Chap. X. The HIS T 0 RY of the PuRITANS~ 729 Moft of the clergy were with the court, and di!linguilhed themfelves King · h 1 · 1 r d d · h h Charles IT ' on the fide of perfecutwn. T e pu pits every w •e:c re1oun e ~It t e 168 I. • doCtrines of pa!Ji've.obedience and uon-rififlance, wh1ch were earned to all ~· the heights of king Charles J. Noeafte rn monarch (according to them), 'fhec~nduEiof was more abfolnte than the king of England. They exprelfed fuch a thhehzgbh 1 k r. ffi .f '"- k' fl c urc c erzeal for the du e's 1Ucce wn, as 1 a pop11u mg over a proteiLant coun- gy. try, had been a fpecial bleffing from heaven. They likewife gave them- Rapin, p. [elves fuch a loofe againft protiftant non-conformifts, as if nothing was fo 3°9• 310 • formidable 3S that party. In ali their fermons,popery was quite forgot (fays ~~;nee, P· Burnet), and the force of their zeal was turned almofl wholly againfi pro- · teftant di!fentersr In maily country places the parfon if the parijh, who could bully and drink, and fwear, was put into the commiffion of the peace, and made a confiding juflice, by which means he was both judge and party in his own caufe. If any of his fober parilhioners did not ap– pear at church, they were fure to be fummoned, and infl:ead of the mild– nefs and gentlenefs of a chrifiian clergyman,they ufually met with haughty and abufive language, and the utmofl: rigor the law could inflict. There was alfo a great change made in the commf!Jions throughout England. A fet of corifiding magiflrates was appointed ; and none were left on the bench, or in the militia, that did not declare for the arbitrary meafures of the court; and fuch of the clergy as were averfe to this fury were declaimed againfi as betra)'frs if the church, and fecret favourers of the dilfen– ters; but the truth is (fays the bilhop), the number if.fober bonefl clergymm was ?Zot great, for where the carcafe is, there will the eagles be ga– thered together. The fcent of preferment will draw afpiring men after it. Upon the whole, the prefent times ·were very lowring, and the prof– pect under a popilh fuccelfor fl:ill more threatening. It would fill a volume, to enter into all the particulars of thefe unchrif- Sufferingr cf tian proceedings, which even the black regifl:ers of the fpiritual courts can- t1J1 n?n-con– not fully unfold. The reverend Mr. Ed1vard Bury afii!ling at a private form•fis. fail:, on account of the extraordinary drought, was apprehended June 14, and fined twenty pounds ; and refufing to pay it, becaufe he did not preach, they took away his goods, books, and even the bed he lay upon. The reverend Mr. Philip Henry was apprehended at the fame time, and fined forty pounds, and for non-payment they carried away thirty-three loads of corn which lay cut upon the ground, together with hay, coals, and other chattels. The iriformers took the names of one hundred and fifty more, who were at the meeting: They fined the mafl:er of the houfe twenty pounds, and five pounds more as being conftable that year, and exaCted five ihillings a head from all who were prefent. Example~ of this ufage in London, Middleflx, and moft of the counties of E11gland, are innumerable. · VoL. H. 5 A The
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