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bishop of Lincoln had undertaken that province, and accordingly presented the house of lords with a reconciling scheme, which was dropt after the first reading. It consisted of ten articles.

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1. "That every bishop, being within his diocese, and not disabled by ill health, shall preach once every Lord's day, or pay five pounds to the poor, to be levied by the next justice of peace.

2. That no bishop shall be a justice of peace, except the dean of Westminster in Westminster and St. Mar'tin's. [This seems to be a proviso for himself.]

3. "That every bishop shall have twelve assistants be'sides the dean and chapter; four to be chosen by the king, four by the lords, and four by the commons, for 'jurisdiction and ordination.

4. "That in all vacancies, these assistants, with the dean and chapter, shall present to the king, three of the ablest divines in the diocese, who shall choose one to be bishop. 5. "That deans and prebendaries shall not be non-resi'dents at their cathedrals above sixty days.

6. "That sermons shall be preached in the cathedrals 'twice every Lord's day, once every holiday, and a lec"ture on Wednesdays, with a salary of one hundred marks 'per annum.

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7. "That all archbishops, bishops, and collegiate churches &c. shall be obliged to give a fourth part of their fines, and improved rents, to buy in impropriations.

8. "That all double beneficed men shall pay the value of half their living to the curate.

9. "No appeal shall be made to the court of arches, or court of audience.

10. "It is proposed, that canons and ecclesiastical constitutions shall be drawn up, and suited to the laws of the 'realm, by sixteen learned persons, six to be denominated by the king, five by the lords, and five by the commons."

Archbishop Usher offered another scheme, for the reduction of episcopacy into the form of synodical government, received in the ancient church; in which his grace supposes, that of the many elders that ruled the church of

Ephesus, there was one stated president whom our Saviour calls the ANGEL; and whom Ignatius, in one of his epistles, calls the BISHOP, to whom, in conjunction with the elders or presbyters, the whole government of the church, both as to doctrine and discipline, was committed. He there

fore proposes, that these be continued; and for a regulation of their jurisdiction, that Suffragans should be appointed to hold monthly synods of presbyters, from whom there should be an appeal to diocesan, provincial, and national ones; and more particularly,

1. "That the rector of every parish, with the church'wardens, should admonish and reprove such as live scan'dalously, according to the quality of their offence; and if 'by this means they are not reclaimed, to present them to 'the next monthly synod, and in the mean time debar them the Lord's table.

2. "Whereas by a statute of 26 Henry VIII. suffragans 6 are appointed to be erected in twenty-six several places ' of this kingdom, the number of them may be conformed to the number of the several rural deanries, into which 'every diocese is subdivided; which being done, the suff'ragan may every month assemble a synod of the several rectors or incumbent pastors within the precinct, and ac'cording to the major part of their votes conclude all mat'ters that should be brought into debate before them.

3. "A diocesan synod might be held once or twice a year, wherein all the suffragans, and the rest of the rectors and incumbent pastors, or a certain select number out of every deanry, within that diocese, might meet, 'with whose consent all things might be concluded by the bishop or superintendant; or in his absence by one of his suffragans, whom he should appoint as moderator in his room; and here the transactions of the monthly synods may be revised and reformed.

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4. "The provincial synod may consist of all the bishops and suffragans, and such of the clergy as should be elected out of every diocese within the province: The pri mate of either province might be moderator, or in his room, one of the bishops appointed by him. This synod 'might be held every third year, and if the parliament be VOL. II:

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sitting, both the primates and provincial synods might 'join together, and make up one national synod, wherein all appeals from inferior synods might be received, all their acts examined, and all ecclesiastical affairs relating to the state of the church in general established."

Several other proposals were made to the house of commons, by those puritans, who were for revising and altering some things in the church, but not for Root and Branch;* as, that his majesty should be moved to call a national synod, or a select number of divines of the three nations, under his majesty's government; with an intimation to all reformed churches to send their deputies, to settle a uniform model of government for the church of England, to be confirmed by parliament, leaving to other nations a christian liberty in those forms of discipline which are most agreeable to their civil government.

