Page:The Church of England, its catholicity and continuity.djvu/127

 the Churchmanship of such men as Laud. "They received orders," says Green, "to revise the Articles, to draw up a Confession of Faith, and a Directory for Public Worship; and these, with their scheme of Church government &hellip; were accepted by the Houses of Parliament and embodied in a series of ordinances." The Directory of Public Worship was ordered to take the place of our Book of Common Prayer, and on August 23rd, 1645, Parliament passed an ordinance enforcing its use. This said: "It is hereby ordained by the said Lords and Commons that, if any person or persons whatsoever shall at any time or times hereafter cause to be used the aforesaid Book of Common Prayer in any Church, chapel, or place of public worship, or in any private place or family within the Kingdom of England or Dominion of Wales, or post or town of Berwick; then every such person so offending shall for the first offence forfeit and pay the sum of five pounds, for the second offence the sum of ten pounds, and for the third offence shall suffer one year's imprisonment without bail or mainprise, and further, every minister who does not strictly keep to the Directory for Public Worship, shall every time he offends forfeit forty shillings." Mr. Hore says that "Any one writing or preaching against the Directory was liable to a fine not less than five pounds nor more than fifty pounds." What do you think of this as a coercive measure? This was one of the laws of the Puritans. This was drawn up without consultation with Churchmen, and it was imposed upon the whole realm. Mr. Lane, in his Church History, tells us what this law means for England.