Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/118

 a new order founded by the Romanists to oppose the principles of the reformers. Many of these came to England for this purpose. There was danger of their undermining the Church's constitution also. It was necessary for Elizabeth to take strong measures to keep them out of the Church. Hence, as we have seen before, Thirty-nine Articles of Religion were drawn up, to which the clergy were compelled to subcribe [sic]. These articles not only excluded Romanists from the Church, but they contained many things objectionable to the Puritans as well. As a result of this many more Puritans were forced to leave the Church. The Puritans then became more marked as a separate body, and they formed meeting-houses of their own for public worship.

The chief leader of the Puritans was Thomas Cartwright, a Presbyterian, a very bitter and intolerant man, according to Professor Green; but of this side of his character we shall have occasion to speak later in the evening. He was a Professor at Cambridge, and while there he "took advantage of his position," says Mr. Hore, "as lecturer and a preacher at S. Mary's, to impugn the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England." He was a learned man, as seen from the controversy between him and Whitgift, but because of his teaching he was deprived of his Fellowship and debarred from holding any office in the University. Then he went to Geneva for a couple of years. When he came back to England again he was more than ever indoctrinated with reforming principles, and he became a still more bitter enemy of the Church which had bred him.