PURBECK, ISLE OF. - PURITANS.

nearta of red cloth, and it is trimmed round thebottom with a fringe. Around his neck Pulcinellawears a linen ruffle ; on his head a white woollencap, with its long point terminating in red tuft; threefourths of the face are covered with a black mask ;the nose is curved and pointed, like a bird’s beak.This mask speaks the dialect of the peasants, andfigures not merely in the theatre, but at all the popu-lar festivals in Naples, especially during the carnival.

Purbeck, Isle of. An extensive peninsular dis-trict in the county of Dorset. Its form is an irre-gular oval, the greatest length being about twelvemiles, and the general breadth about seven. Thesoil is calcareous ; and, for the most part, a continuedmass of limestone, either white, and unmixed withshells, or brown, and replete with them. RoundLuhvorth, large nodules of flint appear. The faceof the isle is irregular, the north and west sides beingdivided from the east by two ranges of high hills.To the south it is diversified with hill and dale, inter-spersed with brooks, and enriched with corn-fields,coppices, and pastures. In old writings, the isle ofPurbeck is styled a “ Forest, chase, and warren.”King John made it a forest; but, by right, it oughtto have been only a hare warren. The forest ex-tended over the whole isle, and the woods were wellstocked with red and fallow deer, and stags, especiallyin the west part; but these were destroyed in thecivil wars, and few, if any, have remained in thememory of man, as James I. was the last of ourkings who hunted here. The island contains exten-sive farm-houses ; most of them appear to have beenlarger. They were probably built for the receptionand convenience of the nobility and gentry, whoattended the royal hunts here; as most of the ownersof estates in this part of the country had their seatselsewhere, and only came here in the huntingseason.

Purchase, in law. The acquiring of land or otherwith property money, by deed or agreement, and notby descent or right of inheritance. It is by thisspecies of conveyance that the power of the aristo-cracy is now rapidly diminishing.

Purgatory. According to the creed of theRoman-catholic church, a place of purification, inwhich after death those souls are cleansed which arenot sufficiently pure to enjoy the happiness of Heaven.The council of Trent confirmed this doctrine, as sanc-tioned by holy scripture and tradition. The protes-tants and Greek church do not, however, receive it.Origen and Augustine, among the fathers, have beenmost full upon this point, upon which later catholictheologians dwelt with still more minuteness. Theyteach that it is situated on the borders of the infernalpit; that a spark of its fires causes more sufferingfhan any bodily pain ; that every soul is purified injt, the members which have sinned being burned inits flames; and that, by masses for the deceased,their sufferings may be mitigated, and the time oftheir punishment shortened. The origin of thisbelief is to be traced to the doctrine of Plato, thatthere was a state of purification after death, whichwas introduced by the fathers of the church, particu-larly Clement of Alexandria, into the Christian sys-tem. Gregory the Great gave to this article ak c extens ' on > and employed it for the profit ofR e ur ?^' ^ le council of Florence, in 1439, wasthe first in which the doctrine of purgatory was men-tioned ; the monstrous perversions which it had suf-Literatdre.— Vol. III.

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fered in the hands of the monks, made it a prominentobject of attack to the protestants.

The doctrine of a state of future purification wasclosely connected by the ancients with that of thetransmigration of souls, which, as it first prevailedamong the Egyptians, was nothing more than a sym-bolical representation of the immortality of the soul.Succeeding philosophers made use of this doctrineof transmigration to deter the rude tribes from sin,by connecting their future condition with that of thevarious species of animals which was well fitted tostrike unreflecting natures, and it was afterwardschosen by the catholic church to indicate the modeof the purification of the soul and its preparation forthe joys of heaven. Plato did more than is usuallybelieved to develope this doctrine.

Such a middle state is not altogether inconsistentwith reason, since there are many, who, at death, arenot deserving of the joys of heaven, nor the punish-ment of hell, and the doctrine accords with the spiritof the Christian religion, which represents the holi-ness of God, and declares that without holiness noone can be united with him.

Puritans, in the English church. A sect whoprofessed to follow the pure word of God, in oppo-sition to traditions, human constitutions, and otherauthorities. In the reign of queen Elizabeth, theprotestants were divided into two parties, those whowere in favour of adhering to the liturgy establishedin the reign of Edward, and those who wished tointroduce a simpler, and, as they considered it, apurer form of church government and worship. Thelatter were termed Puritans, and many of the distin-guished clergy favoured these views. The queen,however, and the majority of the clergy, preferred theEpiscopal form of government, and were attached tomany forms and ceremonies upon which the Puritanslooked with aversion. The rigorous measures fol-lowed by the dominant party to compel conformity,only served to alienate the Puritanical party, and topush them into more decided opposition to the cere-monials of divine worship. In 1566, the Puritansresolved that duty required them to break off fromthe church, and assemble, as they best could, bythemselves, to worship God in their own way; theyalso laid aside the English liturgy, and adopted theGeneva service-book. They objected further to thehierarchy, as not authorised by Scripture, to kneelingat the sacraments, using the sign of the cross at bap-tism, bowing at the name of Jesus, wearing the sur-plice and other vestments in divine service, &c. Inpoint of doctrine there was as yet no difference be-tween the Puritans and Conformists ; the former,however, as was natural for a persecuted party, main-tained that every man had a natural right to judgefor himself, without being subject to the laws of thecivil magistrate, or the decrees of councils, churches,or synods. Towards the end of Elizabeth’s reign,a party arose which were first for softening, andthen for overthrowing, the received opinions concern-ing predestination, perseverance, free will, effectualgrace, and the extent of Christ’s redemption. Theclergy of the church began to lean towards Armi-nianism, while the Puritans adhered rigorously tothe system of Calvin, and all Calvinists, whetherEpiscopal or Presbyterian, were called doctrinalPuritans. The name was also applied to all whowere remarkably strict in their morals, and severe inmanners. Elizabeth treated the Puritans with greatA A