to the Church of England. They said that they were "groaning under a common burden of human rites and ceremonies." Complaint was made of our Book of Common Prayer. They objected to the word "priest" and disapproved of absolution. They complained of the length of the Church Services, of their having to sign the Thirty-Nine Articles, of the use of the cross in Holy Baptism; they found fault with our beautiful rite of Confirmation. They also disliked the use of the square cap, the surplice, and the marriage ring. Church music was another thing to which they raised objection. They raised scruples against bowing at the mention of the sacred Name of Jesus. They said, too, that the Apocrypha should not be used for public reading in Church. These were some of the practices to which they objected in their petition to the king.
The king did not reject their petition without consideration. A meeting was called to discuss it on January 14th, 1604, at Hampton Court. James was glad of the opportunity of displaying his knowledge on theological matters. He was not altogether ignorant, though most pedantic on this subject. "The wisest fool in Christendom" he has been called by some wag. The leading Puritans of the period were summoned to the Conference, to meet the heads of the English Church. Among the Churchmen present were Archbishop Whitgift, Bishop Bancroft of London, Launcelot Andrewes Dean of Westminster, Barlow Dean of Christ Church, and Overall Dean of S. Paul's.
The king called upon the Puritans to state their grievances. He asked for their opinion on our Prayer Book, on Confirmation, Absolution and Baptism, on those points, in fact,
