Chap. XII. 1he HIS T 0 R Y of the PuRITANS. 8os The biihop of London in his anfwer to the prolocutor's fpeech, told King f Willi<~m th~t~, that they o~ght to endeavour a temper o t~ings not effential to and queen rehgton ; and that 1t was their duty to (hew the fame mdulgence and chaMary. rity to the difjenters under king William, which fome of the biihops and 168g. clergy had promifed in their addre!Tes to king James. But all thefe pro- ~-v-.l-1 mifes (fays bil110p Burnet), were entirely forgot. It was in vain therefore to refer the amendments of .the eccleliail:ical commiffioners to anumber of men, who had refolved to admit qf no alterations; and 'tis thought that if the aa of toleration had been left to their decilioo, it would have mifcarried. The king obferviog fuch a want of temper, broke up the feffioos; and feeing they were in no difpolition to do good, they were kept from doing mifchief by prorogations for a courfe of ten years. This was the lafl: fruitlefs attempt for a comprehe'?fion if dijfenters with- Remarks. in the ejlablijhment; and fuch was the ungrateful return that thefe il:ubborn churchmen made, to thofe who had afliil:ed them in diil:refs! For it ought to {land upon record, that the church qf England had been twice refcued from the moil: imminent danger, by men for whofe fatisfaetion they would not move a pin, nor abate a ceremony ; firil: in the year }66o, when theprejbyterians reil:ored the king and conil:itution, without making any terms for themfelves; and now again at the revolution, when the church fled for fuccour to a prejb)•terian prince, and was delivered by an army of fourteen thoufand hollanders, of the fame principles with the englijh diflenters; and how uncivilly thofe troops were afterwards ufed, is too ungrateful a piece of hiil:ory to remember. But be!ides the il:rong difpolition of the high chur·ch clergy and their Account of a– friends, to return to their allegiance to king James, there was another bolijhing_ epij– incident, _that iharp_ened ~heir. refentme~ts againll: the !i~g and. the df/fen- ~~:t?an';. ters, which was h1s majelly s confentmg to the aboli!lllng epifcopacy in Burner, Scotland, which could not be prevented without putting all his affairs intD Vol. Il. p•. the utmoil: confulion; the.biafs of that people was il:rong toprejbytery, and 2 3· the more fo, becaufe the epifcopal party went almoll: univerfally into king 'James's intereil:s, fo that the presbyteriamwere the king's only friends in that kingdom. There was a convention in Scotland like that in England, who on the I Ith of April, the day on which king Wi/liam and queen Mary were crowned in Englmzd, pa!Ted jlldgment of forfeiture on king James, and voted the crown of Scotlmui to king lFilliam and queen Mary. They drew up a claim of rights, by one article of which it was. declared, that the reformation in Scot!and ha~1ing_ been begun by a parity among the clergy; prelacy in tbe church was agreat and injupportable griev- Wkich war ance to the kingdom. The biihops and their adherents having left the con- ?wrng ~o the · b fi r i b · c k" J h JL • JacobJttfm of ventton, ecau e not IUmmone< y wnt .rom mg ames; t e prewytenans the fcots bps. had.a majority of voices; whereupon the aboli(hing epifcopacy in Scotland and clergy. was_
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy OTcyMjk=