mounted on several steps of stone about the middle of St. Paul's church-yard, where the first reformers used to preach frequently to the people; and upon a further representation of the assembly of divines, they passed the following ordinance that before the first of November all altars and tables of stone shall be utterly taken away and demol'ished; and all communion-tables removed from the east end of every church, chapel, or place of public worship, and be set in some other fit and convenient place or plac'es of the body of the church or chapel; and all rails what'soever which have been erected near to, or before, or a'bout any altar or communion-table, in any of the said 'churches or chapels, shall before the said day be taken "away, and the chancel ground of every such church, or 'chapel, or other place of public prayer, which has been 'within these twenty years raised for any altar or commun'ion-table to stand upon, shall before the said day be laid 'down and levelled as it was before; and all tapers, can'dlesticks, and basins, shall before the said day be remov 'ed and taken away from the communion-table in every 'church, chapel, or place of public prayer, and not be us'ed again afterwards. And all crucifixes, crosses, ima'ges, and pictures, of any one or more persons of the Trin'ity, or of the Virgin Mary; and all other images, and pictures of saints, or superstitious inscriptions in, or up'on any of the said churches, church-yards, or other places belonging to the said churches or church-yards, or in any 'fearing their fall in these uncertain times." It was also bantered in a pamphlet, with this title. "New Orders New, agreed upon by the 'parliament of Round-Heads, confirmed by the brethren of the new 'separation, assembled at Round-Heads' Hall, without Cripplegate, 'with the great discretion of master LONG-BREATH, an upright, new inspired cobler, speaker of the house. Avowed by ANANIAS DULMAN, alias PRICK EARS." Of the strain of this piece the following passage is a specimen: "That we have no Crosses, for they are meer popery, and tend to the confusion and opposition of scripture: espe'cially let thesight of Cheapside-Cross be a detestation unto you all, and let these streets that are called Crosses, as Red-Cross-street, and "White-Cross-street, &c. be turned otherwise and called after the name of some of our own family, as Green, Spencer, &c. and call it rather "Green-street, than Red-Cross-street, &c. That thus all profaneness being rooted and extirpated from our conventions, nothing but holi§ ness may remain amongst us." Dr.Grey, vol. ii. p. 80, 81, note. Ed.

other open place, shall, before the said first of November, be taken away and defaced by the proper officers that have the care of such churches. And it is further ordained, that the walls, windows, grounds, and other places that shall be broken, impaired, or altered by any the means aforesaid, shall be made up and repaired in good and sufficient manner, in all and every the said par. 'ish churches, chapels, or places of public prayer belonging to the parish, by the church-wardens for the time be'ing, and in any cathedral or collegiate church or chapel by the deans or sub-deans, and in the inns of court, by the benchers and readers of the same, at the cost and charge of all and every such person or persons, bodies 'politic, or corporations, to whom the charge of repair does usually belong, upon penalty of forty shillings to the use of the poor, for the space of twenty days after such default; and if default be made after December 1, the justice of peace of the county or city shall have power to 'perform it. Provided that this ordinance shall not extend to any image, picture, or coat of arms in glass, stone, or otherwise, in any church, chapel, or church-yard, set 'up by, or engraven for a monument of any king, prince, nobleman, or other dead person, which has not been com 'monly reputed or taken for a saint."*

This ordinance is of the same tenor with the bill against innovations, presented to the king at the treaty of Oxford, and does not much differ from queen Elizabeth's injunctions at the reformation: there were some disorders and tumults in putting it in execution, and great neglect of repairs; but if the reader will look back to the superstitious decorations and ornaments of the cathedrals, mentioned in the former volume of this work, he will see there was some need of a reformation. Dec. 14, the commissioners cleared the cathedral of Canterbury of all the images, and paintings in the windows. Heylin says, the rabble violated the monuments of the dead, spoiled the organs, took down the rails, &c. and affronted the statue of our blessed Saviour.§ Dec. 30, they removed the pictures, images and crucifixes in Henry the 7th's chapel; and about Lady-day the paintings about * Husband's Collections, fol. 807. § Hist. Presbytery, p. 450.

the walls and windows were defaced, and the organs taken down in the presence of the committee of the house. The cathedral of St. Paul's was stripped about the same time, the candlesticks, crucifixes, and plate, being sold for the service of the war; and within a few months most of the cathedrals throughout England underwent the same fate.* If the parliament, instead of leaving this work to the officers of every parish, had put it into the hands of some discreet persons, to give directions what might remain, and what was fit to be removed, all the mischiefs that have been complained of might have been prevented; the monuments of the dead might have remained entire, and a great many fine paintings been preserved. Dr. Heylin charges the officers with sacrilege, and fixes the divine vengeance upon them as a terror to others, one of them being killed in pulling down the cross in Cheapside, and another hanged soon after he had pulled down the rich cross in Abingdon. But without remarking on the doctor's prognostications, it might be very proper to remove these images and crosses, because of the superstitious resort of great numbers of people to them; though it ought to have been done in a peaceable manner, without any damage to the truly venerable remains of antiquity.

