P U II 



PUR 



overthrowing, the received opinions concerning prcdeftina- 

 tion, perfcvL-rance, free-will, effectual grace, and the extent 

 oi Chrill's redemption. The clergy of the epifcopal church 

 began to lean towards the notions concerning theli- intricate 

 points, wliich Arminius propagated fome time after this ; 

 while on the other hand, tiie Puritans adhered rigoroully to 

 the fyllem of Calvin. Several epifcopal dodlors remained 

 attached to the fame fyllem in the reign of James I. &c. 

 and all thefe abettors of Calvanifm, whether epifcopal or 

 preibyterian, were called doSnnal Puritans. At length, ac- 

 cording to Mr. Fuller, (Church Hift. book ix. p. 97. book x. 

 p. 100.) the name was extended to itigmatize all thofe 

 who endeavoured in their devotions to accompany the miniiler 

 with a pure lieart, and who were remarkably holy in their 

 converfation ; fo that a Puritan was a man of fevere morals, 

 a Calvinilt in doftrine, and a Non-conformift to the ceremo- 

 nies and difcipline of the church, though he did not totally 

 feparate from it. 



Queen Elizabeth was violent in her oppofition to the Pu- 

 ritans through the whole courfe of her reign ; and befides 

 the ordinary courts of the bifiiops, fhe eredted, as we have 

 already obierved, a new tribunal, called the court of high- 

 commilFion, which fufpended and deprived men of their liv- 

 ings, not by the verdidl of twelve men upon oath, but by 

 the folemn determination of three commifTioners of her own 

 nomination, founded not upon the ftatute law of the realm, 

 but upon the canon law ; and inftead of producing witneifes 

 in open court to prove the charge, they aflumed a power of 

 admmiltering an oath ex officio, by which the prifoner was 

 obliged to anfwer all queftions the court fliould put to him, 

 though never fo prejudicial to his own defence. If he re- 

 fufed to fwear, he was imprifoned for contempt ; and if 

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

 feffion. 



During the reign of .Tames I. from whom the Puritans 

 expefted more indulgent treatment, they were treated with 

 great feverity, and many of them were obhged to leave the 

 kingdom, and retire to Holland ; and from thence confider- 

 able numbers migrated to America in the year 1 620. All 

 were Puritans, in the eftimation of king James, who adhered 

 to the laws of the land in oppofition to his arbitrary govern- 

 ment, though otherwife ever fo good churchmen. Thefe 

 were called Puritans hi thejiate ; and thofe who fcrupled the 

 ceremonies, and adhered to the doftrines of Calvin, were 

 Chnrch Puritans, who, though comparatively few, yet being 

 joined by thofe of the other clafs, became the majority of 

 -the nation. The fuccefs that attended the iirft emigrators, 

 who fettled in that part of America afterwards called New 

 Plymouth, engaged great numbers of Puritans, who groaned 

 under the oppreffion of the bifhops, and the feverity of a 

 court, by which this oppreffion was authorifed, to follow 

 the fortunes of thefe religious adventurers ; and this produced 

 a fecond emigration in tlie year 1 629, which gave birth to 

 the fecond grand colony, commonly known by the name of 

 the Maffachufett's Bay. The colony of Connecticut was 

 formed by emigrants of the fame clafs in 1636, and that of 

 New Haven in 1637, who fled from the perfecution of Laud, 

 and the oppreffions of the ftar-chamber and high-commiffion 

 courts. Afterwards, when the Puritans were not allowed 

 to tranfport themfelves to New England, many of them re- 

 moved, with their families, into the Low Countries. 



After the reftoration of Charles IL in the year 1662, the 

 name of Puritans, fays bifhop Burnet, was changed into 

 that of Proteftant Non-conformiits, who were fubdivided 

 into Prefbyterians, Independents, Anabaptifts, and Quakers. 

