33·6 The HISTORYofthe PuRITANS. VoL. II. 'K. Charles I.« that better care may be taken for the obfervation of the Lord's day" 1648 · ' ~-I.n thexr twel.fth feilion, Oelober 6. they agr~e.d to the report of their commzttee CGncernzng the cauft if the J,·cay if relzgzon, and of the increafe ·of wickednefs, which they fay was chiefly owing to the want of able and fettled minifl:ers, there being above forty parifb churches and congrega– tions within the province, which bad no minifl:ers fettled among them by allowance of authority, a catalogue of which churches was fub– joined. The reafon of this defeCl: being chiefly want of maintenance, they pray the houfes, " to agree upon fame method, that the dean " and chapter lands, and the impropriations belonging to bifhops, ly– " ing within this province, may be applied for the augmentation of " the clergy's maintenance ; and that there may be a fixed maintenance " in every parifh recoverable by the incumbent." "lbt 4 tb proThe fourth provincial afi'embly met Nov. 3· the reverend Mr. Edmund '!Jin~ial afCalamy moderator. In their third feilion Nov. z3. they ordered, that the femolj•. feveral minifl:ers of the province of London do begin the work of catechifing; Provincial a.JJembly of Lancafhire. Vol. pamp. No73· that they ufe the affembly's catechifm, and no other ; that the perfons to be ·catechifed be children and fervants not admitted to the Lord's table ; that the time be in the afternoon before fermon; and that they exhort their parifhionets to encourage it. In the fourth feilion, Nov. 30. they refolved, that the twelve claffes of the province of London obferve their courfe for ordination of minifl:ers , and that at the clofe of every public ordination, notice be given which claj}is is to ordain next. But the nation being in confufion, and the clouds gathering thick over their heads, they did little more this winter than keep a weekly faft among themfelves, to avert the judgments of God, which threatened the life of the king, and the diifolution of the whole government. The county of Lancajhire being formed into another presbyterian pro– 'Vince this year, affembled at Preflon Feb. 7· 1648. and publifhed a kind of pafl:oral letter, or fo!emn exhortation to the feveral churches within their province, to the practice of thofe duties that were requifite to the fupporting and carrying on the presbyt(rian diJCipline, fubfcribed by the reverend Mr. 'james Hyett, moderator, Mr. 'I'ho. 'johnfon, affefior, Mr. Edw. Gt'e, fcribe. Agreement of !}:e people. .t<.ufhw. P• lJ58. They likewife appointed a committee to examine the paper called THE AGREEMENT QF THE PEOPLE, (hereaftertobementioned]and I tend-
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