er, the hierarchy being destroyed, the king their prisoner, and the best, if not all the livings in the kingdom distributed among them; yet still they were dissatisfied for want of the top-stone to their new building, which was church power; the pulpits, and conversation of the city, were filled with invectives against the men in power, because they would not leave the church independent on the state; the presbyterian ministers were very troublesome, the parliament being teazed every week with church grievances of one kind or another; Dec. 19, the lord-mayor and his brethren went up to Westminster with a representation of some of them, and a petition for redress. The grievances were, 1. "The contempt that began to be put upon the covenant, some refusing to take it, and others declaiming loudly against it; they therefore pray, that it may be im'posed upon the whole nation, under such penalties as the houses shall think fit; and that such as refuse it be disqualified from all places of profit and trust. 2. "The growth of heresy and schism; the pulpits having been often usurped by preaching soldiers, who infected all places where they came with dangerous errors ; they therefore pray, that all such persons may be forbid to preach as have not taken the covenant, and been regularly ordained, and that all separate congregations, the very nurseries of damnable heretics, may be suppressed; that an ordinance be made for the exemplary punishment ' of heretics and schismatics, and that all godly and orthodox ministers may have a competent maintenance, many 'pulpits being vacant of a settled minister for want of it; and here (say they) we would lay the stress of our desires, and the urgency of our affections." They complain further, of the undue practices of country committees, of the threatening power of the army, and of 'some breaches in the constitution; all which they desire'may be redressed, and that his majesty's royal person and authority may be preserved and defended, together with 'the liberties of the kingdom, according to the covenant." To satisfy the petitioners, the house of commons published a declaration Dec. 31, "wherein they express their 'dislike of lay-preachers, and their resolutions to proceed ' against all such as shall take upon them to preach, or expound the scriptures in any church or chapel, or any oth'er public place, except they be ordained either here, or in 'some other reformed churches; likewise against all such 'ministers, and others, as shall publish, or maintain by 'preaching, writing, printing, or any other way, any thing ' against, or in derogation of the church government which 'is now established by authority of parliament; and also ' against all and every person or persons who shall willingly or purposely interrupt or disturb a preacher in the pub'lic exercise of his function; and they command all officers of the peace, and officers of the army, to take notice ' of this declaration, and by all lawful means to prevent of'fences of this kind, to apprehend offenders, that a course 'may be speedily taken for a due punishment to be inflicted 'upon them." The house of lords published an order, bearing date Dec. 22, requiring the headboroughs and constables, in the several parishes of England and Wales, to arrest the bodies of such persons as shall disturb any minister in holy orders, in the exercise of his public calling, by speech or action, and carry them before some justice of peace, who is required to put the laws in execution against them. Feb. 4, they published an ordinance to prevent the growth and spreading of errors, heresies, and blasphemies; but these orders not coming up to their covenant uniformity, the lord-mayor and common-council presented another petition to the two houses March 17, and appointed a committee to attend the parliament from day to day, till their grievances were redressed, of which we shall hear more under the next year. We have already accounted for the unhappy rise of the sectarians in the army when it was new modelled, who were now grown so extravagant as to call for some proper restraint, the mischief being spread not only over the whole country, but into the city of London itself; it was first pleaded in excuse for this practice, that a gifted brother had better preach and pray to the people than nobody; but now learning, good sense, and the rational interpretation of scripture, began to be cried down, and every bold pretender to inspiration was preferred to the most grave and sober divines of the age; some advanced themselves into the rank of prophets, and others uttered all such crude and undigested absurdites as came first into their minds, calling them the dictates of the spirit within them; by which the public peace was frequently disturbed, and great num. bers of ignorant people led into the belief of the most dan gerous errors. The assembly of divines did what they could to stand in the gap, by writing against them, and publishing a Detestation of the Errors of the Times. The parliament also appointed a fast on that account, Feb. 4, 1645-6, and many books were published against the antinomians, anabaptists, seekers, &c. not forgetting the independents, whose insisting upon a toleration was reckoned the inlet to all the rest. The most furious writer against the sectaries was Mr. Thomas Edwards,* minister of Christ-Church, London, a zealous presbyterian, who became remarkable by a book entitled Gangræna, or a