3 8o HISTORY OF GREAT BRITAIN.

chap. A fast , on the last Wednesday of everylvii. month , had been ordered by the parliament ati«44. the beginning of these commotions ; and theirpreachers, on that day, were careful to keepalive, by their vehement declamations , the po-pular prejudices entertained against: the king,against prelacy, and against popery. The king,that he might combat the parliament with theirown weapons, appointed likewise a monthly fast,when the people should be instructed in theduties of loyalty and of submission to the higherpowers; and he chose the second Friday of everymonth for the devotion of the royalists Itwas now proposed and carried in parliament, bythe independents , that a new and more solemnfast should be voted; when they should implorethe divine assistance for extricating them fromthose perplexities, in which they were at presentinvolved. On that day , the preachers, aftermany political prayers, took care to treat of thereigning divisions in the parliament, and ascribedthem entirely to the selfish ends,'pursued by themembers. In the hands .of those members, theysaid, are lodged all the considerable commandsof the army, all the lucrative offices in the civiladministration : And while the nation is fallingevery day into poverty , and groans under aninsupportable load of taxes; these men multiplypossession on possession, and will, in a little time,be masters of all the wealth of the kingdom.

Ruihworth , vol. vi. p. j 64.