 At this time a public law, called the Aft of Uniformity, 

 was enafted, by which ;ill who refufed to obferve the rites, 



and fubfcribe the doftrines of the church of England, were 

 entirely excluded from its communion. From this period until 

 the reign of king William 111. the Non-conformifts were in 

 a precarious and changing iltuation, fometimes involved in ca- 

 lamity and trouble, and at ottier times enjoying fome inter- 

 vals of tranquilhty and certain gleams of hope, according 

 to the varying fpirit of the court and miniltry, but never 

 entirely free from perplexities and fears. But in the year 

 1689, their affairs took a favourable turn, when a bill for 

 the toleration of all Proteftant Diflcnters from the church of 

 England, except the Socinians, palled in parliament, almoft 

 without oppofition, and delivered thofe who could comply 

 with the conditions it impofed, from the penal laws to which 

 they had been fubjefted by the aft of uniformity, and other 

 afts paffed under the houfe of Stuart. For the prefent ftate 

 of the toleratioE, fee Toleration. See alfo Cokpora- 

 •rroN jia and Test. Neal's Hilt, of the Puritans, in 

 4 vols.Svo. paflim. 



PURITY, in Oratory, is one of the conftituent parts of 

 elegance, and denotes the choice of fuch words and phrafes 

 as are fuited-and agreeable to the ufe of the language in 

 which we fpeak. Grammarians reduce the faults which 

 they oppofe to it to' two forts, which they call barbarifm 

 and folecifm ; the former of which refpcfts fingle words, 

 and is an offence againft etymology, and the reproach of it 

 is incurred by the ufe of words entirely obfolete, by the 

 ufe of words entirely new, or by new formations and com- 

 pofitions, from fimple and primitive words in prefent ufe. 

 Tlie latter refpefts the conftrudtion of words, and is an 

 offence againft fyntax : to which Dr. Campbell adds a third 

 clafs of faults, under the denomination of impropriety, which 

 is an offence againft lexicography, the bufinefs of which is 

 to affign to every word of the language the precife meaning 

 or meanings which ufe hath affigned to it. This impro- 

 priety occurs both in lingle words and in plu-afes. Dr. 

 Ward recounts the principal things that vitiate the purity of 

 language. It often happens, he fays, that fuch words and 

 forms of fpeaking, as were introduced by the learned, are 

 afterwards dropped by them, as mean and fordid, from a 

 iceming balenefs contrafted by vulgar ufe ; and it is com- 

 mon to language, with all other human produftions, that it 

 is in its own nature liable to a conftant change. (Hor. Art. 

 Poet. V. 68.) We muft, therefore, no lefs abftain from an- 

 tiquated, or obfolete words and phuafes, than from fordid 

 ones. On the other hand, we fliould refrain from new ones, 

 or fuch, whofe ufe has not been yet fufficiently eftablifhed, 

 at leaft among thofe of the beft tafte. Befides, any miftake 

 in the fenfe of words or their conftruftion, is oppofed to 

 purity : for to fpeak purely is to fpeak correftly. And 

 farther, a diftinftion ought to be made between a poetic 

 diftion, and that of profe writers : for poets in all lan- 

 guages have a fort of peculiar dialeft, and take greater li- 

 berties, not only in their figures, but alfo in their choice 

 and difpofition of words : fo that what is a beauty in them, 

 would often appear unnatural and affefted in profe. Ward's 

 Or. vol. i. p. 308, &c. Campbell's Phil, of Rhet. vol. i. 

 p. 4.09, &c. _ _ , 



PURKI, in Geography, a town of Hindooftan, in Bahar; 

 33 miles N. of Ramgur. 



PURLIEU. See Puni.uE. 



PuRLiEU-Zfooi/f, fuch as formerly conftituted parts of 

 the royal forefts, but of which the owners have obtained 

 grants from the crown, and permiffion to disforeft them, 

 and which not being now fubjeft to "any of the laws or re- 

 gulations by which different interefts in foreft woods are 

 condufted, may, Mr. Donaldfon fays, be to all intents and 

 purpofes coufidered as private property. And, he adds, 



that 