Others proposed, "That the present liturgy might be continued, but that the apocryphal lessons be entirely 'omitted; that all sentences of holy scripture be according to the last translation; that the word minister be used instead of priest; with some other amendments-That, 'with regard to episcopal government, bishops be obliged 'to constant preaching in their metropolitan or parochial 'churches;-that they never ordain without consent of three or four presbyters at least ;-that they do not suspend by their sole authority, but with consent of presbyters, and that for weighty causes;-that none may be excommunicated but by the bishop himself, with consent of the pastor in whose parish the delinquent dwells; and that for heinous and very scandalous crimes only. That 'the fees of ecclesiastical courts be regulated, and that bishops, chancellors, and their officials, may be subject to the censure of provincial synods and convocations."

But all these attempts for accommodation were blasted by the stiffness of the bishops, and by the discovery of the plot to bring the army to London to dissolve the parliament; this put the nation into a ferment, and widened the distance between the king and the two houses, upon which the com

*Nalson's Collections, vol. ii. p. 203.

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mittee broke up about the middle of May, without bringing any thing to perfection. Mr. Fuller has observed very justly, "That the moderation and mutual compliance of these divines might have saved the body of episcopacy, and prevented the civil war; but the court bishops expected no good from them, suspecting the doctrinal puritans, (as "they nick-named those bishops and episcopal divines) join'ed with the disciplinary puritans, would betray the church between them. Some hot spirits would abate nothing of episcopal power or profit, but maintained, that the yielding any thing was granting the day to the opposite party.' It is the observation of another learned writer, upon the committee's agreeing to have the psalms in the liturgy print- ed according to the new translation; to expunge all apocryphal lessons; to alter certain passages in the book of common prayer; and some other things, with which divers of the presbyterians said they were satisfied, "That if the 'episcopal men had made these concessions when they were in full power, they had prevented the mischiefs that were coming upon them; but as things were at present, neither 'side appeared very well satisfied."

There were deep resentments in the breasts of both parties; the bishops were incensed at the bold attacks of the house of commons upon their peerage and spiritual jurisdiction; and the puritans had a quick sense of their former sufferings, which made them restless till they had abridged their power. It is very remarkable, and looks like an appearance of divine displeasure against the spirit of these times, that archbishop Usher's scheme, for the reduction of episcopacy, which at this time would have satisfied the chief body of the puritans, could not be obtained from the king and the bishops; that afterwards, when the king offered this very scheme at the treaty of the Isle of Wight, the parliament and puritan divines would not accept it, for fear of breaking with their Scots brethren. Again, when the presbyterian ministers, at the restoration of king Charles II. presented it to his majesty as a model with which they were satisfied, and which would comprehend in a manner their whole body, both the king and bishops rejected it with contempt, and would not suffer it to be debated.

It may not be improper in this place, to make a few re

marks upon this part of Mr. Rapin's accurate and judicious history of England, who, in his account of these times, seems to represent the body of the puritans to be presbyterians, and as having formed a conspiracy against the whole fabric of the church, from the very beginning of this parliament; whereas the state of the controversy between the church and the puritans was now changed: In the reigns of queen Eliz. and king James I. the puritans were for the most part presbyterians, though even then there were many episcopalians among them; but from the time that arminianism prevailed in the church, and the whole body of the calvinists came to be distinguished by the name of doctrinal puritans, both parties seemed to unite in a moderate. episcopacy, there being little or no mention of the old book of discipline for twenty years before the commencement of the civil war, and all the controversy turning upon points of calvinism; upon a reduction of the exorbitant power of the bishops; or upon innovations (as they were called) and ceremonies. There were few either among the clergy or laity, who had a zeal for presbytery, or desired any more than to be rid of their oppressions. Mr. Rapin, however, is of opinion, that among the members of parliament there were real presbyterians, who thought, no doubt, of altering the whole government of the church. These are represented as deep politicians, as working under ground, and making use of all kinds of artifices to accomplish their designs, which they took care not to discover. He owns, indeed, that the presbyterians were not very numerous in the house, but that they were supported by a pretty great party in the kingdom, and particularly by the Scots. Which assertion seems to me to require stronger evidence than he has thought fit to produce. I have shewn from lord Clarendon, that both houses of parliament at their first sitting down, were almost to a man for the constitution of the church; that they aimed at no more than a redress of grievances; and that there were not above two or three in both houses that were for root and branch. That all the members received the communion according to the usage of the church of England, at their first sitting down, and brought a certificate of their having so done. That the pitition of the

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* Vol. ii. p. 859, 447, Folio Edition.

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