Discouraged by
this apparent defection, some of his friends advised him to treat with
the Parliament, or, in other words, to submit unconditionally. In
abandoning his own personal rights, His Majesty had gone as far as his
conscience would permit, and he chose rather to suffer banishment or
death, than yield to abolish the church he had sworn to defend, as
Parliament now required him to do, in the phrase of "casting out an
idle, unsound, unprofitable, and scandalous ministry, and providing a
sound, godly, profitable, and preaching ministry, in every congregation
through the land." Yet he so far conceded as to make an offer of
reconciliation, secretly convinced that the latent insolence with which
it would be rejected, though couched in smooth language, would awaken
the nation to a sense of duty. The event justified his expectation, and
the King was enabled to make a glorious, but unsuccessful resistance,
during which, though many excellent persons fell (himself among the
number), the principles of reciprocal duty between King and subject were
defined, and hypocrites, fanatics, and republicans, were completely
unmasked.
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