ing to the opinion of some, was, that Johnson excommunicated Ainsworth and his part of the church, and that Ainsworth returned the compliment upon the opposite party but for the latter charge there appears no foundation.+ On the contrary, Mr. John Cotton, who was no Brownist, but was contemporary with Ainsworth and Johnson, and lived among those who had been concerned in this affair, observes, "That Mr. Ainsworth and his company did not excommunicate Mr. Johnson and his party, but withdrew, when they could no longer live peaceably together." Ainsworth and those who adhered to him, held a separate assembly at Amsterdam, and the two congregations were afterwards distinguished as Johnsonian and Ainsworthian Brownists. But Mr. Johnson and his friends, at length, removed to Embden, where he afterwards died, and his congregation dissolved. In the year 1599, there was a long controversy carried on in print, between Mr. Johnson and Mr. Henry Jacob, concerning certain tenets of the Brownists. The same year the whole was collected and published at Middleburgh, by Mr. Johnson, consisting of ninety-one quarto pages, entitled, "A Defence of the Churches and Ministry of England, against the reasons and objections of Maister Francis Johnson, and others of the separation commonly called Brownists. In two Treatises. Published especially for the benefit of those in these parts of the Low Countries." In one of these treatises is a recapitulation of all the chief objections raised by the Brownists against the church of England; from which we may gather a much more complete account of their tenets and doctrines, than from any thing else ever published; and it is truly authentic, because it was written by one of the leaders of the Brownists. It is called, Antichristian Abominations yet retained in England,” and enumerates the following particulars: "The confusion of all sorts of people in the body of Bailie's Dissuasive, p. 15. + Life of Ainsworth, p. 31, 33. Cotton's Congregational Churches, p. 6. The Johnsonian Brownists commenced a suit, it is said, against the Ainsworthians, for the meeting-house granted to the Brownists at Amsterdam. The Johnsonians pleaded that it belonged to them, being the ancient Brownists, to whom it was originally given: but the Ainsworthians, on the contrary, pleaded it was theirs, seeing they were the true Brownists, holding the ancient faith of that church, from which the Johnsonians are said to have apostatized. How far this account is correct, or how this dispute was ended, we are not able to learn.-Paget's Heresiography, p. 67, 68. their (the English) church; even the most polluted, and their seed, being members thereof.-Their ministration of the word, sacraments, and government of the church, by virtue of antichristian officers.-The titles of primate, metropolitan, lords, grace, lordship, &c. ascribed to the prelates.The inferior prelates swearing obedience to the metropolitical sees of Canterbury and York.-The inferior ministers, when they enter into the ministry, promising obedience to the prelates, and their ordinances; and when they are inducted to benefices, confirming with an oath.-The deacon's and priest's presentation to a lord bishop, by an archdeacon. Their receiving orders of the prelates, or their suffragans. Their pontifical, or book of consecrating bishops, and of ordering priests and deacons, taken out of the pope's pontifical, where their abuse of scripture to that end, their collects, epistles, &c. may be seen. Their making, and being made, priests, with blasphemy; the prelates saying to those whom they make priests, Receive ye the Holy Ghost, whose sins ye forgive, they are forgiven, &c. Their confounding of civil and ecclesiastical offices and authorities in ecclesiastical persons.-Their retaining and using in their public worship the apocryphal books, which have in them divers errors, untruths, blasphemies, and contradictions to canonical scriptures.-Their stinted prayers and liturgy, taken out of the pope's mass-book, with the same order of psalms, lessons, collects, pater-nosters, epistles, gospels, versicles, responds, &c.-The cross in baptism. The hallowed font, and questions to the infants in baptism. The godfathers and go:lmothers promising that the child doth believe, forsake the devil and all his works, &c.-Women's baptizing of children; which maintaineth that heresy, that the children are damned which die unbaptized. Their houseling the sick, and ministering the communion to one alone. The ministering it, not with the words of Christ's institution, but with others taken out of the pope's portuis.-They sell that sacrament for two-pence to all comers.-The receiving of it kneeling, which maketh it an idol, and nourisheth that heresy of receiving their Maker, of worshipping it, &c.-Their ring in marriage, making it a sacramental sign, and marriage an ecclesiastical action; thereby nourishing the popish heresy, that matrimony is a sacrament. Their praying over the dead, making it also a part of the minister's duty, and nourishing the heresy of prayer for the dead. Their churching or purifying of women, then also abusing that scripture, The sun shall not burn them by day, nor the moon by night. Their Gang-week, and then praying over the corn and grass.-Their forbidding of marriage in Gangweek, in Advent, in Lent, and on all the Ember-days; which the apostle calleth a doctrine of devils, 1 Tim. iv. 1—3.— Their saints, angels and apostles' days, with their prescript service. Their fasts, and abstaining from flesh, on their eves, on Fridays, Saturdays, Ember-days, and all the days of Lent. Their dispensations from the prelates' courts of faculties to eat flesh at these times.-Their dispensations to marry in these times forbidden.-Licenses from the same authority to marry in places exempt.-Dispensations also from thence for boys and ignorant fools to have benefices.— Dispensations also for nonresidents.-For having two, three, four, or more benefices. Tolerations.-Patronages of, and presentations to, benefices, with buying and selling advowsons. Their institution into benefices by the prelates, their inductions, proxies, &c.-Their suspensions, absolutions, degradations, deprivations, &c. The prelates, chancellors, commissioners' courts, having power to excommunicate alone, and to absolve.