vengeance upon the non-conformists, in order to make their condition more infupportable. One would have thought fuch a judgment from heaven, and fuch a generous compaffion in the ejected minifters, fhould have foftened the hearts of their most cruel enemies; bnt the prefbyterians muft be crushed, in defiance of the rebukes of Providence. Bishop Kennet and Mr. Eachard would excufe the ministry, by alledging, that fome of the old Oliverian, officers were enlifted in the Dutch fervice;* which, if true, was nothing to the body of the prefbyterians, though lord Clarendon did.. what he could to incenfe the parliament, and make them believe they were in confederacy with the enemies of the government. In his harangue to the houfe, he says, " their coun"tenances were more erect, and more infolent, fince the beginning of the war than before; that they were ready, "if any misfortune had befallen the king's fleet, to have .. brought the war into our fields and houses. The horrid "murderers of our late royal master have been received into "the most facred councils in Holland; and other infamous "perfons of our nation are admitted to a fhare in the con"duct of their affairs, with liberal penfions. Too many of "his majesty's fubjects have been enlisted in their fervice for, "a maintenance. Their friends at home made no doubt of "'doing the bufinefs themfelves, if they could pitch upon a "lucky day to begin the work. If you carefully provide for fuppreffing your enemies at home, you will find your ene"mies abroad more inclined to peace-" Is it poffible that fuch a fpeech could proceed from the lips of a wife and faithful counsellor, who was to ask for money to carry on the war? Could the chancellor think, that the way to conquer abroad was to divide and harrafs the king's fubjects at home, in the midst of the diftrefs of a terrible plague? He confeffed afterwards, that he was most averfe to this war, and abhorred it from his very foul; and yet he makes a handle of it to rain down vengeance on the prefbyterians, who had no concern in it; but it happened to them as in popifh countries, when any general calamity befals the people, it is imputed to too great an indulgence to hereticks, and the vengeance is returned upon their heads. Bishop Burnet is of opinion that + Ib. p. 846. ઃઃ tr * Eachard, p. 824. the the Oxford act was rather owing to the liberty the nonconformists took in their fermons to complain of their own hardships, and to lament the vices of the court, as the causes of the prefent calamities. And fuppofing this to be true, their complaints were not without reafon. .. However, the load was to lie on the diffenting minifters, and therefore an act was brought into the houfe to banish them from their friends, which had the royal affent, October 31, 1665. It was entituled, An Act to restrain Non-Conformifts from inhabiting Corporations; the preamble to which fets forth, "That divers parfons, and others in holy orders, "not having fubfcribed the act of uniformity, have taken upon them to preach in unlawful affemblies, and to instil "the poisonous principles of fchifm and rebellion into the "hearts of his majefty's fubjects, to the great danger of "the church and kingdom. Be it therefore enacted, that "all fuch non-conformist minifters fhall take the following "oath: I A. B. do fwear, that it is not lawful upon any pre"tence whatsoever, to take arms against the king; and that I "do abhor that traiterous pofition of taking arms by his authority, against his perfon, or against thofe that are commiffioned by him, in pursuance of fuch commiffions; and that I "will not at any time endeavour any alteration of government "either in church or state. And all fuch non-conformift 66 * minifters fhall not after the 24th of March, 1665, unless "in paffing the road, come, or be within five miles of any . city, town corporate, or borough that fends burgeffes to parliament; or within five miles of any parifh, town, or "place, wherein they have fince the act of oblivion been parfon, vicar, or lecturer, &c. or where they have preached "in any conventicle on any pretence whatfoever, before "they have taken and subscribed the aforefaid oath before "the justices of peace at their quarter-feffions for the county, in open court; upon forfeiture for every fuch offence "of the fum of forty pounds, one third to the king, another "third to the poor, and a third to him that shall fue for it. 66 * A project was formed of impofing this claufe on the whole nation, by requiring this oath of every fubject. The point was fo near being carried, that the bill brought in for the purpofe was rejected by three voices only. Secret Hiftory of the Reign of Charles II. vol. ii. p. 172, note. ED. "And "And it is further enacted, that fuch as fhall refuse the oath "aforefaid fhall be incapable of teaching any publick or private fchools, or of taking any boarders or tablers to "be taught or instructed, under pain of forty pounds, to be "diftributed as above. Any two juftices of peace, upon "oath made before them of any offence committed against "this act, are empowered to commit the offender to prifon "for fix months, without bail or mainprize." The earl of Southampton, lord Wharton, Afbley, Dr. Earl bishop of Salisbury, and others, vehemently opposed this bill, out of compaffion to the non-conformifts, and as it enforced an unlawful and unjustifiable oath, which (as the earl· of Southampton obferved) no honeft man could take; but the madness of the times prevailed against all reason and humanity. The promoters of the act were lord chancellor Clarendon, archbishop Sheldon, Ward the new bishop of Salif bury, and their creatures, with all that were fecret favourers of popery (fays bifhop Burnet.) It was moved that the word legally might be inferted in the oath, before the word commiffioned; and that before the words endeavoured to change the government, might be inferted the word unlawfully; but all amendments were rejected; however, Bridgman, chief juftice of the common-pleas, declaring that the oath must be fo understood, Dr. Bates and about twenty others took it, to avoid the imputation of fedition; but they had fuch a lecture afterwards from the bench for their fcruples, that they repented of what they had done before they went out of court. Mr. Howe, and about twelve in Devonshire, and a few in Dorsetshire, took the oath with a declaration in what fenfe and with what limitations they understood it.