perfuafion with regard to the form of church government and difcipline. In his disputes with the remonstrants in Holland, he difcovered a good degree of polemical acumen, and great fkill in the fcriptures; his arguments for the most part are plain and conclufive, and his Latin ftile eafy and unaffected. He appears to have been both a learned and good man.

This year Laud made an attempt to 1634.

difturb the church of Ireland, and the Walloon churches in England. He endeavoured to bring the church of Ireland to adopt the articles of England, and for this purpose a canon was paffed for approving of the English articles, which was done with but one diffenting voice. This canon made the church of Ireland oblige herself to denounce excommunication against all fuch as affirmed, that any of the thirty-nine articles of England were fuperftitious or erroneous; fo by this means the whole body of the Puritans were hereby excommunicated, and the Irish articles against Arminianism, which maintained the morality of the Sabbath, were excluded.

Mr Sheppard, author of a book intitled, The Sincere Convert, fled to New England this year, he was fadly harraffed by Laud and the reft of the Bishops, which made him take his farewel of Old England, and fettle at Cambridge in New England, where he continued pastor of a church till his death. With Sheppard went over Mr John Norton, who fettled at Ipfwich in New

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New England, and was afterwards removed to Bofton, where he died.

The French and Walloon churches now feverely felt the tyranny of the Archbishop: The members of thefe churches were about ten thousand, whom Laud wanted to bring into fubjection to his epifcopal authority, and for this purpose proposed to them the following articles of enquiry: -Do you use the Dutch or French liturgy?— Of how many defcents are you fince you came to England?-Do fuch as are born here in England conform to the English ceremonies? The minifters and elders demurred upon the queftion, and infifted upon their charter, which had been granted by Edward the Sixth, and confirmed five times in the reign of James, and twice by Charles himself, by virtue whereof they had been exempted from epifcopal jurifdiction till this time. But Laud did not regard their charter, he fent them the two following injunctions by his Vicar General. That all who were born in England of the Walloon and Dutch congregations, fhould repair to their parifh churches.-That thofe who were not natives, but came from abroad, while they remained ftrangers, might ufe their own difcipline, as formerly. This was at once taking away liberty of confcience from all who fhould have the misfortune to be born in England, and telling the nation that every fubject fhould conform to the dictates of Laud; and, in fpite of all conviction to the contrary, publicly approve of the English difcipline. These churches pleaded

for

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for a toleration; but favours of this fort were not to be obtained from a man, whofe feelings were become callous to the entreaties of those who could not reafonably fubmit to his jurifdiction. It was in vain to reafon with a perfon concerning principles of confcience, who had no principles of his own, except private interest, and never, in the whole courfe of his life, felt for other people's diftrefs. When thefe foreigners applied to the King, and the Mayor of Canterbury and others interceeded for them, his Majefty replied, We must believe our Bishop. The account which Laud had given concerning thefe protestants was, That they were a neft of fchifmatics, and that it was better to have no foreign churches than to indulge non-conformity. The Archbishop affured them that his Majefty was refolved to have his injunctions obeyed, and that all their children of the second defcent, born in England, fhould refort to their parish churches; and his lordship added, that if they did not conform, that he would proceed against them according to the laws and ecclefiaftical canons. Accordingly fome of their churches were prohibited, others fhut up, and their affemblies diffolved; their minifters were fufpended, and many of their people left the kingdom. This was a great lofs to the nation; for thefe proteftants were in general manufacturers, who fupported many hundreds of poor people, by employing them in business, whereby they were enabled to maintain their families, and live decently.

The

The Archbishop not only perfecuted the pro teftants who refided in England, but endeavoured

to fhew all the disrespect he could to the foreign churches abroad. The Queen of Bohemia, King Charles's fifter, folicited her brother, in a moft earnest manner, to admit of a public collection over England for the poor perfecuted minifters of the Palatinate, who were banished their country on account of their religion. Charles, upon her folicitation, granted a brief to go through the kingdom; but when it came to Laud, he excepted against a claufe therein, which affirmed. that these proteftants fuffered for the fame religion which was profeffed in England. The Bishop's objections were thefe two; the religion of the Palatine is that of Calvin, and is not the fame with that of England, because their minifters have not epifcopal ordination. He objected to the church of Rome being called Antichrift, because it would then follow that fhe was in no capacity to convey facerdotal power in ordinations; and confequently the minifters in the church of England could not be rightly ordained, for they had no orders except what they had derived from the church of Rome. These wild objections Laud proposed to the King, and though they were of themselves abfolutely abfurd, they had such weight with Charles, as made him put a stop to the collection, that it did not fucceed according to the intention of the brief. Some of the Puritans hearing that this collection did not fucceed, figned a private letter to their friends, defiring them

to

to enlarge their charity, as to men of the fame faith and perfuafion with themselves, and promifed to take care of the right diftribution of the money but as foon as Laud heard of it, he cited thofe divines before the high commiffion, and put a stop to the collection. Such a monster of inhumanity as this Archbishop never difgraced an epifcopal fee; for he neither would do good himself, nor fuffer other people to do it. What could be more inhuman and barbarous than, for fome fmall difference of fentiment, to endeavour to ftarve his fellow creatures, when they were humbly, craving fupply a perfon capable of fuch unfeeling barbarity, could with no propriety of language be fuppofed to believe any one article of the chriftian religion. The name of Archbishop Laud, fuppofe he had never done any more atrocious wickedness, will, on account of this fingle deed, ftink in the noftrils of all good men who read his hiftory, till the latest ages.

The cafe of the Puritan minifters was now deplorable; they were befet with fpies, and haunted perpetually with incendiaries, mingled with them in all companies,

1635

who

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watched their words and behaviour, fo that every unguarded expreffion which they at any time occafionally uttered, was carried to the Bishops and improved to their disadvantage. This odious practice of informing was carried fo far that many were obliged to forfake their places of abode, and flee to foreign countries that they might live unmolefted and enjoy their liberty. The practice of

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