PURITAN SUBSTI THE BOOK. Discipline. In 1574 was published A Full and Plain Declaration of TUTES FOR Ecclesiastical Discipline out of the Word of God; and in 1584, PRAYER A Brief and Plain Declaration concerning the Desires of all those Faithful Ministers that have and do seek for the Discipline and The Book of Reformation of the Church of England, was printed in London by Robert Waldegrave. Also in the same year (1584) A Book of Common Prayer was presented to Parliament 'with the hope of approval and legal sanction;' and beyond this, a hope of its being substituted for the Book of Common Prayer. This book was altered before its publication, so far as regards the acknowledgment of the office and authority of the magistrate in matters of religion': for the liberty claimed, and apparently conceded, by the Puritans, in the Book of Discipline, they neither allowed, nor intended to allow, had the Book of Prayer obtained the sanction of the law. Bancroft writes, "In the Parliament (27 of her Majesty, as I remember), the Brethren having made another Book, termed, at that time, A Booke of the Forme of Common Prayers, &c., and containing in it the effect of their whole pretended Discipline; the same book was penned altogether statute and law-like, and their petition in the behalf of it was, viz. May it therefore please your Majesty, &c. that it may be enacted, &c. that the Book hereunto annexed, &c. intituled, A Booke of the Forme of Common Prayers, Administration of Sacraments, &c. and everything therein contained, may be from henceforth authorised, put in use, and practised throughout all your Majesty's dominions. See here, when they hoped to have attained to their purposes by law, and to have had the same accordingly established, they offered to the Parliament a book of their own, for the Form of Common Prayers, &c.; and thought it (as it seemeth) altogether inconvenient to leave every minister to his own choice to use what form he list, other than such as were allowed in some church which had received the Discipline: for any such they liked of indefinitely. Whereby to me it seemeth manifest, that they never meant to have required the enacting of that chapter, De reliquis Liturgia Officiis; but only to set down what course their brethren should follow for the interim, until they might take further order for a book of their own.' 1 Bancroft, Survey of Holy Discipline, p. 66, and Dangerous Positions, p. 68. Dangerous Positions, bk. III. ch. 10. pp. 96, sq. SUBSTI THE PRAYERBOOK. An edition (probably the first) of this Puritan Book of Com- PURITAN mon Prayer was printed in London by Waldegrave, without date; TUTES FOR yet doubtless either in 1584, or the early part of 1585; for it was prohibited by an order of the Star-Chamber in June 1585: and a second edition, somewhat altered in arrangement, appeared at Mid- The Middledleburgh (where a company of English merchants resided under burgh Book of Prayer. the ministry of Cartwright) in 1586; a third, an exact reprint, but much neater in appearance, in 1587; and a fourth, with additions, in 1602. In 1587, this book was introduced into the Low Countries, its use having been hitherto confined almost exclusively to Northamptonshire, where Edmund Snape resided. As regards the authorship of the volume,-whether or no Cartwright himself, or his friend Travers, or Dudley Fenner, then at Middleburgh, or even Snape, had any hand in the writing,it is certain that nothing more was attempted than a brief and desultory compilation from the Genevan form of Calvin, and that perhaps not directly, but through one or other of the abbreviations of Knox's Book of Common Order. The first, or London, edition of this book is reprinted in the first volume of the Rev. P. Hall's Fragmenta Liturgica; and a collation of the Middleburgh editions in the first volume of his Reliquiæ Liturgicæ. PURITAN OBJEC The Millenary Petition. CHAPTER IV. The Prayer-Book from the accession of James I. to the death of Charles I. [A.D. 1603-1649.] 'I have learned of what cut they have been, who, preaching before me since my coming into England, passed over with silence my being supreme governor in causes ecclesiastical.'-K. James. UPON the accession of King James I. (March 24th, TIONS. 