* But the body of the non-conformist ministers refused the oath, choofing rather to forfake their habitations, their relations, and friends, and all vifible fupport, than deftroy the "This act feemed," it is justly observed, " to be the last step in the "climax of intolerance; for to deprive men of the means of fubfiftence implies more deliberate cruelty, though it does not excite so much horror "as fire and faggots." Secret Hiftory of the Reign of Charles II. vol. ii. p. 171, note. ED. Baxter, part iii. p. 3. Burnet, vol. i. p. 329. + Baxter's Life, part iii. p. 15. VOL. IV. EE peace peace of their confciences. Thofe minifters who had fome little estate or fubftance of their own, retired to fome remote and obfcure villages, or fuch little market-towns as were not corporations, and more than five miles from the places where they had preached; but in many counties it was difficult to find fuch places of retirement; for either there were no houfes untenanted, or they were annexed to farms which the ministers were not capable of ufing; or the people were afraid to admit the ministers into their houses, left they should be suspected as favourers of non-conformity.§ Some took advantage of the minifters' neceffities, and raised their rents beyond what they could afford to give. Great numbers were thus buried in obfcurity, while others who had neither money nor friends, went on preaching as they could, till they were sent to prison, thinking it more eligible to perish in a gaol than to ftarve out of one; efpecially when by this means they had fome occafional relief from their hearers, and hopes that their wives and children might be fupported after their death. Many who lay concealed in distant places from their flocks in the day-time, rode thirty or forty miles to preach to them in the night, and retired again before daylight. Thefe hardships tempted fome few to conform (fays Mr. Baxter,) contrary to their former judgments; but the body of diffenters remained stedfast to their principles, and the church gained neither reputation nor numbers. The informers were very diligent in hunting after their game; and the foldiers and officers behaved with great rudeness and violence. When they miffed of the minifters, they went into the barns and out-houses, and fometimes thrust their swords up to the hilts in the hay and straw, where they fuppofed they might lie concealed; they made havock of their goods, and terrified the women and children almoft out of their lives. Thefe methods of cruelty reduced many minifters with their families to the neceffity of living upon brown rye-bread and water; but few were reduced to publick beggary, (fays Mr. Baxter*) the providence of God appearing wonderfully for their relief, in their greatest extremities. Baxter, part iii. p. 4. Burnet, p. 331. + Baxter's Life, part iii. P. 15. * Page 4. And And as if the judgments of heaven upon this nation were not heavy enough, nor the legislature fufficiently fevere, the bishops must throw their weight into the fcale; for in the very midst of the plague July 7, 1665, archbishop Sheldon fent orders to the feveral bifhops of his province to return the names of all ejected non-conformist ministers, with their places of abode, and manner of life; and the returns of the feveral bishops are still preserved in the Lambeth library.* The defign of this enquiry was to gird the laws closer upon the diffenters, and to know by what means they earned their bread; and if this tender-hearted archbifbop could have had his will, they must have starved, or fought a livelihood in foreign countries. This year put an end to the life of Dr. Cornelius Burges, a divine of the puritan stamp‡ educated at Oxford, and chap Comp. Hift. vol. iii. p. 279. lain dif "If all the puritans," fays Dr. Grey," had been of his rebellious *ftamp, they had certainly been a wicked crew, but there was a great "ference in puritans, fome very good, and fome very bad, as is juftly ob"ferved by Mr. Fuller." In his firft volume alfo, p. 268, the doctor impeaches the character of this divine, in the words of Eachard; who calls him "The feditious Dr. Burgefs, and one of the greatest Bontefeus of the "whole party, being the perpetual trumpeter to the most violent proceedings, a great inftrument in bringing on the miseries of the nation; who "died in great want and poverty, tormented and eaten up by a cancer in "his neck and cheek-a fearful inftance of rebellion and facrilege.' " Το thefe and other invectives of the archdeacon Eachard against Dr. Burgess, Dr. Calamy replied; but the reply goes chiefly to fhew the archdeacon's partiality, by inveighing in this manner against Burgess, when the characters of fome on the other fide were open to fimilar charges. The fact, which seems to bear hard on the name of this divine is, that though he declared it "by no means lawful to alienate the bishops' lands from publick "and pious ufes, or to convert them to any private perfon's property;" yet he gained fo much as to grow rich by the purchase of them. After the restoration he lost all. This, Dr. Calamy thinks, might be allowed a fufficient punishment without branding his memory. What inconfiftency or faults foever might be chargeable on Dr. Burgess, the interpretation which the archdeacon puts on his death deferves fevere cenfure, as rash and prefuming." This method gives a particular and invidious construction to events that arife from general laws, and equally befal the righteous and the wicked: and it fhews, how they who use it would direct, if it were in their power, the evils and calamities of life. It indicates as much a want of candour and generofity as of found judgment. It appears from a MS. history drawn up by Dr. Henry Sampson, a noted phyfician, that Dr. Burgess was deemed a man of folid parts and great learning; that no temptations could 86 EF 2 induce * |