The paper combat between the two parties at Oxford and London, was carried on with no less fury than the war itself; numberless pamphlets were scattered up and down the kingdom, big with disaffection and scandal against the two houses; to put a stop to which, the commons, by an order of March 6, 1642-3, had impowered the committee of examinations to search for printing presses, in such places where they had cause to suspect they were employed against the parliament, and to break them in pieces, and destroy the materials. They were also to seize the pamphlets, and to commit the printer and vender to prison. But this order not being effectual, another was published June 14, 1643, the preamble to which sets forth," that the former orders of parliament to pre

Dr. Grey gives various examples of the rude violence and indiseriminate destruction with which this was done. His authorities are bishop Hall, Heylin, Dugdale, and a work entitled, Mercurius Rnstiens. Ed.

vent the printing and dispersing scandalous pamphlets having been ineffectual, it is ordained, that no person or 'persons shall print any book or pamphlet without licence under the hands of such persons as shall be appointed by parliament, nor shall any book be reprinted without the licence and consent of the owner, and the printer to 'put his name to it; the company of stationers, and the 'committee of examinations, are required to make strict 'enquiry after private presses, and to search all suspected 'shops and warehouses for unlicensed books and pamphlets, and to commit the offenders against this order to 'prison, to be punished as the parliament shall direct."|| The names of the licensers appointed by this ordinance were these:

For books of divinity.

The Rev. Mr. Tho. Gataker
The Rev. Mr. J. Downham
The Rev. Mr. Callient Downing
The Rev. Dr. Tho. Temple
The Rev. Mr. Jos. Caryl
The Rev. Mr. Edmund Calamy

Sir John Brampston

Mr. Serj. Rolls

The Rev. Mr. Carter, of Yorkshire
The Rev. Mr. Ch. Herle
The Rev. Mr. Ja. Cranford
The Rev. Mr. Obad Sedgwick
The Rev. Mr. Batchelor
The Rev. Mr. John Ellis, jun.

For law books.

Mr. Serj. Phesant

Mr. Serj. Jermyn.

For physic and surgery.

The president and four censors of the college of physicians, for the time being.

For civil and canon law.

Sir Nath. Brent or any three doctors of the civil law.

For heraldry, titles of honor, and arms.

One of the three kings at arms.

For philosophy, history, poetry, morality, and arts. Sir Nath. Brent, Mr. Langly, and Mr. Farnaby, school-masters of St. Paul's.

For small pamphlets, pictures, &c.

The clerk of the company of stationers, for the time being; and

For mathematics, almanacs, and prognostications.
The reader of Gresham college for the time being.

But neither this, nor any other regulation of the press, could restrain the Oxonians from dispersing their mercuries and diurnals over the whole kingdom, as long as the university was in the king's hands.

Rushworth, vol. v. p. 335..

CHAP. II.

From the Calling the Assembly of Divines at Westminster to the Oxford Parliament.

IT has been observed, that at the setting down of this parliament, the resolution of the leading members was to remove the grievances of the church as well as state, and for this purpose to address the king to call an assembly of divines to reform the liturgy and discipline. To forward this design the London ministers, in their petitions in the year 1641, prayed the houses to be mediators to his majesty for a free synod, and the commons accordingly mentioned it in their grand remonstrance of December 1, 1641. "We desire (say they) that there may be a general synod of the most grave, pious, learned, and judicious divines of 'this island, assisted with some from foreign parts profes'sing the same religion with us, who may consider of all 'things necessary for the peace and good government of the 'church, and to represent the result of their consultations 'to be allowed and confirmed, and to receive the stamp of authority." In the treaty of Oxford a bill was presented to the same purpose and rejected: some time after Dr. Burges, at the head of the puritan clergy, applied again to parliament, but the houses were unwilling to take this step without the king's concurrence, till they were reduced to the necessity of calling in the Scots, who insisted, that there should be an uniformity of doctrine and discipline between the two nations. To make way for which the houses turned their bill into an ordinance, and convened the assembly by their own authority.*

It is a just remark of Mr. Palmer, that the assembly of divines at Westminster, was not a convocation according to the diocesan way of government, nor was it called by the votes of the ministers according to the presbyterian way; but the parliament chose all the members themselves, merely with a view to have their opinion and advice for settling the government, liturgy, and doctrine of the church of England. And they were confined in their debates to such things as the parlia ment proposed.

Nonconformists Memorial, vol. i. introduction, p. 7. ED. VOL. III. 10