public light, many years after his decease, is a singular confirmation of these remarks. After many migrations from place to place, and many changes of fortune under the successive pastoracies of Lathorp, Canne, Howe and More, it settles at last in Deadman'splace, Southwark, at the house of Richard Sturges, one of the members. The Long Parliament has commenced auspiciously, but does not yet know its own mind in reference to religious liberty. While John Milton is writing his treatise on Reformation in England, and lauding both lords and commons to the skies for what they have already done, he hardly suspects what is going on in their neighbourhood in the first instance, and in their house shortly after. Laud is in the Tower; and probably, like many others, the generous patriot imagines that the reign of tyranny is over. But it is not so yet. The spirit of Laud yet lives in the hearts of constables and church-wardens, who have a secret dread lest their master and whipper-in may break from his durance, and make them pay the penalty for neglect of duty. Besides, the Star Chamber. and High Commission, though doomed, are not yet destroyed; and who can tell at present, whether the parliament or these shall obtain the victory in the struggle already commenced? On the 16th of January, therefore, the churchwardens of St. Saviour's take what they deem the wiser course; and repairing with their constables to Deadman's-place, seize whomsoever they can lay hold of, and take them before the marshal of the King's-bench. The marshal receives the charge against them, of violating the law of the 35th of Elizabeth, which requires that they shall go to their parish church and hear Common Prayer. But he condescends to ask them why they refuse to

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do so. The principles of these men are given in their reply, recorded in the Lords' Journals :- They answered, That the 35th Elizabeth was not a true law, for that it was made by the bishops; and that they would not obey it. 2. That they would not go to their parish churches: that those churches were not true churches; and that there was no true church but where the faithful met. 3. That the king could not make a perfect law, for he was not a perfect man. 4. That they ought not to obey him, but in civil things." It is also added, "that some of them threatened the churchwardens and constables, that they had not yet answered for this day's work." They were forthwith committed to the Clink prison. On the 18th of the same month they were brought before the House of Lords, with the marshal, churchwardens, constables, and witnesses, and examined before them. No doubt, Lords Brooke, Say, and Wharton were present, and helped to conduct the examination. Here, then, were men holding principles identical with theirs,-only more consistently carried out,-quite unknown to them, and persecuted under their very eyes. After being admonished, they were released, never to be maltreated again by churchwardens and constables for many a long year.

Probably Lords Say and Brooke hardly knew at this time how far these Christian men, and the "sixty more" with whom they held fellowship, were of their own party; or they might have saved them from the admonition they received. Moreover, the order afterwards passed by the lords-"That the said sectaries should repair to their parish churches, to hear divine service, and to give obedience thereunto, according to the acts of parliament of this realm,"—

seems to confirm us in the opinion, that even the Independents in the House of Lords and Commons at this time, were only Congregational Independents, and did not fully understand the great principle of religious liberty. It is pleasing, however, to find that some of the peers, without doubt these amongst the number, went on the following Sabbath to the place of meeting. Stephen More, their chosen pastor, had the honour of preaching before their lordships, and did not fail to open and expound "those principles for which they had been accused." After this the church celebrated the Lord's Supper, the peers being still present, whether as communicants or spectators we are not informed. If Lord Brooke was already a member of the Independent church at Warwick, there is no difficulty in supposing that he was cordially received to their fellowship; since the rigidness of the separatists and sectaries, as they were called, consisted only in their separating "the precious from the vile."*

The Independents of this, as of former periods, must be regarded as forming two distinct classes; the one comprising those who were generally known as separatists and anabaptists; the other, those who had hitherto been known as rigid puritans, but were now becoming better known as "of the Independent way," or of "the New England way." The former class embraced all the three principles of Independency; the latter were Congregational Independents only. The former would not have the state "meddle" with religion; the latter had not got farther than to the principle that each church or congregation should manage its own affairs, without foreign control either

* Hanbury, ii. 66, 67.

from diocesan bishops or synods. The former did not altogether disapprove of the association of churches for purposes of sympathy and mutual recognition; the latter earnestly desired such association, and would have been willing to come within the operation of a "persuasive synod," formally constituted, for purposes of mutual counsel and order. It is important to bear this distinction in mind, in order to a clear conception of the relative position and progress of parties.

The controversy between the Congregationalists and the presbyterians had been going on for many years before this period, and had turned in a great measure to the advantage of the former. Treatises from New England and Holland had continually been making their way into this country, and were widely circulated. Canne, in particular, had done much service by his various writings, both before and after he adopted the opinions of the baptists.* Many who could not follow him in his separatist principles, yielded conviction to his able expositions of Congregationalism. Notwithstanding the numerical force of the presbyterians in parliament at a later period, we are inclined to think that the Congregationalists had made by far the deepest impression upon the public mind of England in the early period of the Long Parliament, and might have retained their position with increasing power, but for two circumstances. The first of these

* Canne was very busy in Bristol and Wales in 1640-1, and assisted in forming many churches. He returned to Amsterdam in 1641. William Best, in 1635, did great service in his reply to John Paget. Cotton, the friend and adviser of Sir Harry Vane, was continually sending forth his anti-presbyterial missives, to the great annoyance of Baillie, of whom we shall have something to say presently.

was the political predominance of the Scotch interest, occasioned by the peculiar circumstances in which the country was placed; and the second was the accident, if it may be so termed, that the leading Independents in parliament, and in connexion with it, were for the most part of the second class, referred to a little way back as Congregational Independents only.

We shall have occasion to refer more fully in another chapter to the latter circumstance; the former we proceed to illustrate in this connexion.

It is evident from the letters of Robert Baillie, one of the leaders of the Scotch presbyterians, that it was a principal aim of that party to establish their system of ecclesiastical polity in England, as well as in their own country. At first they were satisfied with resisting the attempt of Charles and Laud to enforce a popish episcopacy upon themselves. But no sooner had they succeeded in that, than they became ambitious of effecting more than a merely negative good, according to their view of matters. It appears to have been debated amongst them soon after their army entered Newcastle, in 1640, whether it would not be advisable to make a party with the parliamentarians for this purpose. It was plain enough that the English people were wearied out with the exactions and oppressions of "black prelacy ;" and they perhaps were convinced that the time was come for the establishment of that system which they deemed divine, and in defence of which so much enthusiasm had been displayed. Having determined upon this point, they took a survey of the division of parties in England; and came to the conclusion to depute certain of their number, the shrewdest they could select, to repair to London, in order to watch