753 



PL RITANS PURPLE. 



accounts, but in all liturgies, which contain the ge- 

 neral belief of the churches, this prayer for the 

 dead appears. The fathers of the church were al- 

 ways of this opinion. There is certainly something 

 consoling in the thought, that we may be of assis- 

 tance to our departed friends ; this feeling was ex- 

 pressed by the Romans in the wish, Sit tibi terra 

 levit I The Catholic faith considers as one body, 

 both those who are struggling here and those who 

 exist in another life. Love unites all, and love 

 teaches the pilgrims on earth to pray for the dead 

 not yet made perfect. No one acquainted with the 

 history of the sale of indulgences, can doubt that 

 the views of future purification and of prayers for 

 the dead, have been shamefully perverted for the 

 purpose of gain. The council of Trent, therefore, 

 while it maintained the decree de purgatorio, passed 

 at its twenty-fifth session, added the following ordi- 

 nance, but did not prescribe it as a point of faith : 

 " Since the holy Catholic church, instructed by the 

 Holy Spirit, and by the Holy Scriptures, and by 

 the primitive traditions transmitted from the fathers 

 of the church, through synods and councils, has 

 taught that there is a place of purification, and that 

 the souls confined there are aided by the prayers of 

 the faithful, and especially by. the offering of the sa- 

 crament of the altar, the council commands the 

 bishop to take care that the doctrine of a place of 

 purification is taught and preached as it has been 

 handed down from holy fathers and councils. The 

 preachers shall not speak to the people of the more 

 difficult and subtle questions, which edify not, and 

 which, for the most part, do not contribute to piety; 

 likewise they shall not allow that which is doubt- 

 ful, or probably false, to be treated of and spread 

 abroad. Whatever is dictated merely by curiosity 

 or superstition, or is connected with shameful gain, 

 they shall forbid as wickedness, as offensive to true 

 believers." 



PURITANS, in the English church; a sect who 

 professed to follow the pure Word of God, in oppo- 

 sition to traditions, human constitutions, and other 

 authorities. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, the 

 Protestants were divided into two parties, those 

 who were in favour of adhering to the liturgy estab- 

 Hshed in the reign of Edward, and those who wished 

 to introduce a simpler, and, as they considered it, 

 a purer form of church government and worship. 

 The latter were termed Puritans, and many of the 

 distinguished clergy favoured these views. The 

 queen, however, and a majority of the clergy, pre- 

 lerred the Episcopal form of government, and were 

 attached to many forms and ceremonies upon which 

 the Puritans looked with aversion. The rigorous 

 measures followed by the dominant party to compel 

 conformity, only served to alienate the Puritanical 

 party, and to push them into more decided opposi- 

 tion to the ceremonials of divine worship. In 1566, 

 the Puritans resolved that duty required them to 

 break off from the church, and assemble, as they 

 best could, by themselves, to worship God in their 

 own way; they also laid aside the English liturgy, 

 and adopted the Geneva service-book. They ob- 

 jected further to. the hierarchy, as not authorized by 

 Scripture, to kneeling at the sacraments, using the 

 sign of the cross in baptism, bowing at the name of 

 Jesus, wearing the surplice and other vestments in 

 divine service, &c. In point of doctrine there was 

 as yet no difference between the Puritans and Con- 

 formists; the former, however, as was natural for a 

 persecuted party, maintained that every man had a 

 natural right to judge for himself, without being 

 subject to the laws of the civil magistrate, or the 

 decrees of councils, churches, or synods. Towards 

 the end of Elizabeth's reign, a party arose which 



were first for softening, and then for overthrowing, 

 the received opinions concerning predestination, 

 perseverance, free will, effectual grace, and the 

 extent of Christ's redemption. The clergy of the 

 church began to lean towards Arminianism, while 

 the Puritans adhered rigorously to the system of 

 Calvin, and all Calvinists, whether Episcopal or 

 Presbyterian, were called doctrinal Puritans. The 

 name was applied to all who were remarkably 

 strict in their morals, and severe in manners. 

 Elizabeth treated the Puritans with great rigour 

 during the whole of her reign ; besides the ordinary 

 courts of the bishops, she erected the court of high 

 commission, which suspended and deprived the 

 refractory of their livings, by the determination of 

 three commissioners, founded upon the canon law ; 

 before this court the prisoner was obliged to an- 

 swer questions put to him, under oath ; if he refused 

 to swear, he was imprisoned for contempt, and if he 

 took the oath, he was convicted upon his own con- 

 fession. During the reign of James I., from whom 

 the Puritans had expected more indulgence, they 

 were treated with greater severity, and many of 

 them left the kingdom and retired to Holland, 

 whence they emigrated to America in 1620. (See 

 Plymouth.} All were looked upon by James and 

 the court as Puritans, who opposed the arbitrary 

 maxims of his government; and these were called 

 Puritans in state, who, uniting with the church 

 Puritans, in opposition to the tyrannical principles 

 of the Stuart dynasty, formed a majority in the 

 nation. The success of the first emigrators to 

 America, who established the colony of New Ply- 

 mouth, induced great numbers of Puritans to turn 

 to the same quarter for relief, and the New colony 

 of Massachusetts Bay was founded by them in 1629. 

 (See New England.) The colony of New Haven 

 was also founded by Puritans, who fled from the 

 persecutions of Laud, and the oppressions of tiie 

 star chamber and the high commission courts. 

 Though there were shades of difference in these 

 fugitives to America, they agreed in most points of 

 doctrine and discipline, and most of their descend- 

 ants in New England, of which they compose the 

 principal part of the population, still cherish with 

 fondness the maxims and the memory of their Puri- 

 tan fathers. (See Independents.) The Puritans 

 were afterwards prevented from retiring to Amer- 

 ica, and many of them removed into Holland, while 

 others remained at home, and finally pulled down 

 the throne and the altar, which long persecutions 

 had rendered so odious to them. (See Cromwell, 

 Hampden, Pym, &c.) It was the union of the 

 three kinds of Puritans above-mentioned, which 

 gave the parliament the victory in the civil war 

 which followed. (See Charles /.) The Presbyter- 

 ian party was at first the most powerful, but the 

 Independents, among whom were Cromwell, Mil- 

 ton, &c., finally acquired the ascendancy ; and it 

 was this party, most of whom were republicans in 

 politics as well as in church discipline, that beheaded 

 the king and abolished royalty. After the restora- 

 tion of Charles II., the act of uniformity (1662) 

 excluded from the communion of the church all who 

 refused to observe the rites and subscribe the doc- 

 trines of the church of England ; and from that 

 time the name of non-conformists was applied to 

 such recusants as, for instance, Presbyterians, In- 

 dependents, Quakers, &c. (See Non-confortnistt, 

 and England, Church of.) For a complete history of 

 the Puritans, the reader may consult Neal's His- 

 tory of the Puritans (4 vols., 8vo., 1732 38 ; new 

 ed. 5 vols., 1797.) 



PURPLE. The colour to which the ancients 

 applied the name purple, was either dark, or violet 



