74-q The HIST 0 R Y of the PuRITANs. VoL. II. Ch~~:~ II. of this year, conli!1s of profe.cutions, penalties, and puniQ 1 ments, (fays 1684 • Mr. Eachard.) At the fame time, the ~arl of Dan.by and the popijh lords ~were relcafed out of the 'Tower on ba1l, the garnfon of Tangier was brought over into England, and augmented to a fianding army of four or five t~oufand re!olute men, .fit for any fervice the court ihould employ <J?;e coi'.Jlitu · th~m w.. And the c?rporatwns throughout England, h <~ ving been pre– Jton of. Eng- vaded with, by prom1fes or threatcnings, to furrende r their charters af– lan/ddg:~en updter the example of London, the whole kingdom was divefied of its' pri ll!lfo e_;,roye . - Welw. v1leges, and reduced to an ahfolute monarchy. Whole peal s of anMem. p. athema's were rung out againfi thofe patriots, who fiood in tbe gap againfi 1 3°· this inundation of power. The fcriptures were tortured to prove the divine right of tyrants. The abfolute government of the jeW1jh kings, was preached up as a pattern for ours. And heaven itfelf was ranked on that fide, by fome who pretended to expound its will. Infiead of droppiug a tear over our expiring laws, liberties, and parliaments, ful– fome panegyricks were made upon their murderers, and curfcs de– nounced on thofe who would have faved them from defiruCl:ion. In this melancholy fituation of public affairs, the profecution of the non.conformifls was continued, and egged on with an infatuation hardly to be parallelled, in any protefiant nation. Dr. Barlow biihop of Lincoln, publiihed a l~tter for fpiriting up the magiflrates againfi the diffcnters, in concurrence with another drawn up by the juflices of peace of Bed– ford, bearing date Jan. 14, r684. Many were cited into the Jpirituf!l courts, excommunicated and ruined, Two hundred warrants of diflrcfs were iffued out upon private perfons and families, in the town and neighbour. hood of Uxbridge, tor frequenting conventicles or not re fort ing to church. Howe'sLife,An order was made by the jufiices of Exeter, promiling a reward of forty p. 8o. i11illings, to any one who ihou ld apprehend a non-conformit1 minifier, which the biihop of the diocefe, Dr. Lamplugh, commanded to be pub. lii11ed in all the churches, by his clergy on the following funday. The reverend Dr. Bates, Dr. Annejley, and many of their brethre n in the mi– ni!lry, had their goods feized and confifcated. Mr. Robert Mayot of Ox. on, a moderate conformifi, having left Mr. Bazter fix hundred pounds to diflribute among fixty poor ejeCl:ed mini fl ers; the lord keeper North took it from him, as giv.en to ajitperjtitious ufe, but it lying unappropriated in the court of Chancery, till after the revolution, it was reflored by the ,v.tr. Baxter commiffioners of the great feal under king Wi!liam. Soon after the again in pri- jufiices fent warrants to apprehend Mr Baxter~ as being one in a lifi of a fon . thoufand names, who were to be bound. to their good behaviour upon Baxter, p. ·n· h · · 1 r. • h · r. b · d ~g8:. latent convtc-•:ons, t. at 1s,. Wit 1out ,eemg t e1r accu,ers, or. emg ma e acquainted w1th the1r charge. Mr. Baxter refuling to open h1s doors, the officers forced into his houfe, and finding him locked up in his fiu-dy, they refolvedi
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