theaters is small, dancing is considered as an amusement of a more
or less equivocal character, and the Sabbath is rigidly observed; and
among all the simple Democratic churches of New England, to dance or
to attend the theater is considered almost morally wrong. It was just
so in the days of Laud. He wished to encourage amusements among the
people, particularly on Sunday, after church. This was partly for the
purpose of counteracting the efforts of those who were inclined to
Puritan views. They attached great importance to their sermons and
lectures, for in them they could address and influence the people. But
by means of these addresses, as Laud thought, they put ideas of
insubordination into the minds of the people, and encroached on the
authority of the Church and of the king. To prevent this, the
High-Church party wished to exalt the _prayers_ in the Church service,
and to give as little place and influence as possible to the sermon,
and to draw off the attention of the people from the discussions and
exhortations of the preachers by encouraging games, dances, and
amusements of all kinds.

The judges in one of the counties, at a regular court held by them,
once passed an order forbidding certain revels and carousals connected
with the Church service, on account of the immoralities and disorders,
as they alleged, to which they gave rise; and they ordered that public
notice to this effect should be given by the bishop. The archbishop,
Laud, considered this an interference on the part of the civil
magistrates, with the powers and prerogatives of the Church. He had
the judges brought before the council, and censured there; and they
were required by the council to revoke their order at the next court.
The judges did so, but in such a way as to show that they did it
simply in obedience to the command of the king's council. The people,
or at least all of them who were inclined to Puritan views, sided
with the judges, and were more strict in abstaining from all such
amusements on Sunday than ever. This, of course, made those who were
on the side of Laud more determined to promote these gayeties. Thus,
as neither party pursued, in the least degree, a generous or
conciliatory course toward the other, the difference between them
widened more and more. The people of the country were fast becoming
either bigoted High-Churchmen or fanatical Puritans.

Laud employed the power of the Star Chamber a great deal in the
accomplishm