Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/114

98 refer to Puritanism. I want to show how the Puritans for a time gained the supreme control over ecclesiastical matters in our country. In the first place, then, I will give a general idea of the growth of the movement; then pass on to show what it did when it was raised to the height of its power. In the last place, I will dwell upon some of the consequences of its work, and leave you to gather your own conclusions respecting its value.

The Puritan principles were opposed to nearly every distinct principle of the Church of England. The Puritans denied the doctrine of Apostolic Succession, and opposed our teaching on the Sacraments. Puritans abhorred anything that savoured of prelacy. In theory they opposed a State religion, but when in power they tried all the same to impose, by Act of Parliament, Puritan principles on the State. They especially objected to the wearing of the surplice and all ecclesiastical vestments. They tried to abolish the use of the ring in the performance of our marriage vows. The sign of the Cross should not be used over our infants when brought to Church to receive Holy Baptism. The scruples of the Puritans went so far indeed that they would not allow us to deck our houses at jolly Christmas-tide with the holly and the mistletoe. They deprived us of the innocent pleasure of eating our mince-pies.

The Puritans were especially zealous to establish the supremacy of the Bible. They made our nation a nation of the Bible. Nothing was allowed in public worship which could not be proved or gathered from the sacred pages. They had so much reverence for the Book that they mixed up their ordinary conversation with Biblical phrases.