Tbe HIS T 0 R Y of the PuRITANs. VoL. H. King plainly his diOike of a toleration of papif'cs and focinians · which his Charles I!. . fi t k r '11 h h r 'd h 1L • ' 1660 . maJe y oo 10 very 1 , t at e 1a1 , t e prewytenans were a fet of -~ men who were only for fetting up themfelves. Thefe fiill flattered them– felves with hopes of a comprehenfion, but the independents and baptijls were in defpai1·. Of the times And here was an end of thofe difiracred times, which our hiflorians beforetbere- have loaded with all the infamy and reproach that the wit of man could flora/ton. inv~nt. The puritan minif'cers have been decried as ignorant mechanicks canting preachers, enemies to learning, and no better than public robbers: The univerfities were faid to be reduced to a meer Mu'!Jler; and that if the goths and vandals, and even the turks, had over-run the nation, they could not have dane more to introduce barbarifm, diOoyalty, and iO"no– rance; and yet in thefe times, and by the men who then filled the~niverfity chairs, were educated the mofl: learned divines and eloquent prea– chers of the lafl: age, as the Stilling/leeet's, '111/oljim's, Buff's, Barro71/s, Whitby's, and others, who retained a high veneration for their learned tu– tors after they were ejeCted and difplaced. The religious part of the com– mon people have been !l:igmatized with the charaCter of hypocrites; their looks, their dre!s and behaviour, have been reprefented in the mofl: odious colours; and yet one may venture to challenge thefe declaimers to produce any period of time fince the reformation, wherein there was lefs opm prophanenefs and impiety, and more of the fpirit as well as appearance of religion. Perhaps there was too much rigor and precifenefs in indifferent matters, but the lufl:s of men were laid under a vifible reftraint; and tho' the legal conftitution was unhappily broken, and men were governed by falfe poEtics, yet better laws were never made againfl: vice, or more vi– gorou!ly executed. The drefs and converfation of people was fober and virtuous, and their manner of living remarkably frugal: There was hard– ly a !ingle bankruptcy to be 'heard of in a year; and in fuch a cafe the bank– rupt had a mark of infamy upon him that he could never- wipe off. Drunkennefs, fornication, prop ha ne [wearing, and every kind of debau– chery, were ju!tly deemed infamous, and univerfally difcountenanced. T he clergy were laborious to excefs in preaching and praying, in catechi– z ing youth, and vifiting their parifhes. The magiil:rates did their duty in fuppreilin()" all kinds of games, fiage-plays, and abufes in public houfes, There wa~ not a play aCted on any theatre in England for almofl: twenty years. The Lord's day was obferved with unufual reverence; and there were a fet of as learned and pious youths training up in the univerfity as had ever been known. So that if fuch a reformation of manners had ob– tained under a legal adminiftration, they would have deferved the charac– ter of the bell: of times. But
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