PRESBYTERIANS. 



two years, however, after the fire of Lon- 

 don, their persecutions were revived, and 

 their private assemblies were dissolved. 

 Drs. Patrick and Parker, afterwards bi- 

 shops, wrote bitterly against them ; but 

 Parker met with a formidable, though a 

 sarcastic, antagonist in the famous An- 

 drew Marvel. In 1670, the conventicle 

 act was revived, by which the Presbyte- 

 rians again suffered the most cruel and 

 vexatious persecutions. 



The last penal statute against the Pres- 

 byterians, was the Test Act, for the repeal 

 of which there was, a few years ago, a 

 very warm but unsuccessful petition from 

 the united body of Protestant Dissenters 

 in England. This offensive act, which 

 was passed in the year 1673, imports, that 

 every person, in office or employment, 

 shall take the oaths of allegiance and su- 

 premacy ; " receive the sacrament in some 

 parish-church before competent wit- 

 nesses," and subscribe a declaration, re- 

 nouncing all belief of the real presence in 

 the eucharist. From this period to the 

 year 1681, various attempts were made, 

 by the successive parliaments, for the to- 

 leration of Dissenters, and for putting in 

 force the laws against Popish Recusants ; 

 and many books and pamphlets were pub - 

 lished in their defence : but all in vain ; 

 the court and the papists contrived, to the 

 end of the reign, to oppress the Presbyte- 

 rians in every possible way. In February 

 1685, died the thoughtless, the merry, 

 the dissolute Charles II. and with him all 

 hopes of redress or justice on the part of 

 the Dissenters : for whatever were the er- 

 rors in this prince's conduct, and the ble- 

 mishes in his character, he was personally 

 beloved by his people, who were over- 

 whelmed with grief and astonishment at 

 his death. He died in the communion of 

 the church of Rome, having received, just 

 before his death, the sacrament at the 

 hands of a Roman Catholic priest. 



James, Duke of York, brother to the 

 late King, was crowned, with his Queen, 

 on the 23d of April, 1685. Recommenced 

 his reign by disclaiming arbitrary princi- 

 ples, and, at the same time, declaring he 

 would abide by and maintain the religion 

 established by law. James soon gave the 

 nation to understand what he meant by 

 toleration on the one hand, and an adhe- 

 rence to established usages on the other. 

 By toleration, he meant to encourage the 

 principles and the practices of Popery, 

 and by his support of the established reli- 

 gion, he meant the support of the doctrines 

 of passive obedience, and non-resistance. 

 In these principles and determinations he 



found himself supported by the articles oi 

 the English creed, and the importunities 

 of numerous hot-headed Jesuits, by whose 

 influence he suffered himself to be almost 

 invariably guided. 



Notwithstanding the plausible preten- 

 ces of James II. of granting a free tolera- 

 tion to the Dissenters, his drift was easily 

 seen through ; and the Dissenters, much 

 to their credit, as we have already re- 

 marked, joined with their persecutors of 

 the established church, generously giving 

 up their private resentments.however just, 

 to their fears of Popery and slavery, which 

 were making large strides towards the 

 destruction of civil and religious liberty, 

 of which the dispensing power, and the 

 declaration for liberty of conscience, were 

 to be the principal engines. This wise 

 conduct of the Dissenters certainly saved 

 the church and state. Thus an end was 

 put to the prosecution of the Protestant 

 Dissenters by the penal laws ; though 

 the laws themselves were not legally re- 

 pealed, or suspended, till after the Revo- 

 lution, in 1688. From this happy period 

 of English history, the condition of the 

 Presbyterians, and other Dissenters, be- 

 gan gradually to improve. William and 

 Mary, who succeeded to the throne of 

 England, after the abdication of it by 

 James II. were favourable to the Protes- 

 tant religion, and the rights of conscience. 

 Notwithstanding the violent opposition 

 which William met with from the high- 

 church party, who were a numerous and 

 powerful body, he succeeded, in many- 

 points, to soften the rigours, and abate 

 the national prejudice against the Dissen- 

 ters. Little else has occurred, since the 

 happy era of the Revolution, but fruitless 

 attempts for a repeal of the corporation 

 and test acts. It is to be hoped, that the 

 time is not far distant, when these, and 

 some other statutes of an oppressive na- 

 ture, will be repealed, and Englishmen, 

 of whatever religious persuasion, shall 

 feel and acknowledge, that no difference 

 of opinion can divide their interests as 

 Britons, nor disunite their affections as 

 Christians. 



Of the religious tenets of the Presbyte- 

 rians, it is not necessary to enlarge very 

 much. They continue to be one of the 

 most numerous and respectable sects of 

 Protestant Dissenters in England; are, 

 doubtless, the richest and most learned 

 body of men out of the pale of the esta- 

 blishment ; and have now almost entirely 

 forsaken the rigid and severe maxims of 

 their forefathers. They are denominated 

 Presbyterians, from their assertion? thas 



