"All the provincial synods mnsl continually aforehand Ibresee in due time t" appoint tin' keeping of their next provincial synods, and for tin' sending of chosen persons with certain instructions unto tin' national synod, to be I,,, ideai w laai-oe'Vea- tic Parliament fot the- kingdom shall he called, and at -..ine' cei tain I me every yea i ous Positions mid Proceedings [1503], p. 40; Neal, // it. of II,,' I;,, it, in*, i. 346 ■
A I look of Discipline was prepared for their direc- tum in their pastoral we.rk; ami this document was
PURITANS
809
PURITANS
subscribed by upwards of five hundred of the most de- voted ministers in England.
The High-Church party now took a bold step in ad- vance. Dr. Bancroft, in a sermon which he preached at Paul's ('loss. Jan. 12, 1588, maintained the divine right of bishops, thus exposing the Puritans to the charge of heresy. The promulgation of a doctrine so novel and startling excited the utmost commotion throughout all England. Many of the moderate sup- porters of episcopacy were not prepared to coincide in the extreme view which Dr. Bancroft had taken, and the friends of royal supremacy were alarmed lest the propagation of such opinions might lead to an infringe- ment of the queen's prerogative as head of the Church of England. The Puritans, on the other hand, were for a considerable time disposed to treat the whole matter with ridicule, and, accordingly, the famous Martin Mar- Prelate tracts were issued at this time, characterized by the most pungent wit and caustic satire, levelled against the bishops and their supporters. These anonymous pamphlets were circulated in great numbers through- out the country, and read with the utmost avidity by all classes of the people. The authors of these clever though coarse productions were never discovered, and their damaging effect upon the High-Church party was only arrested by the seizure of the printing-press from which they had been thrown off.
But the evil which Bancroft wrought was not limit- ed to the extravagant assertion of the divine right of episcopacy; he persecuted the Puritans with such re- lentless fury that in one year three hundred ministers were silenced, excommunicated, imprisoned, or com- pelled to leave the country. An act was passed for the suppression of conventicles on pain of perpetual banishment. In short, throughout the whole reign of Elizabeth, the Puritans were assailed with the most cruel persecution in almost every conceivable form. At length, as the life of the despotic queen approached its close, the hopes of the oppressed and down -trodden party began to revive. The throne, when vacant, was likely to be filled by James VI of Scotland, whose edu- cation in a Presbyterian country, as well as his avowed preference for a Presbyterian Church, was likely to predispose him to favor their views.
March 24, 1003, queen Elizabeth died, and the Scot- tish king was proclaimed sovereign of England. The Puritans lost no time in taking steps to call the atten- tion of the new king to the heavy grievances under which they had long labored. As James was travel- ling southwards to take possession of the English throne, a document, commonly known by the name of the Millenary Petition, was put into his hands, in the preamble of which the petitioners declared — and hence the name — " That they, to the number of more than a thousand ministers, groaned under the burden of human rites and ceremonies, and cast themselves at his majes- ty's feet for relief." This petition was signed by seven hundred and fifty ministers, which was probably about one half of the Puritan ministers in England. As was to have been expected, the prelatic party also assailed the royal ear with plausible statements of their High- Church views. James professed to have a peculiar skill in theological debate, and by way of appearing to be impartial, he arranged a public discussion of the con- tested points to take place in his presence on an ap- pointed day. This is well known as the Hampton Court Conference, which ended in convincing the Puri- tans that they were utterly mistaken in looking for protection, not to speak of favor, from the new monarch, who had evidently become a sudden convert to Epis- copacy, and that, too, of the strongest and most High- Church character.
James had no sooner ascended the throne of Eng- land than he began to manifest a disposition to be still more tyrannical and despotic than even Elizabeth her- self had been. The High Commission, which had long been an engine of the most cruel oppression against the
Puritans, was continued ; subscription to canons and ar- ticles was enforced with the utmost rigor, and those ministers who refused to subscribe were silenced or de- posed. Thus insulted and oppressed, both by the gov- ernment and the dominant party in the Church, the Puritans felt it to be important that their true princi- ples should be thoroughly understood by the people* With this view a treatise was published, entitled Eng- lish Puritanism, which afforded a full and impartial statement of their peculiar opinions.
The extent to which James was disposed to push the royal prerogative was well fitted to awaken alarm both in the Parliament and the people. Both civil and re- ligious liberty were evidently in danger, and Parlia- ment prepared to interfere and to demand redress of grievances which had now become intolerable. "But the king," says Dr. Hetherington, " met all their re- monstrances and petitions for redress with the most lofty assertions of his royal prerogative, in the exercise ofwhich he held himself to be accountable to God alone, affirming it to be sedition in a subject to dispute what a king might do in the height of his power. The Parliament repeated the assertion of their own rights, accused the High Commission of illegal and tyrannical conduct, and advocated a more mild and merciful course of procedure towards the Puritans. Offended with the awakening spirit of freedom thus displayed, the king, by the advice of Bancroft, dissolved the Par- liament, resolved to govern, if possible, without par- liaments in future. This arbitrary conduct on the part of James aroused, in the mind of England, a deep and vigilant jealousy with regard to their sovereign's intentions, which rested not till, in the reign of his son. it broke forth in its strength and overthrew the monarchy."