586 'IbeHISTORY of the PuRITANS. VoL. n. Ch~~:~ ll. for which he was fined two hundred pounds, and to continue in prifon 1660 . till it. was paid. . . ~_...o~ Sptes were fent Into all the congregatiOns of preibyterians throughout Methods for England, to obferve and report their behaviour to the bifhops; and if a that purpofc. minifier lamented the degeneracy of the times, or expreiTed his concern for the ark of God, if he preached againfl: perfidioufnefs, or glanced at the vices of the court~ he was marked for an. enemy to the king and go– vernment. Many emtnent and loyal preibytenans were fent to prifon upon fucll informations, among whom was the lear-ned and pmdent Mr. John Howe, and when they came to their trials, the court was guarded with fol– diers, and their friend s not fuffered to attend them. Many were fequef– tered from their livings, and cited into the ecclefiafl:ical courts, fir not l(/ing the }itrplice and other ceremonies, while the difcipline of the church was under a kind of fufpenfion. So eager were the fpiritual courts to renew the exercife of the [word ; and fo fiercely was it brandilhed againfl: the falling pre!byterians ! All fon-ejlo· The convention parliament paffed fun dry acts with relation to the late nng thef· times, of which thefefollowing deferve to be remembered: An act for the ;1:~;:• con/inning and rejloring of' minijlers, which enacts, among other things, " that every fequeftered minifl:er, who has notjufiified the late king's mur– « der, or declared againfl: infant baptifm, fhall be reftored to his living " before the 25th of December next enfuing, and the prefent incumbent " i'nall peaceably quit it, and be accountable for dilapidations, and all ar– " rears of fifths not paid." By this act fome hundreds of nonconfor– mifl: minifters were difpo1Ie1Ied of their livings, before the aCl: of unifor– mity was penned. Here was no difiinCl:ion between good or b~d; but if the parfon had been epifcopally ordained, and in poiTefiion, he mull: be refiored, though he had been ejected upon the firongeft evidence of im– morality or fcandal. For (o,ji>·m· The act for confirmation of marriages was very expedient for the peace ingmarriages of the kingdom, and the order and harmony of families. It enacts, m the late t '! · fi M. 6 f J • d b c · n· f - '' to at aJ marnages lllCe ay I, I 42. 10 emmze e1ore a JllttJce o 111lles • I . fi h r. .d . h d " peace, or reputed juftice ; and. a! ~arnages mce .t e 1at ttme, a or " folemnized according to the dtrectton of any ordmance, or reputed act " or ordinance of one or both houfes of parliament, fhall be adjudged " and efl:eemed to be of the fame force and effect:, as if they had been fo– " lemnized according to the rites and ceremonies of the church of Eng– « land." Attainder of An. act for the attainder if fevera/ perfons guilty of the horrid murder the king's of his late Jacred majd"fy king Charles I. and for tbc perpetual o!?fervation Judges. of the 3oth of January. This was the fubject of maAy conferences between
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