catalogue of many of the errors, heresies, blasphemies, and pernicious practices of this time; in the epistle dedicatory he calls upon the higher powers to rain down all their vengeance upon these deluded peo ple, in the following language: "You have done worthily against papists, prelates, and scandalous ministers, in 'casting down images, altars, crucifixes, throwing out ceremonies, &c. but what have you done (says he) against 'heresy, schism, disorder, against seekers, anabaptists, an'tinomians, brownists, libertines, and other sects; you have made a reformation, but with the reformation have 'we not worse things come upon us than we had before, as denying the scriptures, pleading for toleration of all religions and worships; yea, for blasphemy, and denying there is a God. You have put down the common-prayer, and there are many among us that are for putting down 'the scriptures. You have broken down the images of the Trinity, and we have those who oppose the Trinity. You He was originally of the university of Cambridge, but in 1623 was incorporated at Oxford. At the beginning of the civil wars he joined the parliament, embarked all that was dear to him in the cause of the people, whom he excited to prosecute the war by the strain of his prayers and sermons, and advanced money to carry it on. Wood's Athenæ Oxonienses, vol. i. p. 846. Ed. ་ have cast out bishops and their officers, and we have 6 many that cast down to the ground all ministers. You have cast out ceremonies in the sacraments, as the cross, "kneeling at the Lord's supper, and many cast out the sa'craments themselves. You have put down saints days, and many make nothing of the Lord's day. You have taken away the superfluous maintenance of bishops and deans, and we have many that cry down the necessary • maintenance of ministers. In the bishops' days we had singing of psalms taken away in some places, conceived prayer, preaching, and in their room anthems, stinted 'forms and reading brought in, and now singing of psalms is spoken against, public prayer questioned, and all ministerial preaching denied. In the bishops' time popish 'innovations were introduced, as bowing at altars, &c. and now we have anointing the sick with oil; then we had bishoping of children, now we have bishoping of men and women, by laying on of hands. In the bishops' days we had the fourth commandment taken away, and now all ten are taken away by the antinomians. The worst of "the prelates held many sound doctrines, and had many commendable practices, but many of our sectaries deny all principles of religion, are enemies to all holy duties, order, learning, overthrowing all, being whirligig spirits, and the great opinion of an universal toleration tends to the laying all waste, and dissolution of all religion and good manners. Now (says our author) a connivance at, and suffering without punishment, such false doctrines and disorders, provokes God to send judgments. A tol"eration doth eclipse the glory of the most excellent reformation, and makes these sins to be the sins of the legislature that countenances them. A magistrate should use coercive power to punish and suppress evils, as appears from the example of Eli. Now, right honorable, though you do not own these heresies, but have put out several orders against them, yet there is a strange unheard-of 'suffering of them, such an one as there hardly ever was the like, under any orthodox christian magistrate and state. Many sectaries are countenanced, and employed in places of trust; there has not been any exemplary re"straint of the sectaries, by virtue of any of your ordinan 368 THE HISTORY CHAP. 7: 'ces, but they are slighted and scorned; preaching of lay'men was never more in request than since your ordinance against it; presbyterial government never more preached and printed against, than since it was established. Our dear brethren of Scotland stand amazed, and are as'tonished at these things; the orthodox ministers and 'ple both in city and country are grieved and discouragpeoed, and the common enemy scorns and blasphemes; it is high time therefore for your honors to suffer no longer these sects and schisms, but to do something worthy of a 'parliament against them, and God will be with you." After this dedication there are 176 erroneous passages collected from sundry pamphlets printed about this time, and from the reports of friends in all parts of the kingdom, to whom he sent for materials to fill up his book; howeyer the heretics are at length reduced under sixteen general heads. 1. Independents The industrious writer might have enlarged his catalogue with papists and prelates, deists, beheminists, &c. &c. or if he had pleased, a less number might have served his turn, for very few of these sectaries were collected into societies; but his business was to blacken the adversaries of presbyterian uniformity, that the parliament might crush them by sanguinary methods. Among his heresies there are some which do not deserve that name; and among his errors, some that never grew into a sect, but fell occasionally from the pen or lips of some wild enthusiast, and died with the author. The independents are put at the head of the sectaries, because they were for toleration of all christians who agreed in the fundamentals of religion; to prove this, which they never denied, he has collected several passages out of their public prayers; one independent minister (says he) prayed that presbytery 1 |