cause of truth and charity amongst Christian Englishmen. The plan of the work, and the various aspects under which the public affairs, the principal actors, and the private religious life of England from the opening of the Long Parliament to the death of Oliver Cromwell are exhibited, may be discovered at a glance, by any one who will take the trouble to run over the table of contents. Many defects which have escaped the Author will doubtless be noticed by his critics, and in this respect he ventures to throw himself upon their candour and generosity. One omission, however, may be explained. The theological literature of the period needs to be studied at large, for the purpose of making apparent the grounds upon which different bodies of Christians based their respective beliefs. Most ecclesiastical historians fail to exhibit those grounds. The Author is fully aware of this deficiency in his own case; but it is his hope, should Divine Providence spare his life, to be enabled, in some humble degree, to supply that deficiency at a future time. He begs gratefully to acknowledge the valuable assistance rendered him by the Very Reverend the Dean of Westminster, in what relates to Westminster Abbey and the Universities--by Mr. John Bruce, F.S.A., for information and advice on several curious points--and by Mr. Clarence Hopper, who has collated with the originals, almost all the extracts from State Papers. Nor can he omit thankfully to notice the special facilities afforded him for consulting the large collection of Commonwealth pamphlets in the British Museum, and the polite attention and help which he has received from gentlemen connected with Sion College and with Dr. Williams' Library. He has also had other helpers in his own house--helpers very dear to him, whom he must not name. [Illustration] CONTENTS. INTRODUCTION. PAGE. Opening of Long Parliament 1 ANGLICANS. Under Elizabeth 4 Under the Stuarts 6 Spirit of Anglicanism 9 Intolerance 17 Ecclesiastical Courts 18 High Commission Court 20 Star Chamber Court 26 Strafford 29 Laud 31 PURITANS. In the reign of Elizabeth 40 Change in the Controversy 45 Puritan dislike of Ceremonies 48 Sufferings 49 Emigration 50