In England, the term Puritans was applied to those who wished
for a farther degree of reformation in the church than was adopted by
Queen Elizabeth; and a purer form, not of faith, but of discipline and
worship. It was a common name given to all who, from conscientious
motives, though on different grounds, disapproved of the established
religion, from the reformation under Elizabeth, to the Act of Uniformity
in 1662. From that time to the revolution in 1688, as many as refused to
comply with the established worship, (among whom were about two thousand
clergymen, and perhaps five hundred thousand people,) were denominated
Nonconformists. From the passing of the Act of Toleration on the
accession of William and Mary, the name of Nonconformists was changed to
that of Protestant Dissenters. Prior to the grand rebellion in 1640, the
Puritans were, almost without exception, Episcopalians; but after the
famous “League and Covenant” of those turbulent times the greater part
of them became Presbyterians. Some, however, were Independents, and some
Baptists. The objections of the latter were more fundamental; they
disapproved of all national churches, as such, and disavowed the
authority of human legislation in matters of faith and worship. The
persecutions carried on against the Puritans during the reigns of
Elizabeth and the Stuarts served to lay the foundation of a new empire,
and eventually a vast republic, in the western world. Thither, as into a
wilderness, they fled from the face of their persecutors; and, being
protected in the free exercise of their religion, continued to increase,
until at length they became an independent nation. The different
principles, however, on which they had originally divided from the
church establishment at home, operated in a way that might have been
expected, when they came to the possession of the civil power abroad.
Those who formed the colony of Massachusetts having never relinquished
the principle of a national church, and of the power of the civil
magistrate in matters of faith and worship, were less tolerant than
those who settled at New Plymouth, at Rhode Island, and Providence
Plantations. The very men who had just escaped the persecutions of the
English prelates, now, in their turn, persecuted others who dissented
from them; until, at length, the liberal system of toleration
established in the parent country at the revolution, extended to the
colonies, and in a good measure put an end to these censurable
proceedings.
for a farther degree of reformation in the church than was adopted by
Queen Elizabeth; and a purer form, not of faith, but of discipline and
worship. It was a common name given to all who, from conscientious
motives, though on different grounds, disapproved of the established
religion, from the reformation under Elizabeth, to the Act of Uniformity
in 1662. From that time to the revolution in 1688, as many as refused to
comply with the established worship, (among whom were about two thousand
clergymen, and perhaps five hundred thousand people,) were denominated
Nonconformists. From the passing of the Act of Toleration on the
accession of William and Mary, the name of Nonconformists was changed to
that of Protestant Dissenters. Prior to the grand rebellion in 1640, the
Puritans were, almost without exception, Episcopalians; but after the
famous “League and Covenant” of those turbulent times the greater part
of them became Presbyterians. Some, however, were Independents, and some
Baptists. The objections of the latter were more fundamental; they
disapproved of all national churches, as such, and disavowed the
authority of human legislation in matters of faith and worship. The
persecutions carried on against the Puritans during the reigns of
Elizabeth and the Stuarts served to lay the foundation of a new empire,
and eventually a vast republic, in the western world. Thither, as into a
wilderness, they fled from the face of their persecutors; and, being
protected in the free exercise of their religion, continued to increase,
until at length they became an independent nation. The different
principles, however, on which they had originally divided from the
church establishment at home, operated in a way that might have been
expected, when they came to the possession of the civil power abroad.
Those who formed the colony of Massachusetts having never relinquished
the principle of a national church, and of the power of the civil
magistrate in matters of faith and worship, were less tolerant than
those who settled at New Plymouth, at Rhode Island, and Providence
Plantations. The very men who had just escaped the persecutions of the
English prelates, now, in their turn, persecuted others who dissented
from them; until, at length, the liberal system of toleration
established in the parent country at the revolution, extended to the
colonies, and in a good measure put an end to these censurable
proceedings.