinances relating to the rife· aud progrfjs of prejbytery, and traced the proceedings if the committee jor pbmdered .and Jcandalous mini.fte_rs,. as far .as was nec~!fary to my general difign, wzthout ~e{cendmg too jar mto parttculars, or attempting to jujtify the whole if thezr conduct ; and though I am if opinion, that the number' if clergy who ftifj'ered purely on the account if religion, was not very con– fiderable, 'tis certain that many able and learned divines, who were content to live quiet?, antf mind tke duty of their places, had very hard m~afurefrom "the vzolence if parttes, and deflrve the compa!Jionate regards rif po– flerity; Jome being dzjf:harge~ their livings fir rifufing the covenant, and others plundered if every thmg the unruly .foldiers could lay their hands upon, jor not complying ~vith tbe change qf the times. .bz. V
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