Page:The Homes of the New World- Vol. I.djvu/209

 were of that party which in England was called Puritan; which had arisen after the Reformation, and in consequence of it, and which required a more perfect Reformation than that which Luther had brought about. But they desired more; to give full activity to the truth which Luther promulgated when he asserted man's direct relationship to God through Jesus Christ, denying any right of the Church or of tradition to interfere in the determination of that which should be believed or taught, and demanding liberty for every human being to examine and judge for himself in matters of faith, acknowledging no other law or authority than God's Word in the Bible. The Puritans demanded on these grounds their right to reject the old ceremonial of the Established Church, and in the place of those empty forms, the right to choose their own minister; the right to worship God in spirit and in truth, and the right of deciding for themselves their form of Church government. Puritanism was the rising of that old divine leaven which Christ had foretold should one day “leaven the whole lump” of the spiritual life of liberty in Jesus Christ. The charter of freedom given by him was the watchword of the Puritans. With this in their hand and on their lips they dared to enter into combat with the dominant Episcopal Church; refused to unite themselves with it, called themselves non-conformists, and held separate assemblies or religious conventicles. The State Church and the government rose in opposition and passed an act against conventicles.

But the Puritans and the conventicles increased year by year in England. Noble priests, such as Wicliff, and many of the respectable of the land, became their adherents. Queen Elizabeth treated them however with caution and respect. Her successor, King James, raved blindly against them, saying,—“I will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the land; or worse, only hang them; that is all!” And the choice was given them;