, etc.

** Rush. vol. vii. p. 1.

Those contests among the parliamentary generals, which had disturbed
their military operations, were renewed in London during the winter
season; and each being supported by his own faction, their mutual
reproaches and accusations agitated the whole city and parliament. There
had long prevailed in that party a secret distinction, which, though the
dread of the king's power had hitherto suppressed it, yet, in proportion
as the hopes of success became nearer and more immediate, began to
discover itself with high contest and animosity. The Independents, who
had at first taken shelter and concealed themselves under the wings of
the Presbyterians, now evidently appeared a distinct party, and betrayed
very different views and pretensions. We must here endeavor to explain
the genius of this party, and of its leaders, who henceforth occupy the
scene of action.

During those times, when the enthusiastic spirit met with such honor
and encouragement, and was the immediate means of distinction and
preferment, it was impossible to set bounds to these holy fervors, or
confine within any natural limits what was directed towards an infinite
and a supernatural object. Every man, as prompted by the warmth of his
temper, excited by emulation, or supported by his habits of hypocrisy,
endeavored to distinguish himself beyond his fellows, and to arrive at a
higher pitch of saintship and perfection. In proportion to its degree
of fanaticism, each sect became dangerous and destructive; and as the
Independents went a note higher than the Presbyterians, they could less
be restrained within any bounds of temper and moderation. From this
distinction, as from a first principle, were derived, by a necessary
consequence, all the other differences of these two sects.

The Independents rejected all ecclesiastical establishments, and
would admit of no spiritual courts, no government among pastors,
no interposition of the magistrate in religious concerns, no fixed
encouragement annexed to any system of doctrines or opinions. According
to their principles, each congregation, united voluntarily and by
spiritual ties, composed within itself a separate church, and exercised
a jurisdiction, but one destitute of temporal sanctions, over its own
pastor and its own members. The election alone of the congregation was
sufficient to bestow the sacerdotal character; and as all essential
distinction was denied between the lai