"And, indeed, they are hard to be understood, save by the wise and learned.

But this much I gather: When the King came to the throne, all men hoped for better days--liberty to think each according to his conscience, liberty each to follow his own priest or pastor, and join without fear in his own form of worship.

The Papists believed that the son of Mary Stuart would scarce show severity to them.

The Puritans were assured that one bred up by the Presbyterians of Scotland would surely incline to their ways of worship and thought.

But the King has disappointed both, and has allied himself heart and soul with the Episcopal faction and the Church of the Establishment; and, not content with that, is striving to enforce the penal statutes against all who do not conform as they were never enforced in the Queen's time.