1603) the earliest measure adopted by the general body of the Puritans was to present to him (in April) the famous Millenary petition, so called from the great number of signatures attached to it. Upon the subject of the Prayer-Book they urged that of these offences following, some may be removed, some amended, some qualified: Puritan ob- 6 : In the Church service: that the cross in baptism, interrogatories ministered to infants, confirmations, as superfluous, may be taken away: baptism not to be ministered by women, and so explained: the cap and surplice not urged: that examination may go before the Communion that it be ministered with a sermon: that divers terms of priests and absolution and some other used, with the ring in marriage, and other such like in the book, may be corrected: the longsomeness of service abridged church-songs and music moderated to better edification that the Lord's day be not profaned: the rest upon holydays not so strictly urged: that there may be an uniformity of doctrine prescribed: no popish opinion to be any more taught or defended: no ministers OBJEC charged to teach their people to bow at the name of PURITAN Jesus that the canonical scriptures only be read in the TIONS. church1.' 'These, with such other abuses yet remaining and practised in the Church of England,' they declared themselves able to shew not to be agreeable to the Scriptures,' if it should please the king further to hear them, or more 4 conference at large by writing to be informed, or by conference among the learned to be resolved 2." 6 The king acceded to the request for a conference, as suited to his own fondness for such a debate, though contrary to the wishes of the universities and of the 6 proposed, by proclama clergy generally. A proclamation was issued (Oct. 24), and ordered Touching a meeting for the hearing, and for the deter- tion. mining things pretended to be amiss in the Church,' to be had before himself and his council of divers of the bishops and other learned men. The meeting was at first intended to be held on the 1st of November, but was deferred till after Christmas. Meanwhile Archbishop Whitgift sent to Hutton, archbishop of York, certain queries of matters that might be debated at the conference; among which these points were noted: "Concerning the Book of Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments: whether to overthrow the said book, or to make alterations of things disliked in it: concerning the sign of the cross in the child's forehead made at its baptism: concerning praying in the Litany to be delivered from sudden death; since we ought so to live, that death should never find us unprepared3." The Conference was held at Hampton Court, on the 1 Cardwell, Conferences, pp. 131, sq. 2 Ibid. p. 132. 3 Strype, Whitgift, p. 570; and Appendix, XLIV. For Hutton's opinion upon these matters like to be brought in question,' see Cardwell, Conferences, pp. 151, sqq. ENCE AT COURT. between the king and the bishops, on Saturday, Jan. 14. CONFER 14th, 16th, and 18th, of January. The persons sumHAMPTON moned to take part in the discussion on the side of the Puritans were Dr Rainolds, Dr Sparkes, Mr Knewstubbs and Mr Chaderton, who had the reputation of being the most grave, learned and modest of the party. The Conference, however, was not a discussion between the Episcopal and Puritan divines in the presence of the royal council, but a conference first between the king and the bishops, and secondly between the king and the invited Conference Puritan divines, concluded by the royal determination upon the points debated. On the first day the king assembled the lords of his council and the bishops with the dean of the chapel royal, and after an hour's speech propounded six points; three of them in the Common Prayer-Book, viz. the general absolution, the confirmation of children, and the private baptism by women: the two former were allowed, but some things in them were to be cleared. After a long discussion on private baptism, it was agreed that it should only be administered by ministers, yet in private houses if occasion required. Some other matters were debated, concerning the jurisdiction of bishops, and the civilization of Ireland. Conference between the king with certain bishops and the Puritan divines, on Monday, Jan. 16. On the second day, the Puritan representatives were called before the king and the council, in the presence of certain of the bishops and the deans, who had been summoned to take part in the conference. The Puritans propounded four points:-purity of doctrine: means to maintain it the bishops' courts: the Common PrayerBook. Concerning the book itself and subscription to it, there was much stir about all the ceremonies and every point in it; chiefly Confirmation, the cross in baptism, the surplice, private baptism, kneeling at the Communion, the reading of the Apocrypha, and subscriptions to the |