form of government; but the parliament, which had assumed the power, and exercised it at the commencement of the war, still continued to govern. The Presbyterians had the control of affairs chiefly in their hands, and proceeded to model the religion of the nation to suit their peculiar views. Instead of the liturgy of the Church of England, they set up the Directory for Public Worship; and, forgetting the severity of their own sufferings for non-conformity, when others were in power, they now set about compelling all to comply with their established forms. The arguments they had used against persecution for religion, when smarting under the lash of the Episcopal Church, were urged upon them in vain. Having the power in their hands, they appeared to consider it as a sufficient authority for coercing others, to adopt that form of worship and system of doctrines, which they had determined to be the best. Never did religious toleration seem to be less understood, or the great right of liberty of conscience more wantonly disregarded.

But while the parliament was acting in conformity with these narrow and bigoted opinions, principles of a contrary character were at work in the army, where the Independents predominated, and carried with them their wonted liberality toward the conscientious dissent of others. Against this latitude of indulgence, the Presbyterians declared with great earnestness, as a source of innumerable evils, and tending to the destruction of all religion. A long conference took place between the two parties, for the purpose of making some arrangement, by which the Independent form of worship and discipline could be included; but such was the pertinacity of the Presbyterian faction, that they refused to yield anything, and the scheme was abandoned as hopeless.

This arbitrary and oppressive course, rendered the sect unpopular; and the Independents finding they were not likely to obtain much from the parliament, and having the army on their side, with Oliver Cromwell at its head, he put an end to the Commonwealth and the parliament together, in the year 1653—the former having continued a little more than four years, and the latter sat as a legislative body, with some short intermissions, for thirteen years.

It was not long ere Cromwell and his officers struck out a new form of government; and in the latter end of 1653, he was declared Lord Protector of England, Scotland and Ireland, &c. The principles of the new government, relative to religion, were more liberal and Christian, than any which preceded it. The articles of the constitution embracing that subject, contain the following, viz:

"That the Christian religion contained in the Scriptures, be

held forth and recommended as the public profession of these nations.

"That none be compelled to conform to the public religion, by penalties or otherwise; but that endeavours be used to win them by sound doctrine and the example of a good conversation.

"That such as profess faith in God, by Jesus Christ, though differing in judgment from the doctrine, worship, and discipline publicly held forth, shall not be restrained from, but shall be protected in, the profession of their faith, and the exercise of their religion; so as they abuse not this liberty to the civil injury of others, and to the actual disturbance of the public peace on their parts; provided, this liberty be not extended to popery or prelacy, or to such as, under a profession of Christ, hold forth and practice licentiousness."

Creditable as these provisions are to the enlightened views of religious toleration, entertained by those who framed them, they are still defective, in making exceptions to two classes of professors. Had they been faithfully carried out in practice, they would have saved much suffering for conscience sake, both to Friends and the Baptists. For however favourable the protector was to granting liberty of conscience to all, it was not the case with the magistrates, justices and others, in whose hands the execution of the laws was placed. From the cupidity or intolerance of these, Friends were often interrupted in the exercise of their religion, and punished, because they could not swear or pay tithes, though to a much less degree than was afterward the

case.

Toward the close of Cromwell's government, he was again declared protector, under new articles of government, in which an attempt was made to narrow the grounds of toleration, by a more close definition of the doctrines to be professed.

In the opening of the second session of the parliament, in 1657, the Lord Commissioner Fiennes "warns the house of the rock on which many had split, which was a spirit of imposing upon men's consciences, in things wherein God leaves them a latitude, and would have them free."-" As God is no respecter of persons, so he is no respecter of forms; but in what form soever the spirit of imposition appears, he will testify against it. If men, though otherwise good, will turn ceremony into substance, and make the kingdom of Christ consistent in circumstances, in discipline, and in forms, . . . in vain do they protest against the persecution of God's people, when they make the definition of God's people so narrow, that their persecution is as broad as any other, and usually more fierce, because edged with a sharp temper of spirit." "It is good to hold forth a public profession of the truth, but not so as to exclude those that cannot

come up to it in all points, from the privilege that belongs to them as Christians, much less to the privilege that belongs to them as men."

These just sentiments, which appeared to be gaining ground in the minds of men, were soon to receive a check, by the change of rulers. In 1658, Oliver Cromwell died, and was succeeded by his son Richard; who, finding the difficulties and perplexities of balancing the power of rival parties, and conducting the affairs of state, little suited either to his capacity or his inclination, resigned his high and responsible station, after having occupied it only eight months.

A short interregnum ensued, and in 1660 the kingdom was restored to the house of Stuart, by proclaiming Charles II.

These frequent changes in the government had a tendency to keep up the unsettlement which had long agitated the nation, as well as those violent party feelings and prejudices, which the political and religious struggles had engendered. Friends took no part in the revolutions of government-their principles forbade them from putting down or setting up, and taught them to live peaceably, as good citizens, under whatever power the Ruler of the universe permitted to be established over them. But though peaceable and non-resisting in their conduct, they were neither idle nor unconcerned spectators of the course of events. Believing that righteousness was the only security for a nation's stability and prosperity, they earnestly enforced on the parliament and protector, as well as the monarchs who succeeded, the suppres sion of vice and immorality, the equal administration of justice, and the removal of all oppression. The addresses made to those in authority by George Fox, Edward Burrough and others, are marked with innocent boldness, and good sense, delivered in a style of great frankness and honesty. Nor did they omit to warn them of the consequences which would ensue if they failed to. perform the divine will, predicting with clearness the overthrow of Oliver's government, and some other changes which occurred.