-Their penance in a white sheet. Their commutation of penance, and absolving one man for another.-The prelate's confirmation, or bishopping of children, to assure them of God's favour, by a sign of man's devising. The standing at the gospel.-The putting off the cap, and making a leg, when the word Jesus is read. -The ring of peals at burials.-Bead-men at burials, and hired mourners in mourning apparel.-The hanging and mourning of churches and hearses with black at burials.Their absolving the dead, dying excommunicate, before they can have, as they say, Christian burial.—The idol temples. The popish vestments, as rocket, horned cap, tippet, the surplice, and the cope.-The visitations of the lord-bishops and archdeacons.-The prelates' lordly dominion, revenues, and retinue. The priests' maintenance * Gang-week, or rogation-week, was that particular season of the year, in which, according to popish custom, was observed "the perambulation of the circuits of parishes." Queen Elizabeth retained the same practice, and enjoined, "That the people should once a year, at the "accustomed time, with the minister and substantial men of the parish, “walk round the parish as usual, and at their return to church make the "common prayers; provided that the minister, at certain convenient places, shall admonish the people to give thanks to God for the increase "and abundance of the fruits of the earth, repeating the 103d Psalm; at "which time also the minister shall inculcate this and such like sentences, "Cursed be he that removeth his neighbour's land-mark.”—Sparrow's Collection, p. 73. by tithes, Christmas offerings, &c.-The oaths ex officio in their ecclesiastical courts, making men swear to accuse themselves.-The churchwarden's oath to present to the prelates all the offences, faults, and defaults, committed in their parishes against their articles and injunctions.-The prelates ruling the church by the pope's cursed canon law. -Finally, their imprisoning and banishing such as renounce and refuse to witness these abominations aforesaid, and the rest yet retained among them." As our author very justly observes, they might well find fault with the church in the article last mentioned, since they had smarted so severely under it. The foregoing particulars contain the general principles of the Brownists, or their chief reasons for a total separation from the established church, and are undoubtedly the most complete and correct account of their opinions, that was ever published. We forbear making any comments, but leave the whole to the reader's own judgment. His WORKS.-1. Certayne Reasons and Arguments, proving that it is not lawful to hear, or have any spiritual Communion with, the present Ministry of the Church of England, 1601. This is perhaps the same as that of which an abstract is given above.-2. An Answer to White's Discoverie of Brownism, 1606.-3. A Christian Plea, 1617.-4. A Tract on Matt. xviii.-He also published some other pieces on the controversies of the times. WILLIAM COLE, D.D.-This learned divine was most probably educated in Corpus Christi college, Oxford, where he took his doctor's degree. Upon the commencement of Queen Mary's bloody persecution, he fled from the storm, and retired to Frankfort. He was there involved in the troubles among the English exiles; and the first settlers being excluded from the privileges of the place, by the officiousness of Dr. Cox and his party, he retired, with several of his brethren, to Zurich. He went afterwards to Geneva, where he was highly esteemed by his fellow-cxiles. He united with the venerable Miles Coverdale and other learned divines, in publishing the Geneva translation of the Bible. Upon his return from exile, he sat in the convocation of 1562, and subscribed the articles of religion. was in high favour with Queen Elizabeth, who, on account * Biog. Britan. vol. ii. p. 618, 619. Edit. 1778. + Troubles at Frankeford, p. 13. Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 133.—See Art. Coverdale. He of his great celebrity, preferred him, in 1568, to the presidentship of Corpus Christi college, Oxford, in which office he continued at least thirty years. A divine of the same name, and very probably the same person, was cast into prison for nonconformity. Though it does not appear how long he remained under confinement; yet, upon the earnest intercession of friends, a letter from the court at Greenwich, dated April 4, 1574, was addressed to the Archbishop of Canterbury, signifying, that, in consideration of his great years, her majesty was willing for him to be released from his present confinement: but that he should remain within twenty or thirty miles of London, in some honest person's house, as his lordship should think most convenient; and should obtain sureties, that he would not henceforth meddle, by teaching or otherwise, in matters of religion. In the year 1599, he exchanged this preferment with Dr. John Rainolds, for the deanery of Lincoln; but died at an advanced age, in the year 1600. Mr. Strype denominates him a sober and religious nonconformist; and observes, that being chosen chaplain to the Earl of Leicester or some other great courtier, he attended at court in his hat and short cloak, and endeavoured to overthrow all attempts to enjoin the clerical habits. JOHN HOLLAND was a minister of great piety, and apparently one of the old puritans. But we have very little account of him till the time of his death, which being rather peculiar, we cannot withhold it from the reader's consideration. The day before he died, having called for the Bible, he said, "Come, O come; death approaches. Let us gather some flowers to comfort this hour." And having turned to Rom. viii. he gave me the book, says Mr. Leigh, (who preached his funeral sermon,) and bade me read. At the end of every verse he required me to pause, when he gave the sense of the passage, to his own comfort and to the great wonder and joy of his friends. Having continued his meditations on the above chapter, above two hours, he suddenly cried out:-"O, stay your reading. What brightness is this I see? Have you lighted any candles ?" To which Mr. Leigh answered, "No; it is the sunshine;" *Strype's Parker, p. 266. + Baker's MS. Collec. vol. xxi. p. 384. Wood's Athenæ Oxon. vol. i. p. 289, 736. Strype's Parker, p. 213, 219, 266. |