The HIS T 0 R Y of the PuRITANS. Vot. II. Oliver might determine abfolutely of the qualifications of the candidate or clerk p;6~:,,.· t-<_J be admitted i~1to a _livin~, yet thefe qua.lifications were fufficiently fpe– .~ Cified, and particulanzed m the eccleGafbcal laws or canons, and the bi– fuop might be obliged, by due courfe of law, to ailign the reafons of his :efufal; whereas the determinati?ns of thefe commiilioners for appro– batton Wire final ; nor were they obl1ged fo much as to fpecify any reafon for their rejecting any perfon, but only their vote, not approved. It was further complaiPed of as a very great hardfhip, that " there " was but one (et of tryers for the whole nation, who refided dlways " at London, wh1ch mufr occafion great expence, and long journies, to " fuch as lived in the remoter countries." But to remedy this incoveniW alker, p. ence, Dr. Walker fays, they appointed fnb-commiilioners in the remoter 1]2. countries. And (according to Mr. Baxter) if any were unable to come to London, or were of doubtful qualifications, the commiilioners of L on– don ufed to refer them to fame minifl:ers in the country where they lived; and upon their tefiimonial they approved or rejected them. Amidfi fuch · a variety of fentiments, it was next to impoilible to pleafe all parties; when there were no tr)•ers the complaint was, that the pulpit doors were left open to all intruders, and now they cannot agree upon any one method of examination. And it mufl: be left to every one's judgment, whether a bi(hop and his chaplain, or a claflis of prdbyters, or the prefent mixture of laity and clergy, be moft eligible. Objellions to The chief objections againfl: thefe TRYERS has been to the manner of therr maexecuting their powers. Bifhop Kennet fays, " that this holy inquifition ~.f~n~r~~i!t." was turned into a fnare to catch men of probity and fenfe, and found p. 209- "divinity, and to let none elcape but ignorant, bold, canting fellows; " for thefe tr)'ers (fays the bi!hop) aiked few or no quefiions in know– " ledge or learning, tut only about converfion, and the grace of God in " the heart, to which the readiefi anfwers would arife from infatuation in " fome, and the trade of hypocrify in others. By this means the rights '' of patronage were at their pleafure, and the charaCter and abilities of di. " vines whatever ,they pleafed to make them, and churches were filled " wirh little creatures of the Hate." But the bi!hop has produced no ex– amples of tbis; nor were any of thefe canting little creatures turned out for infufficiency at the reJloration. Dr. George Bates an eminent roy– aliil, with a little more temper and truth, fays, " that they enquired " more narrowly into their affection to the prefent government, and " into the internal marks and cbaracter of the grace of God in • their hearts, than into their 'learning; by which means many ig– .~ norant laicks, mechanicks, and pedlars, were admitted to livings, .'' when perfons of greater merit were rejected." But it m~y be obferved again, that ignorant as they ~ere, not ~ne of the_mecha~;cks or pedlars who conformed at the reftoratton, was ejeCted for wfuffictency. · When the
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=