In his declaration issued from Breda, on the eve of his sailing for England to assume the crown, Charles held this conciliatory language, calculated to allay the fears of those who dreaded the restoration of the hierarchy. "We do also declare a liberty to tender consciences, and that no man shall be disquieted or called in question for differences of opinion, in matters of religion, which do not disturb the peace of the kingdom."

But plausible as are these promises, and sincere as the king might have been in making them, the event proved how little reliance was to be placed upon the royal word. Devoted to his own pleasures, and with too little application or industry to examine the opinions of his advisers, or inquire into the sufferings

sustained by his subjects, he permitted the clergy to pursue their own measures for the promotion of the church, who took care to return the measure of persecution, meted to them under the commonwealth and protectorate, heaped up and running over into the bosoms of the dissenters. Conformity was rigidly enforced, and not satisfied with the existing statutes for punishing those who dared to differ in their consciences from the prescribed standard, new and more oppressive laws were procured.

The persecution fell with peculiar severity on Friends, who were suspected of being unfriendly to the restoration of the king, from their refusal to take any oath, and consequently the oath of allegiance to the crown-though they repeatedly offered instead, their most solemn declarations to the same effect.

The peaceable and unresisting spirit which governed the conduct of Friends, seemed to embolden their persecutors to oppress them without colour of law or justice, knowing they had nothing to fear from the law of retaliation, and that but few could be found to plead their cause or espouse the defence of their rights.

To give some colour to the severities practised against them, pretexts were drawn from supposed violations of the regulations of civil policy-"A Christian exhortation to an assembly after the priest had done and the worship was over, was denominated interrupting public worship, and disturbing the priest in his office; an honest testimony against wickedness in the streets or market place, was styled a breach of the peace; and their appearing before the magistrates covered, a contempt of authority; hence proceeded fines, imprisonments and spoiling of goods. Nay, so hot were some of the magistrates for persecution, even in Crom. well's time, that by an unparalleled and most unjust misconstruction of the law against vagrants, they tortured with cruel whippings and exposed in the stocks, the bodies both of men and women of good estate and reputation, merely because they went under the denomination of Quakers."

Several obsolete statutes were brought to bear most heavily upon Friends, though originally enacted with a view of reaching the Papists, who refused to conform to the established religion. Among these was an act passed in the thirty-second year of Henry VIII.'s reign, against subtracting or withholding tithes ; obliging justices to commit obstinate defendants to prison, until they should find sufficient security for their compliance.-The laws made in Elizabeth's reign for enforcing a uniformity of worship, authorizing the levy of a fine of one shilling per week for the use of the poor, from such as did not resort to some church of the established religion, every sabbath or holy day,and also another, establishing a forfeiture of twenty pounds per month for the like default. A third law empowered the officers

to seize all the goods, or a third part of the lands, of every such offender for the fine of twenty pounds. And as if these were not sufficiently severe, another was enacted in the thirty-fifth year of Queen Elizabeth, obliging offenders in the like case to abjure the realm, on pain of death.

All these laws were revived, and attempts made to enforce them in the cases of Friends, though it was well known they were designed to bear upon the Papists. As Friends could not conscientiously pay tithes, believing that the ministry of the gospel should be free, according to the express injunction of Christ to his apostles, "Freely ye have received, freely give," great havoc was made of their property by the rapacious priests.

The Society of Friends viewed the positive command of our Lord, "Swear not at all," corroborated by the exhortation of the Apostle James, "But above all things, my brethren, swear not; neither by Heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath," as being of indispensable obligation, and entirely precluding the Christian from taking an oath on any occasion whatever. Soon after Charles II. came to the throne, the acts made in the reigns of Elizabeth and James, requiring the subject to take the oaths of allegiance and supremacy were revived, and visited upon Friends with great oppression.

In 1661, the parliament passed another act, aimed directly at the Society, providing that any Quaker refusing to take an oath, when lawfully tendered, or who should maintain, in writing or otherwise, the unlawfulness of taking an oath; or if five or more Quakers, above the age of sixteen years, should assemble for religious worship, they should forfeit five pounds for the first of fence, or suffer three months imprisonment; doubling the penalty for the second offence; and for the third, they were to abjure the realm, or be transported.

The insurrection of the "fifth monarchy men," as they were called, was the occasion of fresh persecution to Friends. They were a company of infatuated men, who, supposing that the one thousand years of Christ's reign on earth, mentioned in Rev. xx. was just commencing, rose in arms and ran about the streets of London, crying out that they were going to overthrow the government of King Charles, and set up King Jesus. Although there was not the shadow of reason, for connecting the Society in any way with this wild insurrection, yet the king made it the pretext for issuing his proclamation, for the suppression of all unlawful conventicles, or meetings for religious purposes, designating particularly those of the Anabaptists and Quakers. This encouraged the profane and irreligious populace to assail the meetings of Friends, and inflict upon them the grossest outrages and cruelties.