ation opened, until the conquest of
the country by Cromwell, the Kirk reigned supreme, there being no
power in the government, or in the country, able or disposed to resist
or question its authority. This was the golden age of Presbyterianism,
when the clergy enjoyed autocratic power --a sort of Druidical
ascendency over the minds and consciences of the people, in affairs
temporal as well as spiritual.

[Sidenote: Peculiarities of Puritanism in England.]

Puritanism did not pervade the English, as it did the Scotch mind,
although it soon obtained an ascendency. Most of the great political
chieftains who controlled the House of Commons, and who clamored for
the death of Strafford and Laud, were Puritans. But they were not all
Presbyterians. In England, after the flight of the king from
Whitehall, the Independents attracted notice, and eventually seized
the reins of government. Cromwell was an Independent.

The difference between these two sects was chiefly in their views
about government, civil and ecclesiastical. Both Presbyterians and
Independents were rigid Calvinists, practised a severe morality, were
opposed to gay amusements, disliked organs and ceremonies, strictly
observed the Sabbath, and attached great importance to the close
observance of the Mosaic ritual. The Presbyterians were not behind the
Episcopalians in hatred of sects and a free press. They had their
model of worship, and declared it to be of divine origin. They looked
upon schism as the parent of licentiousness, insisted on entire
uniformity, maintained the divine right of the clergy to the
management of ecclesiastical affairs, and claimed the sword of the
magistrate to punish schismatics and heretics. They believed in the
union of church and state, but would give the clergy the ascendency
they possessed in the Middle Ages. They did not desire the entire
prostration of royal authority, but only aimed to limit and curtail
it.

The Independents wished a total disruption of church and state, and
disliked synods almost as much as they did bishops. They believed that
every congregation was a distinct church, and had a right to elect the
pastor. They preferred the greatest variety of sects to the ascendency
of any one, by means of the civil sword. They rejected all spiritual
courts, and claimed the right of each church to reject, punish, or
receive members. In politics, they wished a total overthrow of the
government--monarchy, aristocracy, and prelac